Inspect your shorts!

[I am Spartacus]

I am putting this in the Beginners section as it may help...
When buying a bike (with n.b. limited resources)apart from frame size sometimes you have to accept the rest of the bits that go with the bike, whether they actually 'fit' or not.

I have suffered from mild saddle soreness off and on for a while.. not only irritatingly irksome but also a spoiler of cycling enjoyment.
Of course use of chamois cream .. lanacane.. savlon etc etc alleviates.. and stops any further deterioration into actual sores.. not nice...

To be honest by chance I looked at the under side of my cycling shorts and noticed a large amount of wear.. bobbling of the lycra ...
Putting 2 and 2 together took a long hard look at my standard OEM saddle (Specialized).. measured it .. it came to 155cm across.. and the side material not exactly smooth either..
Thats wide I thought...
Finances means that you cant just chuck money at solutions but the cost of creams mounts up!!

Ok for the record, I have a hip to waist ratio of 0.85.

I went to my lbs and picked up a new Avatar £35 ( again I just cant afford to be spending willy nilly) with a width of 130cm. I took a chance with this width, I admit

But after fitting and test riding for just 1 mile.... bliss ... comfort! success!

same story after 18 miles.. more bliss.. able to concentrate on the mechanics of cycling.

 

[Tynan]

hip to wha?

erm yes, the saddle only has to support your sirt bones, any additonal contact is sore making, them wide saddles are for peoplethat won;t buy a proper saddle because it's 'too thin'

 

[2Loose]

155cms is a VERY wide saddle!

Glad you found a solution to your pain though.

 

[I am Spartacus]

hip to wha?

erm yes, the saddle only has to support your sirt bones, any additonal contact is sore making, them wide saddles are for peoplethat won;t buy a proper saddle because it's 'too thin'

The point was .. the saddle was supplied as default from factory and the bike is not low end either... I am also not one to buy a bike and then start upgrading every available component that I can...
I am sure the vast majority on here want to use what they get given as such... but in this case an investigation on cause and effect made a buying decision cost effective and not just out of aesthetics..
the narrower saddle of course does look better....
155 I know is very wide.. but on a xlarge frame it did NOT look out of proportion.. hence my very lengthy time in tracking down culprit to soreness

waist to hip
34 to 40..I think I have small sit bones

 

[youngoldbloke]

Maybe in a perfect world a choice of saddles should be available at time of purchase (and a system of measurement offered) - much as one chooses and fits ones own pedals. Of course I am assuming that a good LBS will already advise on, and allow you to specify stem length, bar width, and crank length, particularly if you are spending substantial amounts of cash. (That choice is the beauty of the various 'bike builder' deals offered by suppliers such as Ribble, but of course you need to know what you want before you start).

 

[yenrod]

Ive a San Marco SKN (mod.) and its very light but 140mm outside to outside.