Pain in the ass!

[Over The Hill]

I have upped my cycling in readiness for a London-Paris ride.

Now I am cycling the day after a ride when before three days or even a week gap went by before I cycled again.

I am not saddle sore (ie skin itself not sore) but I have a general pain in the area that is in contact with the saddle. It is a dull ache that comes on only after six miles riding but then goes soon after I stop cycling.

Am I stuck with it for three days to Paris?

I have a drop bar road bike with a decent saddle and I wear padded cycling shorts. Short of taking painkillers for the ride I am rather stuck as to what to do.

Sorry if this is an old topic but I could not find anything on this sort of problem in the posts.

 

[Bigtwin]

Welcome to the world of cycling arse pain. That's just how it is. Options are:

Different saddles (try a Wing or similar?)
Get a recumbent!

Generally I find that over a few days if touring etc, it eases, but other aches and pains make up for it! And the end of the day, putting that much weight on a small area for a long time day after day is going to have some consequences.

 

[I am Spartacus]

Avoid the dafter suggestions about try this saddle try that .... do it on a skateboard instead...

double pair of cycling shorts for the long mileage efforts....
it has been proven to work for some ..
admittedly the drawback is the bulk

for long trips you need pairs of cycling shorts anyways.. if only for hygiene sakes

 

[GrumpyGregry]

emergency bubble wrap on top of saddle enabled me to keep going

 

[vorsprung]

I do not agree with the suggestion on double cycling shorts. This has two problems 1) it is too hot and a hot sweaty arse is more prone to sores 2) it is likely to have wrinkles and pressure points

I haven't tried bubble wrap myself

I have had the sort of pain you describe using an unsuitable saddle. It was a cheap saddle that came as fitted with a racing bike.
Known "decent" saddles for longer distance are

Fizik Arrione
Brooks B17/Imperial/Swift
San Marco Rolls
Terry Liberator
and I've heard some good reports of the Charge Spoon recently

The most important factor with your saddle is the width. Racing saddles are usually on the narrow side. The Rolls and the Brooks B17 are somewhat wider
Some people also think that a slot in the middle is very very important

I would suggest that if you have a big arse ( your call what is big ) then get a wider saddle

If you cannot afford a bigger saddle then adjust the angle of the saddle, sometimes this helps

Do not make any changes immediately before your event. Make sure you have at least one longer ride to try them out. The seat post height will need adjusting if you change saddles

 

[Over The Hill]

Thanks all for the info and views.

Saddle is

about like this

It is a Selle Italia - Flite.
It occured to me that my saddle may be a bit too professional and I perhaps need a more touring saddle.

Checked on wiggle and it is rather like the professional styles but then wiggle says dont go for a tourning saddle if you are riding for more than an hour and that for longer rides use professional saddle. So I probably have the right sort for the job.
On Selle website it says it is for road/off road and really looks to have a fair bit of contact area compared to the others on the site.

I actually have found it very comfortable up to now on my normal (less) useage.
I have got an old gel oversaddle I guess I could take and use if I needed to.

As I am just over a week from the off it is probably a bit late to start messing about with the bike now so it may be best to go for the bubble wrap option!

I think I have a small and boney bum (I am about 12 stone and 5'9") so not putting a huge weight on it but then what I have is probably on a small contact area.

I stand up on the bike to help when it starts hurting but perhaps I need to stand up more before I get to that point. I will try some options this weekend.

 

[fossyant]

Ohh...shoot.... it's a Flite...

OK....I have a Ti Flite on my Herety....vintage (the saddle and bike)...I know.....- erm it's OK, I did the Manchester 100 on it last year, fine , but it's a hard saddle..... TBH...I've got used to it now.....

They are hard saddles...

I really like my old skool Regal and Rolls, but they are silly prices these days.....

I'm not having a good realtionship with my Selle XO saddle on the fixed (flippin gel rubbish) so going for a Charge Knife.... less is more (honest).... i.e. traditional construction for my traditional (old) ass..........

 

[Tynan]

getting the height and position and angle of the saddle is rather important, what works on short ride might not on a longer one

if you;re not riding every day your arse might not be quite up to strength

 

[I am Spartacus]

[Q*OTE=vorspr**g;744135]I do *ot agree with the s*ggestio* o* do*ble cycli*g shorts. This has two problems 1) it is too hot a*d a hot sweaty arse is more pro*e to sores 2) it is likely to have wri*kles a*d press*re poi*ts
[/Q*OTE]

I am j*st q*oti*g some e-opi*io*s made by those who have H*GE mileages **der their backsides...
strewth .. I agree with checki*g seat height a*d set*p i* first i*sta*ce... b*t givi*g a 2*d pair of shorts a go is*t goi*g to cr*cify the OP is it??

a*d si*ce whe* does o*e's ass get sweaty ..? *OT mi*e fers*re
a*d I DID me*tio* that hygie*e is of paramo**t importa*ce whe* doi*g co*sec*tive days.. weeks ridi*g

tha*k yo*

 

[Over The Hill]

Ohh...shoot.... it's a Flite...

OK....I have a Ti Flite on my Herety....vintage (the saddle and bike)...I know.....- erm it's OK, I did the Manchester 100 on it last year, fine , but it's a hard saddle..... TBH...I've got used to it now.....
They are hard saddles...
I really like my old skool Regal and Rolls, but they are silly prices these days.....
I'm not having a good realtionship with my Selle XO saddle on the fixed (flippin gel rubbish) so going for a Charge Knife.... less is more (honest).... i.e. traditional construction for my traditional (old) ass..........

Sorry but not sure what to make of "Ohh shoot its a Flite"!

I am fairly new to cycling (2 1/2 years). Started with a Halfords special and then just bought a road bike on ebay that looked OK.
I got the bike set up to me in LBS and we conculded it is a little bit big for me. LBS bloke said it was a decent saddle but I dont know much about either the bike or components. Bike is a Felt 85 and perhaps an entry level racing bike rather than tourning bike. I run it on fat tyres.
When I got it I thought the saddle was hard but really settled in easily with it. It is only now when I get back on the day after a 40 mile ride that it aches after six miles or so. I dont have enough experience to know what is what with bikes or bits of them.
As I am only a week away from the off I really cant start changing my saddle now but perhaps I could soften it slightly. The mouse mat on my desk here looks to be ideal. That and a bit of tape may do the trick!

 

[fossyant]

The Flite is a race saddle.....it's hard....I have one........although a million times better than the 'gel' saddle that was on my new fixed.......

TBH, I found the Flite fine when riding the Manchester 100 - it only hurts when really pushing it, but don't expect it to be the most comfy..... just give your butt a rest every so often, and get out of the saddle......

It won't put too much pressure on your soft bits - I've just changed a brand new saddle on my fixed as it was too 'rounded' - the flite is fairly flat, just hard on the sit bones....


You should be OK on it - see how you go....

 

[Steve Austin]

Flites are horrible saddles ime. not hard enough!

Ariones work for me. You could try some minty arse lard (assos chamois cream) or sudocreme.
BUT saddles are very personal things. If you are getting pain (not sores) its usually because you are not on the right saddle ie its too wide, too narrow, too hard, too soft, wrong shape etc.
It really is that simple.