Pump up your saddle

[Pat "5mph"]

On roads, I can cycle forever with only my natural padding
On canal paths and the likes, 5 hours is my maximum, auch!

 

[DEFENDER01]

I only cycle as part of my excercise regime, so I dress for the effort I will be putting in. Also having tried soggy saddles I have found like you have what works for us.

Fair comment but i just like to jump on my bike and go.

 

[DEFENDER01]

On roads, I can cycle forever with only my natural padding
On canal paths and the likes, 5 hours is my maximum, auch!

I dont have much natural padding so i compensate with a nice saddle.
Others compensate for a bad saddle by wearing padded shorts strange world.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Your chubby saddle will pain you once you start riding a bit further.
What did we say, 4 hours, what's that, about 40 miles at my speed, that's basically no distance.
My saddle is not a razor blade, let's say half of yours in bounciness and width.

 

[outlash]

I dont intend cycling for 4 hours i have transport with an engine for those trips.

You haven't really got this cycling 'thing' have you....

 

[DEFENDER01]

You haven't really got this cycling 'thing' have you....

Well yes i have.
We all have our preferences as to what type of cycle we ride for me its a M.T.B for others its a road bike.
I use mine as a way of exercising my knees and often take the old railway track which is around 15 miles.
Not that i do it on a regular basis but its a nice scenic unspoilt route with lots of wildlife a bit overgrown in places now but many use this route on cycles for that reason.
One of the old railway stations on route has now been turned into a coffee shop which is nice to stop for a break.
I didn't start cycling to do any marathons simply for the exercise we all own our cycles for different reasons
To say i dont get {this cycling 'thing' } is a bit unfair.

 

[Profpointy]

Although the expert advice above is sound pooh-poohing gell and padded saddles, I do disagree with implication that padded shorts are the answer.or even necessary. A good saddle, ie one that suits you, should be ok in ordinary trousers (maybe needing getting used to or breaking in). Special shorts are."a good thing" and I wear them myself, but not an answer to a poor saddle. Hey I cycled from maybe 25 or 30 years before bothering with cycle shorts, and whilst worth having are certainly not essential. By comparison when I bought a track pump I was amazed how good it was and see.that as a near essential

 

[screenman]

I can ride any of my bikes without padding, I seldom do though.

 

[outlash]

To say i dont get {this cycling 'thing' } is a bit unfair.

Well, so far you've baulked at everyone else's advice that this saddle isn't any good, and laughed at other's suggestions of proper saddles. There's a reason why saddles are shaped the way they are and that wide, inflatable saddles aren't commonplace. You've also made it clear that riding for any length of time with any regularity isn't for you either. TBH I can't say you come across as the most eager of cyclists.

 

[DEFENDER01]

Well, so far you've baulked at everyone else's advice that this saddle isn't any good, and laughed at other's suggestions of proper saddles. There's a reason why saddles are shaped the way they are and that wide, inflatable saddles aren't commonplace. You've also made it clear that riding for any length of time with any regularity isn't for you either. TBH I can't say you come across as the most eager of cyclists.

If you dont know the circumstances as to why some members dont / cant ride for those lengths of time then perhaps you should put your brain into gear before hitting the enter button on your keyboard.
When joining this group i stated the reason i have taken up cycling.
The reason was some time ago i was involved in a very bad motor cycle accident and nearly lost my leg as the injuries were so bad every bone in my right leg was shattered including my knee the accident was in 1971.
I was told that in time i would end up in a wheelchair possibly within 10 years yet here i am taking up cycling as a form of exercising my knees.
To say i have baulked at everyone else's advice is again not fair as everyone has reasons why we adapt our cycles to suit our circumstances.
I accept i never will be able to ride long distances but to do what i am doing is to me an achievement.
Fair enough you may not have known the full facts i accept that but dont knock everyone down before knowing the facts.

 

[Globalti]

Well, you did ask without mentioning the accident! And 99% of experienced cyclists would respond that a squidgy saddle is a bad thing.

 

[DEFENDER01]

Well, you did ask without mentioning the accident! And 99% of experienced cyclists would respond that a squidgy saddle is a bad thing.

I think the idea of what you call a squidgy saddle has been missed.
This one is as soft or hard as you like as it is adjustable i started off on the hard setting then found a setting that suited me.

 

[Dogtrousers]

You do raise an interesting point. A lot of riders (including me) ride with padded shorts. A lot of riders (including me) ride on hard surfaced saddles (B17 in my case).

But why not move the thin squidgy layer from your shorts to the saddle? A slightly padded backside onto a hard B17 would have the exactly same tush-leather interface as an unpadded backside onto a B17 with a foam layer. So why pad your bum and not the saddle?

I'll think about that next time I'm out riding.

 

[Col5632]

I don't claim to be a expert but a decent set of shorts reduces chaffing and are made in a way that keeps you comfortable for longer. I think with the amount of cycling @DEFENDER01 is doing then the saddle is not really going to make that much of a difference and if you find that saddle the answer then great but dismissing 'razor' saddles in my opinion is daft. There is a reason road bikes which are designed for doing lots of fast miles come with a 'razor' saddle

 

[Globalti]

You do raise an interesting point. A lot of riders (including me) ride with padded shorts. A lot of riders (including me) ride on hard surfaced saddles (B17 in my case).

But why not move the thin squidgy layer from your shorts to the saddle? A slightly padded backside onto a hard B17 would have the exactly same tush-leather interface as an unpadded backside onto a B17 with a foam layer. So why pad your bum and not the saddle?

I'll think about that next time I'm out riding.

Have a read of this, in particular post no. 4: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/can-we-talk-about-shorts-pads.182729/#post-3767605