# Cycling is a PITA



## nrosko (15 Jan 2018)

My first week in, first bike since i was a kid & a bought a turbo trainer so i have no excuses to miss riding. 
One thing i'm really struggling with & is really hindering progress is my backside. 
Spent some time setting up riding position & making sure saddle is setup correctly. 
I have shorts that are padded FWE LTR Bib Shorts & the saddle is Cannondale Stage CX, i'm a bit overweight.
Is there a better saddle & chamois? Its difficult to ascertain which shorts/tights will help


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## vickster (15 Jan 2018)

Give it more time. Make sure the saddle is level. Try to ride out of the saddle too and give your bum a rest

Yes there might be a better saddle for you or better shorts but no one can tell you what as all cyclists are different. Plenty don't even use padding!


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## Alan O (15 Jan 2018)

If you've never ridden a bike before, or not since you were a kid, your bum really can hurt a lot when you're just starting - especially when you get on your bike soon after a previous sore ride. Before you spend money buying all sorts of things that might not help, I'd suggest just doing short rides with plenty of bum rest in between and see how it goes.


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## Elybazza61 (15 Jan 2018)

A week is not really enough time to get used to a saddle especially if you have not done much riding for a long while.

Bike fit could be an issue and as Vickster says make shure the saddle is level(although some like a saddle up or down) but just give it time and see if it gets better.


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## mjr (15 Jan 2018)

Are you sure the bike is set up right? Which guide did you use? People often have their saddles slightly too high, causing a sore bum because their legs aren't taking any of their weight. Also, if your legs get too tired, it can result in sitting too heavily.


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## helston90 (15 Jan 2018)

Time, time and more time. Your skin and bones are not used to the dynamics you're suddenly asking them to undergo. 
If I have any time off the bike my soft skin starts to make a come back and takes a few rides to sort itself out. 
Give it a chance before doing anything drastic.


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## buzzy-beans (15 Jan 2018)

I can well recall the PITA feeling and worse still the numb goolies and tingling winkie that had next to no feeling for an hour or more after a ride, so @nrosko welcome to the club of pain!! But it will get better, it will get a lot better and eventually you will wonder what all the fuss was all about.

Personally I think the saddle can be the culprit as well as getting the exact bum/leg/pedal measurement for your own body........... everyone is different and even a couple of mm can make a world of a difference.

I tried all sorts of saddles but eventually I returned to a much loved vintage BROOKS B17, they take some time to ride them into your shape, but after that they are honestly like having a magic carpet ride compared with all of these totally over the top modern designs.


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## Thorn Sherpa (15 Jan 2018)

What's the best saddle for someone could be the worst for another no one saddle is the perfect one for everybody. There's a lot of factors such as the distance someone rides, weight, the terrain and how often they ride. Like people have mentioned before I'd get use to riding and have a sufficient break between rides to get your backside use to cycling. Otherwise you could waste money going from saddle to saddle with the same result


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## Ming the Merciless (15 Jan 2018)

It is simply that your bum muscles are weak after years of little use. Give it time.


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## slowmotion (16 Jan 2018)

^^^ This. It just takes time for your bum to get a bit tougher, that's all. Take it slowly to begin with until it does. No point in suffering unnecessarily.


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## Fonze (16 Jan 2018)

I work a rotation plan , so I'm home some weeks others away , whenever I get back first few days my tookas hurts.
Might pay going to a cycle store and do fit test on a saddle exams sit bones etc.
Just perils of cycling too I suppose


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## 400bhp (16 Jan 2018)

Are you riding just on a static trainer? It is less comfortable than riding outdoors.


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## boydj (16 Jan 2018)

Build up your time in the saddle fairly slowly. If you're on the trainer mostly, that is harder on you than riding outdoors where you naturally move around on the saddle a lot more as terrain changes. Give it time and use the 'heel on the pedal' method to check your saddle height is correct.


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## nrosko (16 Jan 2018)

mjr said:


> Are you sure the bike is set up right? Which guide did you use? People often have their saddles slightly too high, causing a sore bum because their legs aren't taking any of their weight. Also, if your legs get too tired, it can result in sitting too heavily.


With my heel & peddle down I have a slight bend in the knee, knee level with peddle axis when peddle at 90, saddle is level & i raised the handle bars 8mm. It might need some slight tuning though i suspect.


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## nrosko (16 Jan 2018)

Thanks for all the comments. 
Pretty much turbo trainer only atm. Going by most of the comments i should maybe mix it up, maybe i could throw some running in & just wait till it gets used to it & accept it take time. 

I guess it's just frustrating as i feel like i have the motivation to get on it daily. I will probably get some new tights or shorts as i don't really have enough anyway. Would people recommend going for tights rather than shorts if your maybe not in such good shape? The bands on the base of shorts aren't the most flattering.


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## vickster (16 Jan 2018)

Why not mix it up with some outdoor cycling? It's not that cold if you have the right clothing. Unless you live in Minnesota

If using the TT spend some time every few minutes riding out of the saddle


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## HLaB (16 Jan 2018)

I take it you are going commando (no underwear) and not sitting about in the shorts post session but as others have said things will toughen up fit can make a massive difference if your current fit is causing you to move about.

