Which padded shorts for MY problem

[Dave7]

I'm thinking of thicker padding because......................
I wear "Funkier" padded shorts.
I have no problem with general comfort.
I dont get any numbness.
BUT..........
After, say, 20 miles the area just inside my sit bones** starts to get sore. I did a 35 miler on Friday and was able to do a 10 miler the next day (Saturday) and WAS going to do another 10 today but am too sore. It takes about 5 days to recover.
**I think the sit bones are what you rest on if, say, you sit on a flat bench. It is the area (soft tissue??) just inside both sit bones I have problems with.
Research tell me the thicker padding may help.
Any suggestions ??

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Thicker padding will not help. The area is called the perineum.

You need to change the saddle shape and hardness so that the saddle makes better contact with the sit bones and does not push into the perineum. For some people cut-away saddles work, for others just a different shape.

Your saddle must go harder, not softer and you must have less, not more padding.

If you think thick padding works for pressure areas, try this experiment. Take your thickest winter jacket with padding, lining, shell etc and pinch it, You'll see that under pressure, it is thin. However, it is bulky. So what thick padding does in a case like yours is that it doesn't raise the sit bones but bunches up in the perineum channel.

It is all counter-intuitive sometimes.

 

[Dave7]

Thicker padding will not help. The area is called the perineum.
.

Maybe I didn't quite explain properly...........I would need to draw a "bum" to help
As I said...........I dont get any numbness in the perineum.
If you put a finger on the perineum and move to the side of the sit bones (not UNDER the sit bones).........it is just that area where I have the problem.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

OK then, then your problem is plain old sitbone pressure and resultant bruising. If you change the saddle to contact at another point on the iliac crest, it will simply bruise somewhere else. Again, padding wont help. Go back to the experiment that exposes the apparent thickness of padding. When pressure is localized, padding becomes thin.

You need more mileage and perhaps a better saddle.

If your pain is from chafing, the problem is different, then the solution is lubricating lotions, potions and different padding. Definitely commando.

If your sore point presents as a painful spot and/or boil, the problem is ischemia, the same as bedsores. From continuous pressure on one point the bloodflow is interrupted and the tissue dies. This type of injury cannot be prevented with lotions.

Different saddles pressurize the points differently and we are not equally susceptible to all pressure point positions, so trying out different saddles may also work. But remember that mileage is the answer. If you lay off in winter, you have to start tempering your nethers all over again next season.

People who tell you that this or that saddle is the solution are giving you advice equivalent to who you should marry. It is just impossible to advise someone on choices that personal.

 

[Dave7]

OK then, then your problem is plain old sitbone pressure and resultant bruising.
You need more mileage and perhaps a better saddle.
Different saddles pressurize the points differently and we are not equally susceptible to all pressure point positions, so trying out different saddles may also work. But remember that mileage is the answer.
People who tell you that this or that saddle is the solution are giving you advice equivalent to who you should marry. It is just impossible to advise someone on choices that personal.

Again I thank you. You make some good points.
BUT
How does one get the mileage if, after a 35 miler, he needs 5/7 days for the pain to go?
Re' the saddle........I have a Fizik. On the previous (stolen) bike I had a £100 Sella Itallia and had the same problem on that.
What do you think of this saddle
http://kontactbike.com/

 

[Globalti]

Please post a photo of your bike taken from the side so that we can see your saddle setup. It may be all wrong.

 

[Dave7]

Please post a photo of your bike taken from the side so that we can see your saddle setup. It may be all wrong.

I will do that although as I am so comfortable everywhere else I will be (pleasantly) surprised it that gives me a solution.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Again I thank you. You make some good points.
BUT
How does one get the mileage if, after a 35 miler, he needs 5/7 days for the pain to go?
Re' the saddle........I have a Fizik. On the previous (stolen) bike I had a £100 Sella Itallia and had the same problem on that.
What do you think of this saddle
http://kontactbike.com/

Answer 1: HTFU
Answer 2: I decline to give you opinion of your wife or your saddle. Only your arse will know what saddle works for you.

 

[Lemond]

I had a proper saddle fitting a short while ago and it has made a whole world of difference comfort-wise. Also experimented with tyre pressures at the same time. Now more comfortable than ever before.

 

[Cuchilo]

Your saddle may just need to be moved a few mm back , forward , up , down , tilted to help so doesn't mean moving it from the position you are happy with . It could just be a little tweak .
Also is the soreness a sore as in blisters / rash rather than pain from sitting ?
I find the Funkier padding ok but not great ( for me )

 

[Crackle]

Another quite universal saddle which may work is the Specialized Toupe. Don't some Specialized shops have loan saddles in Bright yellow for you to try. If not a 2nd hand one on ebay might be worth a punt, at least you can sell it on for what you've bought it for.

 

[ColinJ]

Dave - are you significantly overweight?

I was, by about 4 or 5 stone, and I used to get painfully sore in the same way as you do in about the same distance.

I made minor adjustments to my saddle setup, and they helped a little. What completely fixed the problem was losing the surplus weight. I put it down to two factors - reduced the vast bulk pressing down on that small area and having less bum blubber to get squeezed about in the way that Yellow Saddle described over-padded saddles and shorts bunching up.

 

[coffeejo]

Dave - are you significantly overweight?

I was, by about 4 or 5 stone, and I used to get painfully sore in the same way as you do in about the same distance.

I made minor adjustments to my saddle setup, and they helped a little. What completely fixed the problem was losing the surplus weight. I put it down to two factors - reduced the vast bulk pressing down on that small area and having less bum blubber to get squeezed about in the way that Yellow Saddle described over-padded saddles and shorts bunching up.

I've put on a stone and have noticed the difference in comfort. Another incentive to lose it again.

 

[ayceejay]

Realising that we are all guessing I think you are talking about the fold at the top of the legs between scrotum and leg? If so this area is certainly problematic if you are carrying a few extra pounds. As I said I am guessing but I think the way to solve the problem I describe is to make sure this area is dry.

 

[Dave7]

I had a proper saddle fitting a short while ago and it has made a whole world of difference comfort-wise. Also experimented with tyre pressures at the same time. Now more comfortable than ever before.

Where did you have the saddle fitting ?
I ride at 80 psi which is the lower end of what my tyres say..............maybe I should try at 70psi...........what pressure do you ride at ??