Saddle sore - Will it improve?

Xommul
Xommul Posts: 251
edited January 2012 in Road buying advice
Hi folks,

Question!

I am new to my road bike, the saddle after about 2 hours starts to really become painful, i use padded bib shorts and ive only been on my bike for a few weeks, 150 miles in total.

Will the soreness reduce over time or should i be looking at a softer saddle (current one is fizik anteres) or are there extra padded bib shorts i can wear while my arse is broken in ;-)

Xom
MTB Trek 4300 Disc 1999
Road Rose Carbon Pro RS Custom
Canyon Spectral AL 7.9 29er

Comments

  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    Sudocreme helps reduces the soreness. a softer saddle won't help as you will probably move about more rubbing you even more
  • BBH
    BBH Posts: 476
    How long have u been riding for?? If its a few weeks, think you need to break it in a bit more.

    Regarding saddles, softer is not better and can (over rides of an hr) make things more painful. Really for me, the harder the better (within reason!!). You need to find a saddle that fits/suits you and your sit bones and that is like finding the holy grail of cycling!!!

    The only thing you can do for now is to make sure you have a good pair of shorts with a good pad, try using chamois cream around your sit bones (I use sudocrem, cheap and does the job), make sure your commando under the shorts too!!

    If its still really bad after a few weeks, start the search!!!!!!
    Some starting points would inlcude: spesh toupe, fizik arione, selle italia flite, charge spoon, charge knife, etc....... Many of the above can be got from the classifieds on here (in saddle swap section) or ebay quite cheaply. Some lbs's will allow you to trial saddles too.

    Good luck and hope you find your perfect perch' :wink::wink:
    2012 Scott Foil 10 (Shimano dura ace) - in progress
    2011 Cervelo S2 (SRAM Red/Force)
    2011 Cannondale Caad 10 (Shimano 105)

    "Hills Hurt, Couches Kill!!"
    Twitter: @MadRoadie
  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    A spesh romin 130 suited me after a year of pain on a spesh alias 143 (a softer saddle)
  • Xommul
    Xommul Posts: 251
    Cool lads, thanks for the replies.

    Ive not been cycling long, will give it another month or two at least before i start looking

    The pain comes from the sit bones, not rubbing soreness. The pain is more like bruising not friction, does this make a diff to your answers?

    Xom
    MTB Trek 4300 Disc 1999
    Road Rose Carbon Pro RS Custom
    Canyon Spectral AL 7.9 29er
  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    Yeah that area will get used to it mine did adapting to the harder romin saddle
  • guinea
    guinea Posts: 1,177
    Just so you know. You have a sore bum, not saddle sores. This will definitely harden in a week or four. Just keep riding.

    Saddle sores are nasty. They are localised infections that eventualy manifest themselves as an abscess or big butt boil. To minimise these keep clean. Since you're new to cycling I'll just mention that you need to wash your gear before reuse and if you are suceptable to sores use sudocream or something like it.
  • arlowood
    arlowood Posts: 2,561
    Hi Xommul

    As has been said before - finding the ideal saddle is seen as the holy grail of cycling.

    Since everyone is a little bit different in physiology then what suits one may not be the best option for someone else.

    However before you go trawling advice about the best saddle to cure your painful derriere - a few basic checks on your bike set up may be appropriate.

    Firstly have you set the saddle height correctly. If it's too high this could be contributing to some of your discomfort as your pelvis will be rocking from side to side with each pedal stroke and placing more strain on your sit bones. The link below gives a good guide to getting the height spot on.

    http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ght-14608/

    Secondly, the fore and aft position of the saddle can also be important to get the most comfortable position depending on what your normal riding style is. eg on the hoods or on the drops. Experiment a bit with moving the saddle forward and back relative to the seat post and see whether you can improve the comfort of your riding.

    Once you have optimised the saddle position, give it a couple of hundred miles before you condemn your current saddle to the bin and go searching for a replacement.
  • Xommul
    Xommul Posts: 251
    Sage advice from everyone, just really wanted some positive encouragement about the sore bum getting better.

    I have had my bike properley fitted to me, saddle height etc. I'm sure I will get used to it.

    Thanks for the advice
    MTB Trek 4300 Disc 1999
    Road Rose Carbon Pro RS Custom
    Canyon Spectral AL 7.9 29er
  • b45her
    b45her Posts: 147
    time heals all as they say, ive been mtbing for years , and can now ride for hours without and discomfort on a rodie or mtb, just give it time your chin rest will eventually become quite resilient
    ribble sportive for the black stuff

    Canyon Strive AL 8.0 for the brown and green stuff.
  • andy46
    andy46 Posts: 1,666
    I've just bought a Specialized Romin 143 today, I hope this helps me in my search for the "holy grail" :lol:

    If it does the trick, it will also have helped my bike shed some weight :D
    2019 Ribble CGR SL

    2015 Specialized Roubaix Sport sl4

    2014 Specialized Allez Sport
  • Xommul
    Xommul Posts: 251
    Thought i would ressurect this posy with an update in case others are going through what i did.

    I can now ride for over 4 hours without discomfort. Its taken months and ive now done over 1200 miles on the bike. If anyone else is in pain stick with it, i dont think i will look for another saddle just yet. I will be doing some 100 mile sportives. I will then know more about my saddle and if it fits for very long rides.

    Xom
    MTB Trek 4300 Disc 1999
    Road Rose Carbon Pro RS Custom
    Canyon Spectral AL 7.9 29er
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    as others have said this will get better with time in the saddle.

    However if it doesn't - be careful - i rode through butt pain last spring. I have now been off the bike 7 months - with inflamed sit bones. The thing to watch if the time it takes to bring on the pain increases or decreases - if it increases then its moving in the right direction - however if youre getting more and more pain over shorter distances\time - then i would back off until it settles down.
  • Calpol
    Calpol Posts: 1,039
    I have been suffering with this too. It actually isnt too bad on the bike at all but after sitting at work or at my desk at home my coccyx really starts to ache. Suspect that might be referred pain from my rather inadequate arris. I amnt riding too much at the moment but I can't not sit at work!!!