Bibs are my choice but there isn't much difference pad wise however the bibs will ensure the position of the pad is more constant if you are moving about. The big difference for comfort is round the waist where you have an elasticated waist potentially digging in.


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## SkipdiverJohn (16 Jan 2018)

I've never ever felt the need to wear specific clothing just for riding a bike. That means 99% of the time wearing an old pair of jeans or poly cotton work trousers. Real riding is different from turbo trainer use, as in real life a rider will move differently and get their weight off the saddle and put their feet down etc when stopped. I don't think there's much relationship between saddle comfort and price either, if you leave Brooks leather ones out of the equation. One of my bikes came with a Selle Royal that I think the previous owner fitted as an upgrade, a wider version for those with a larger posterior - which I don't have. I don't find it especially comfortable, so as an experiment I swapped it for a low-budget MTB saddle taken from a scrap BSO I happened to have spare. That fits me much better than the more expensive one.


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## raleighnut (17 Jan 2018)

nrosko said:


> With my heel & peddle down I have a slight bend in the knee, knee level with peddle axis when peddle at 90, saddle is level & i raised the handle bars 8mm. It might need some slight tuning though i suspect.


Your saddle is still too low IMO, with your heel on the pedal your leg should be straight. This allows for a slight bend when the ball of your foot is on the pedal.


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## nrosko (17 Jan 2018)

raleighnut said:


> Your saddle is still too low IMO, with your heel on the pedal your leg should be straight. This allows for a slight bend when the ball of your foot is on the pedal.


ok i will check this, i'm going over it all again tonight.


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## nrosko (17 Jan 2018)

vickster said:


> Why not mix it up with some outdoor cycling? It's not that cold if you have the right clothing. Unless you live in Minnesota
> 
> If using the TT spend some time every few minutes riding out of the saddle



At the weekends i will unless it looks slippy or too grim, its very dark after work & don't fancy riding at night. I will try & get out of the saddle a bit more as well.


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## boydj (17 Jan 2018)

It could be your bars are actually too high. Your arms should be bearing some of your weight, so that it's not all going through the saddle. This may seem a bit awkward to a beginner, so you should start with the bars level with or just below saddle height, then drop it gradually as you build up some core strength and get used to the position.


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## mjr (17 Jan 2018)

boydj said:


> It could be your bars are actually too high. Your arms should be bearing some of your weight, so that it's not all going through the saddle. This may seem a bit awkward to a beginner, so you should start with the bars level with or just below saddle height, then drop it gradually as you build up some core strength and get used to the position.


Only enough weight to stabilise the steering should go through the arms else you'll trash your wrists in short order. That's why building up core muscles is important for leant- forwards positions, to keep weight off the wrists.


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## nrosko (17 Jan 2018)

I really don't think it's the setup, i checked the hight again & its fine. Managed 10 miles & was starting to hurt around 10, i'll use that as a marker & see i progress.


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## Alan O (18 Jan 2018)

nrosko said:


> Managed 10 miles & was starting to hurt around 10, i'll use that as a marker & see i progress.


I'd say that's actually not bad going when you're just starting - and you could progress pretty well from there.

One other thing worth checking if you're happy with your saddle height is its angle. I got a bike back recently that I'd lent to someone for a day, and my first ride on it afterwards hurt my bum a bit - I hadn't realised he'd angled it up a fraction.


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## Tin Pot (18 Jan 2018)

nrosko said:


> ok i will check this, i'm going over it all again tonight.



Bike fit is definitely worth seeing someone about, if you can afford it.

Separately though and despite professional fitting, it took me a few years (!) to realise how to sit in the saddle properly, resting on your sit bones. World of difference.


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## boydj (19 Jan 2018)

mjr said:


> Only enough weight to stabilise the steering should go through the arms else you'll trash your wrists in short order. That's why building up core muscles is important for leant- forwards positions, to keep weight off the wrists.



Depends to some extent on the type of bike and the saddle to bars drop. I'm using road bikes with about 4" drop from saddle to the bar tops. I've never had a problem with my wrists and I would guess that something like 10% to 15% of my weight is going through my arms. MY core strength is pretty good, though, for my age, which is why I can outdrive most of my golf partners.


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## Racing roadkill (27 Jan 2018)

Your comfort on the bike depends on a lot of things, but regarding saddles, it’s a very individual thing. Generally speaking, from a purely cushioning point of view the more ‘natural padding’ you carry, the less padding you’re likely to need in the shorts / saddle, in fact a more ‘padded’ rider, will actually cause more problems with saddle / short over padding than they solve. If you’re ‘bony arsed’ more shorts / saddle padding will be more advantageous. It’s a spectrum you find yourself on, so to speak. The size and profile of the saddle are also important, it’s trial and error as far as that goes.


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## mjr (27 Jan 2018)

Racing roadkill said:


> If you’re ‘bony arsed’ more shorts / saddle padding will be more advantageous.


I am and it's not. I still want the right padding in the right places, not more padding.


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