Help a newbie - sucked in by marketing

Strong-one

Hi guys, New to the forum and biking in general really.

Getting myself into biking came about once i got a new job that requires me to be seriously inactive for long periods, and id also like to shift some weight, so thought why not use a cycle to commute!

so i bought a carrera bike second hand (i know they're not all they're cracked up to be, but its a good first bike to test the water with before spending upwards of £500 and it sitting in a garage!) replaced the brake pads and serviced the gears etc to get it running tip-top.

I also didn't like the feel of the standard saddle as it felt a bit hard, so replaced it with a squidgy gel seat from halfords.

I did my test run today to see how long my commute would take, and upon finishing the 9 mile round trip, my rear end is screaming at me!

it turns out upon research that gel seats arent all that when covering any actual distance? is that right?

Plus there's something about i should also be wearing padded cycling shorts?

so could anyone point me in the right direction on where to go saddle-wise (hopefully avoiding halfrauds if possible - hate that shop!) and also recommend a pair of the right type of shorts.....

Thanks in advance for taking the time to reply,

if it helps im based near stoke, staffs, and my commute is 4.5 miles one way but will have a 12 hour rest before commuting home

Thanks Guys

Dan

bartimaeus

Charge Spoon... but padded shorts, not just for the padding, but for the lack of chafing seams. Carrera bikes are decent enough... at least the mountain bikes are.

cooldad

+1 for the Spoon, but a bit cheaper.
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/component ... addle-p360

paul.skibum

Padding - something like this - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ca/en/funkier-7-panel-basic-shorts-ss14/rp-prod89671

Saddle - Spoon gets a good rep, my bum likes SDG Bel Air although with a bit of practice your arse gets used to most seats - its like playing the guitar, got to build up some callouses on the fingers to dull the pain!

Bishbosh10

After having parts of me go numb that I didn't really want to go numb, I got a specialized Body Geometry saddle. They come in a range of widths to suit your "seat bones" and I now have no numbness.

+1 for the cycling shorts, will make a huge difference. Also, with any saddle, it will take a bit of time for your ar$e to become acclimatised so just stick at it.

Strong-one

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Il likely try the spoon at that price!

In regards to the geometric seats, how would I measure my sit?

AndyPatio

Like you I have a Carrera bike and the seat is horrible around the 8-10mile mark. I wear padded shorts and it doesn't change anything.

I'll give the spoon a try but I'm very interested in the geometric seats. How do you go about getting one to fit exactly for you etc?

bartimaeus

Strong-one wrote:

In regards to the geometric seats, how would I measure my sit?

Go into a shop that sells Specialized - many of them have a special gizmo that you sit on which measures the pressure points and tells you what width saddle you need.

AndyPatio

Bartimaeus wrote:

Strong-one wrote:

In regards to the geometric seats, how would I measure my sit?

Go into a shop that sells Specialized - many of them have a special gizmo that you sit on which measures the pressure points and tells you what width saddle you need.

Thanks Definitely going to give this a try.

Strong-one

I second that thanks - will give it a try myself.

Think il still try the scoop for that money too

cooldad

Measuring/saddles/soft/hard/gel (which are terrible) aside, expect much pain anyway until your butt toughens up.

Braythor

In short, after a week or so your backside will get used to it. My commuting bike has a gel seat (though after 12 years it's probably not very 'gel-ish' any more) and I've found if I don't cycle for a few months my bum bones hurt after only doing a couple of miles. But give it a few days and I can do the full commute, which is ~7 miles each way, with no issues.

My mtb has a WTB Volt saddle, and though it looks uncomfortable it really isn't; I regularly do the red 8 route at Gisburn (~11 miles) with no saddle induced pain at all.

Besides, the pain you get is at its worst for the minute or so after you first sit on the saddle on the next ride, so you could just, you know, man up

AndyPatio

I've done roughly 200mile in 8 week on the bike and the pain isn't even easing. It still occurs around the 10Mile mark and just stays, it never eases. I'll try the spoon saddle first and then go for the geometric seat if it carrys on.

