My shorts have gone bobbly on one side

dmch2

My shorts have a bobbly patch where I presume my right thigh rubs the side of the saddle. They've only done 120 miles so I presume it's my fault. What am I doing wrong?

- Saddle not straight?
- Seat post too high? low?
- One leg longer than the other (my right foot gets a bit numb, left hardly at all)
- Too much turning left? (I did an anti-clockwise circuit tonight)
:? :? :?

Father Jack

Your thighs are too fat, fatty.
Or your saddle is a bit too wide. I noticed that with Team Pro on my road bike, and B17 on my tourer. To do with angle of your legs relative to the saddle and body.

Philby

Could also be to do with the quality of the shorts - I have some Altura bib longs and they have bobbled, but none of my other brands have. Also have Altura mitts and jacket both of which have bobbled.

dmch2

Gore shorts which are a decent make i think. I'm a bit overweight but only on my stomach. Could be a too wide saddle but i've just got used to it (literally tonights ride of 40 miles was comfier than the previous ride of 20) and so am loathed to change it...

I did put the saddle up 1cm which felt better i think. Didn't exactly examine the shorts after the previous ride though...

toontra

Philby wrote:

Could also be to do with the quality of the shorts - I have some Altura bib longs and they have bobbled, but none of my other brands have. Also have Altura mitts and jacket both of which have bobbled.

Same here. Altura gel shorts started bobbling within a couple of rides - these are the only shorts I've ever had bobble. I nearly returned them but didn't get round to it.

dmch2

The more serious question is whether bobbling means they'll wear through in another 100 miles or will they last for ages?

Maybe i should check my seat angle, i thought i felt it move a touch nose down at one point...

ellieb

Do you have a saddle bag? This happened to me once when I didn't notice that a small strip of velcro was just brushing my leg.

dmch2

ellieb wrote:

Do you have a saddle bag? This happened to me once when I didn't notice that a small strip of velcro was just brushing my leg.

That's a good suggestion! I do have one and did take it off and re attach it recently.

I also stuffed an extra cereal bar in it down the side.

Maybe it's sticking out on one side a bit. I'll check!

jgsi

Spin bikes can cause it as well.
The saddle fore and aft adjuster can stick forward of the actual saddle and cause that annoying wear.
Dont wear expensive shorts is the only answer on those .

Never had issue with the road bike.. and I tend to ride heel to toe in so can be really close to the top tube.

ride_whenever

My bet would be either something rubbing or leg length, the foot numbness points to the latter

dmch2

The end of the seat post velcro strap of the saddle bag was sticking out a bit and appeared to have a bit of lycra fluff on it. I'm guessing that was the issue.

I think my (minor) foot issues are due to cleat position and me getting used to things. My assumption at the moment is that since I have short toes the ball of my foot will be relatively far forward so I've adjusted the cleats to be forward of the mid-point. I'll see how that works next time.

ian_s

dmch2 wrote:

The end of the seat post velcro strap of the saddle bag was sticking out a bit and appeared to have a bit of lycra fluff on it. I'm guessing that was the issue.

ditto - I have the same with my Toppeak saddle bag. There is a bit of evil uncovered velcro on the left side which rubs the inside of my shorts. Since covered with a matching bit of velcro which has reduced the rubbing.

HonestAl

The dreaded velcro saddle bag strap got some Assos shorts of mine too. The odd thing is that other shorts seem immune to it (including some Gore ones I've got) but that'd be my vote