Sore Bum!!!

[SoonToBeSkinny]

Been on the bike to and from work for the last two days. At the moment I'm just using a pair of football shorts for the commute. My bike has a gel seat but am still getting a sore bum! Aside from cellotaping a cushion to the bike what else can I do?

 

[top-tube]

Padded shorts - they make a world of difference. I usually get mine from Lidl/Aldi, so they needn't be expensive.

 

[Oxo]

Put the cushion inside your shorts! Or you could get some padded cycling shorts.

 

[brockers]

It's actually not compulsory to wear shorts when riding a bike! In fact it used to be considered damaging to the knees when riding around with bare legs under 17 ish degrees C. If you look at people who earn their living riding bikes, they'll still be sporting stretchy leggings or 'knee warmers' for training even when temps are up at 18-19 degrees. Buy a pair of cheap padded cycling shorts and wear them under your trousers if necessary. (Or some mountain-bike baggy shorts which have a padded insert for when it gets a bit warmer if you don't want to frighten the horses wearing by Lycra!This sort of thing)

 

[youngoldbloke]

^ & get rid of the gel saddle,

 

[Fubar]

+1 for padded shorts, ++1 for padded undercrackers (with nothing underneath, honest!) - put them both together...

 

[numbnuts]

Get rid of that gel saddle they are the worse thing you could have on a bike and get some padded cycle shorts

 

[Col5632]

Padded shorts or padded trousers make the world of difference and you would think a gel seat helps but due to the gel inside the seat moving it actually makes you more likely to get a sore bum (hoping to take my own advice soon and get a non gel saddle)

 

[Globalti]

As others have said you need a saddle that is correctly shaped rather than squishy. The correct shape of saddle will allow your pelvic sit bones to take the weight as they are designed to do whereas a squishy saddle will make you seaty and will chafe as all of your soft parts will be in contact with it.

A saddle I would recommend for an inexperienced rider is a Charge Spoon, very comfortably shaped and not too expensive.

Once you've got your saddle you will need to go out for some rides carrying an allen key so that you can adjust it and experiment. It can be adjusted up and down, fore and aft and the angle can be adjusted too.

Decent budget shorts are the bib shorts from dhb, the brand owned by Wiggle.co.uk

 

[raindog]

If you look at people who earn their living riding bikes, they'll still be sporting stretchy leggings or 'knee warmers' for training even when temps are up at 18-19 degrees.

I'm just watching the Tour de Romandie live on the telly and they've announced that it's between 8° and 10° - one or two riders have leg warmers on, but the great majority are in shorts.

I went to watch l'Etoile de Besseges in february, and on the top of the mountain where we were spectating the wind chill was -15° and a couple of guys in the peloton were wearing shorts only. Mind you, their legs were a sort of greyish purple colour.

 

[brockers]

I'm just watching the Tour de Romandie live on the telly and they've announced that it's between 8° and 10° - one or two riders have leg warmers on, but the great majority are in shorts.

I went to watch l'Etoile de Besseges in february, and on the top of the mountain where we were spectating the wind chill was -15° and a couple of guys in the peloton were wearing shorts only. Mind you, their legs were a sort of greyish purple colour.

As I said. Training. But thanks for the heads-up. I forgot that was on!

 

[musa]

and don't forget your sudocrem

 

[Beebo]

You just have to get your bum saddle hardened, it will take a week or so.

 

[MrJamie]

Your bum will probably get used to it and if youre not used to cycling i think as you spend more time pushing pedals and not sat with all your weight on the saddle it gets easier.

I really rate the Bioflex Ozone gel saddle on Wiggle though as it seems do others, I couldnt get used to normal hard saddles with my weight and vibration through my spine used to mean cycling would aggrevate lower back problems i have, maybe others are better but I couldnt fault it. That said, ive been tempted to give a Charge Spoon a go with people constantly recommending it

 

[KateK]

Your bum will get used to it..when I started 6 months ago I could barely sit down after 10 miles, now I can do 30 without cycling shorts without any after effects. Shorts are good, problem is they are a little intimidatingly pricey for good ones when you are just starting (although I am sure the guys here could recommend good ones) . I've used cheapo mtb ones (£13) from sports world for my longer ride each week for the last 3 months, they are OK for up to about 40miles for me but not brilliant as they have uniform depth padding. I am now going to try a pair of decent ones. One thing I found was when I was tired, or when cycling in too low a cadence, too high effort, I lacked the skill and energy to take more weight on my pedals over potholes etc so all the vibration was transmitted to my bum. As I got stronger and got to know the roads I was able to anticipate better.