Saddle advice?

banie01

Hey Doyens of the cycling forum!

I need advice to help ease the damage that a hard tailed road bike is wreaking on my poor delicate arse!

Bike is quite good and suits my use in the main part but the actual ride and transmission of same thru a very hard saddle is about the only issue I can foresee with moving to a cycle commute a few days a week is the saddle.

Picked up a memory foam cover and will try that to see if there's any improvement

But aside from that, any of the other options such as sprung saddles or shock absorbing seatposts actually any good?

If they are, could you share some recommendations please?

magicbastarder

a hard saddle should not be an issue on a commute; in fact adding too much cushioning may be counterproductive as the issue is usually with actual fit rather than cushioning. also, if you're not using cycling specific shorts, they're worth looking into too.

also, cushioning comes from tyre pressure as well, if you're running your tyres unnecessarily hard it'll mean more vibration.


are there any specific pinch points, or ar you just generally sore?

banie01

Thanks MB.

@half the commute is along a canal tow path mix of cobbles and fairly rough tarmac at best.

Biggest issues are general soreness, now to be honest that is more likely due to my being a few years out of the saddle
Comfort is a big issue for me at the moment tho as I have some medical issues that a rough ride doesn't help

Running the tyres at @55lbs and they have sufficient give I think.

magicbastarder

are you only recently back cycling? it will take time - a few weeks maybe - to develop a bollocks like a jockey's neck (apols if you're female!)

banie01

magicbastarder wrote: »

are you only recently back cycling? it will take time - a few weeks maybe - to develop a bollocks like a jockey's neck (apols if you're female!)

Very recently back to actually being on a bike and far from female

The bollocks are very much part of my issue tho.
Currently have a genito/renal condition that the hard ride isn't helping.

So trying to keep it as gentle a ride as possible if I can.

07Lapierre

Is the saddle the correct width?
Is it at the correct height?
Are your handlebars at the correct height in relation to the saddle? ( If your bars are high and your saddle is low, most of your body weight will be on the saddle)
Is the saddle tilted too high or too low?
Most saddle issues are are due to one or more of the above.

Eamonnator

Saddles are very much an individual choice, however, you could do worse than trying out a Charge Spoon. They are a good quality saddle and are reasonably priced. They are available in many many colours.

http://www.chargebikes.com/spoon/

Wishbone Ash

banie01 wrote: »

...Running the tyres at @55lbs and they have sufficient give I think.

That's actually on the low side for a road bike (unless you are running on 32/35mm tyres).

magicbastarder

he mentioned his bike is a hard tail, so i assumed reasonably sizable tyres.

Wishbone Ash

magicbastarder wrote: »

he mentioned his bike is a hard tail, so i assumed reasonably sizable tyres.

He also mentioned 'road bike' so I presumed it was a road bike!

banie01

magicbastarder wrote: »

he mentioned his bike is a hard tail, so i assumed reasonably sizable tyres.

I did and good guess, I got my terminology wrong.
Its a hybrid bike, apologies.

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

He also mentioned 'road bike' so I presumed it was a road bike!

My fault, sorry about getting it arseways its a Hybrid.
Running on 700x40c Tyres.

Thanks to everyone for the input so far.

mirrormatrix

I suffered from similar issues. Lapierre is right in that a lot of it is down to fit. However, certain saddles just don't work for certain people. For example, I found that I couldn't get comfortable on the Charge Scoop saddle no matter how many adjustments I made

Personally, a cut-out saddle really helped take some of the pressure from the pinch points. Also, make sure that the saddle width that you get matches with your sit bones.

Bike fit is important, but it's not everything.

smacl

mirrormatrix wrote: »

I suffered from similar issues. Lapierre is right in that a lot of it is down to fit. However, certain saddles just don't work for certain people. For example, I found that I couldn't get comfortable on the Charge Scoop saddle no matter how many adjustments I made

Personally, a cut-out saddle really helped take some of the pressure from the pinch points. Also, make sure that the saddle width that you get matches with your sit bones.

Bike fit is important, but it's not everything.

While I agree that saddles are very much an individual thing, you asked about spring saddles and for me the Brooks Flyer is the most comfortable saddle I've owned, if not the lightest nor prettiest. Downside is that it is expensive so you'd be taking a punt on something that may not suit you.

if your're running 40c tyres you could probably drop down a few psi for a bit more comfort too, I'd try something like 45psi back and 40psi front, but your weight also comes into play here. See this article for effects for tyre pressure on comfort on poor surfaces.

SchrodingersCat

I was in a very similiar situation when I got my first road bike for commuting, OP.
First of all, your arse will be sore for the first week or two. The mojority of people seem to be fine then after that.
However, I still couldnt get comfortable even after commuting for a couple of weeks.
So my advice would be to try out a few different saddles. I went onto adverts.ie and picked up a few various shapes to try out. Eventually I picked out one that felt "OK" and resold the rest. After a few weeks of commuting on the new saddle, it got comfortable enough where ya dont notice it. Suprisingly, to me anyway, this was one of the harder saddles. The shape appears to have a larger effect than the padding.
As smacl mentioned, if you still have issues you could look into a fancy leather saddle like Brooks. These shape themselves to you after a while of cycling.

Cee-Jay-Cee

OP I’d look into a saddle with a flat profile and larger cut out due to your medical condition. The flat saddle supports your sit bones and takes the weight of your perennial area and the cut out prevents bunching and blood flow problems which can cause numbness.

Prologo Zero Space comes to mind. You should be able to pick a used one up on eBay for a lot less than new price.

Utter Consternation

You might just need to wait until your arse is 'broken in.' Apologies for the terminology.

Have a look at Cloud 9 saddles. They don't cost the world and look comfy. I'm thinking of getting one myself.

Ferris

I used a brooks B17 for commuting, its the only saddle I ever settled with but a WTB saddle came close and was cheap.

Such are the trials of a bony arse.

a148pro

I was going to post a similar post but in recent past discomfort has lessened so maybe I just needed to harden up

Also size may well be an issue - in the past I used a machine in Specialized in browns barn for telling you what saddle size I was and I noticed that by moving up sizes there was significantly less discomfort. So maybe for peace of mind pop out and see what it says.

magicbastarder

banie01, where do you live?
you may find that your local bike shop might have more experience than many on this forum of dealing with customers with similar issues, no harm calling in there. where do you live?

Cionn

I know my local bike shop have a number of different "test" saddles that you can try out. I suggest going to the LBS and swap some over. Normally this is no problem, and from my personal experience the LBS is happy to help

banie01

magicbastarder wrote: »

banie01, where do you live?
you may find that your local bike shop might have more experience than many on this forum of dealing with customers with similar issues, no harm calling in there. where do you live?

Limerick City so Siopa Rothar or the lads out in place near coonagh may well be my best bet I think.

Thanks again to all who've contributed particularly with advice re saddles with a little bit more of an accommodation for my condition.

banie01

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

OP I’d look into a saddle with a flat profile and larger cut out due to your medical condition. The flat saddle supports your sit bones and takes the weight of your perennial area and the cut out prevents bunching and blood flow problems which can cause numbness.

Prologo Zero Space comes to mind. You should be able to pick a used one up on eBay for a lot less than new price.

Thanks for the considered reply
Will deffo take a look

brownian

Consider Fabric's "line" line ?