Strong-one

I had considered that it may just be me needing to 'man up' but to be honest pain aside, it's not at all comfortable to sit on.

Also it seems to point nose down no matter what I do and it's just not a great position for me

IDave

Has anyone tried the Charge Knife saddle?

The Rookie

The standard Carrera saddle I find pretty good, in fact I keep one in our overseas office and put it on the hire bikes as their saddles are truly awful and I do 50-60 mile rides on that.

My commuter I use a charge spoon and do 7 miles each way without bothering with padded shorts.

poah

a good saddle position will also help

paul.skibum

POAH wrote:

a good saddle position will also help

I was just going to throw that thought into the ring - is your saddle set up correctly? Is it level?

Strong-one

I don't think it is but it won't sit any more level. I tried when I put it on tbh but it's pointing slightly downwards at the nose end

Il order the charge and hopefully that will help

cooldad

Assume you are not adjusting it properly - unless something is seriously bent, it will point anyway you want it.
Pointless just replacing stuff because of shoddy setup.

Although that is often the BR way - not working? Add money and carbon.

Strong-one

Well the saddle has two straight bars underneath and sits in the top of a pole.

If I sit it in the grooves straight it points downwards.

Unless the head of the pole is adjustable and I've not looked properly?

poah

paul.skibum wrote:

Is it level?

it doesn't have to be level

cooldad

Strong-one wrote:

Well the saddle has two straight bars underneath and sits in the top of a pole.

If I sit it in the grooves straight it points downwards.

Unless the head of the pole is adjustable and I've not looked properly?

It is and would be a good place to start.

Strong-one

Ok thanks il take a closer look

ej2320

The pain will go/lessen the more you ride
I find the first ride out after a 2 week break will always hurt

I'm using a Madison flux saddle.. Good enough for the price with a bit of padding
I also wear padded underwear which helps a bit but I mainly wear cycling specific underwear as they fit a bit tighter and the seams are designed to not chafe

rockmonkeysc

There's nothing wrong with Halfords. Some people want stuff like gel saddles and they supply it. Their Carrera, Voodoo and Boardman bikes are great value.
Charge Spoon saddles are good value if they fit your arse, they don't fit everyone but are cheap enough to try and find out.

Strong-one

ej2320 wrote:

The pain will go/lessen the more you ride
I find the first ride out after a 2 week break will always hurt

I'm using a Madison flux saddle.. Good enough for the price with a bit of padding
I also wear padded underwear which helps a bit but I mainly wear cycling specific underwear as they fit a bit tighter and the seams are designed to not chafe

When you say padded underwear I assume you mean the type of shorts referred to as padded undershorts?

I'm getting so confused looking at padded shorts, there's a million different pairs and I don't know which to buy, it's a maze of jargon and sales tactics.

I don't fancy spending a fortune, but that doesn't mean I want to buy utter tripe either. Il pay what something's worth, but I don't really know what I'm looking for?

I've spotted a pair of altura cadence stretch shorts online that seem to get ok reviews, and only cost £22, however others retail far higher making me think they may be parp?

cooldad

I use random stuff from Lidl/Aldi/Ebay works fine for me. All seem to have the same 'Coolmax' padded bit anyway.
The padding was never originally intended as cushioning - it's to soak up sweat and reduce chafing. It used to be chamois leather.
BITD.

batmo

The padded saddle thing can seem counter-intuitive; one of my riding buddies is 9 st fully clothed and finds a saddle with softer padding suits him, while at 16 st my sit bones would squish their way through the soft pads and rest on the hard part of the saddle. My own saddle has much firmer padding.

The Rookie

Soft saddles tend to lead to chaffing, not sit bone pain, hard saddles tend to avoid the chafing but give you sit bone pain until you MTFU, unless the saddles are really badly shaped (step forward whoever designed the one on the Giant Rincon) when it's badly shaped so you slip forward and rest on your perineum and end up with totally numb lower regions.