saddle position on the rails and chafing

tom3

apologies for the graphic nature....

the last couple of rides have resulted in worsening chafing and broken skin under the ballbag.

I did notice it was quite painful sitting on the bike yesterday as the part that was chafing seems to have the most contact with the saddle, not my but muscles.

the saddle is pushed right back on the rails, should i start moving it back towards the stem so my butt muscles are better positioned on the saddle.

ta

Coach H

Sounds like your seat could be too far back. Your sit bones (you can feel them through your bottocks) should be on the wide section at the rear of the saddle taking the pressure off the front.

SwainsL

Saddle not being level can cause a lot of pain when leaning forwards towards the bars. Place a book over the saddle then use a spirit level to check. Make sure the ground is level first. The margin of error should be no more than 2 degrees. There's an iphone app for a spirit level if you don't own one.

Enormous Peanut

I suffer the exact same issue.

As my saddle is as far forward as I can go (to ensure my legs/knees are in the correct position in realtion to the pedals) can I get the same result by getting a shorter stem?

TakeTurns

Enormous Peanut wrote:

I suffer the exact same issue.

As my saddle is as far forward as I can go (to ensure my legs/knees are in the correct position in realtion to the pedals) can I get the same result by getting a shorter stem?

You sure? That doesn't sound quite right. I'd assume your knee would fall well in front of the pedal axle when at a horizontally parallel crank arm position. Which is not how it's supposed to be.

Enormous Peanut

TakeTurns wrote:

Enormous Peanut wrote:

I suffer the exact same issue.

As my saddle is as far forward as I can go (to ensure my legs/knees are in the correct position in realtion to the pedals) can I get the same result by getting a shorter stem?

You sure? That doesn't sound quite right. I'd assume your knee would fall well in front of the pedal axle when at a horizontally parallel crank arm position. Which is not how it's supposed to be.

I was but now you've said I'm not so sure so will check when I get in tonight. For reference should I be checking the front or back of the knee is in line with the pedal spindle or am I completely off track?

tom3

Ive been wearing boxers under compression tights and then padded shorts on top, which could explain the irritation.

Il check saddle position later and have a play around.

thanks

TakeTurns

Enormous Peanut wrote:

TakeTurns wrote:

Enormous Peanut wrote:

I suffer the exact same issue.

As my saddle is as far forward as I can go (to ensure my legs/knees are in the correct position in realtion to the pedals) can I get the same result by getting a shorter stem?

You sure? That doesn't sound quite right. I'd assume your knee would fall well in front of the pedal axle when at a horizontally parallel crank arm position. Which is not how it's supposed to be.

I was but now you've said I'm not so sure so will check when I get in tonight. For reference should I be checking the front or back of the knee is in line with the pedal spindle or am I completely off track?

That's correct, it should be the front knee

Gizmodo

Search for "Bike Fit", plenty of good resources such as
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAl_5e7bIHk&sns=em or
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

If you still have problems then you should consider a proper bike fit. See Is a pro bike fit worth it?

Monty Dog

tom3 wrote:

Ive been wearing boxers under compression tights and then padded shorts on top, which could explain the irritation

Why not go the whole hog and chuck a handful of sand down your boxers? :twisted: Try wearing the padded shorts next to the skin as they're designed to be worn.

andyeb

You might also want to check the condition of your saddle - mine gave up the ghost after just 3500 miles and I was, in effect, sitting straight on the metal rails :?

Other tips to reduce chafing/soreness:

* Use Sudocream on any sores and take a break from riding for a bit. If you are worried about loosing fitness and happen to have a gym membership, you could try rowing or using a cross trainer instead to give your backside a rest.
* Lower your saddle just a 5 mm or so.
* Always wash your cycling shorts after every ride, however short.
* Shower after every ride, taking particular care to give the affected area a really good clean. Some people even use anti-dandruff shampoo :shock: to try and kill off any residual bacteria
* Consider using chamois cream between the legs and on the chamois pads in your cycling shorts on longer rides (40+ miles). The Assoss cream is great but costs a packet.

Hope that helps,

Andrew

Enormous Peanut

As I'm a newbie to all this I phoned the LBS I bought the bike from and asked if I could pop in with the bike and they could check things over to make sure there wasn't anything immediately obvious as to what is causing the chaffing.

They had a look and checked a few things and said that there wasn't anything obviously wrong with the bike in regards to the fit.

Between us we've come up with a few things to try such as using proper chamois cream and not sudocrem, bring the sadlle forward slightly, new padded shorts (mine are cheap ones) and then a new saddle (they've offered to let me try a saddle for 30 days and if I don't get on with it I can exchange for a new one or get my money back).

The one bit of advise they did give me, which is so obvious I can't beleive they had to tell me it, was to let the chaffing clear up before trying something else to cure the problem as no matter what you do if there is a problem with chaffing then any riding will not help it.

cougie

Monty Dog wrote:

tom3 wrote:

Ive been wearing boxers under compression tights and then padded shorts on top, which could explain the irritation

Why not go the whole hog and chuck a handful of sand down your boxers? :twisted: Try wearing the padded shorts next to the skin as they're designed to be worn.

+1

MichaelW

1. If it hurts, stop it.
Take a week off the bike to let your poor abused scrotum recover. It will thank you later in its own inimitable way.
2. Wear padded cycling shorts next to the skin with no underwear. If you want to wear tights in the cold, use the padded shorts as underwear. Wash shorts after each use, wearing dirty shorts can lead to infected follicles or worse.
3. Check your whole riding position, from pedals to saddle to bars. The Peter White fit guide is very good. many of the more analytical-looking sites make assumptions about you or your riding style.
4. The saddle fore-aft position varies according to several factors:
-Crank length
-the ratio of upper leg/lower leg
-The angle of the seat-tube.
There is no one "correct" saddle position but you may over-stress the rails if you clamp them at the extreme end. They also seem to work loose if clamped at the very end, possibly if you catch a little of the curve under the clamp, it cant close properly.

Personally, I use an inline seat-post style with my saddle as far forward as it goes, but my leg ratio is a bit odd with very long shanks.