My saddle is killing me!

Martron

right i have been getting out on the bike more and more and the only thing really stopping me pumping out serious duistance is my saddle.

its the one that came with the bike ( raleigh hybrid urban something or other) now i know the bike is not a great one but thats besides the point.

is is a case i have it set up wrong? basically without going into the details........ numbness occurs!!

or perhaps someone can suggest another saddle .

thanks in advance

Flankerb

Do you have a good pair of cycling shorts with padding? It will take a while but eventually the pain and numbness will go away.

Beasty

As already mentioned, proper cycling shorts are probably the best thing to start with.

You may want to experiment with saddle height also.

There are, of course, plenty of options out there if you need a new saddle. You may wish to consider a gel one as these tend to be more comfortable than normal ones

(and before anyone starts suggesting female-specific options, this Matron is, I believe, of the male variety:D)

Lumen

First make sure your saddle is level.

IMO shorts are a bit of a distraction when dealing with saddle issues; quality shorts just defer the symptoms and slow down the feedback process.

Saddle choices are personal but depend a lot on the type of bike you're riding and the position you're riding it in.

Maybe look for a used saddle with a cutout, and avoid gel saddles.

Once your sit bones have become used to taking the load, a good saddle will feel immediately comfortable and no worse after many hours of riding.

Bluefoam

As always I recommend a charge spoon. Cheap and very comfortable.

Martron

:eek:yep i am of the male variety hence whyi am so concerned about the numbness:eek:

how does the height effect the comfort?

also the sit bones are coping alright with the saddle its just that after a while i am obviously leaning on some blood supply that is cutting off blood to " vital " organs.

for example i thought i had pins and needles in my toes.

my saddle is level .

always interested in cycling put never had this problem with any bike i had. need to sort it quick too.

whats a charge spoon?

Bluefoam

It's a saddle, you can get them on wiggle or evans. But if your losing feeling to your mickey i'd look into your saddle position and height too.

Martron

is there anywhere i can look to see how to set the height properly. leg rotation on the pedals seems comfortable.

Beasty

Martron wrote: »

is there anywhere i can look to see how to set the height properly. leg rotation on the pedals seems comfortable.

Sheldon has an article on "comfortable" saddles, including a section on height

Martron

right so, after reading that it sounds like it could be that my handle bars could be too low in relation to my saddle and also my saddle too low in relation to the pedals.

out with the tool kit tomorrow.......

problem is i am 6 foot 2 and the bike was the largest frame at the time for that bike..... i feel if i raise the saddle anymore i will look like a clown on a kids bike

iregk

I wouldn't say its causing sorness but last week about 80km in my saddle started to develop an annoing squeeking sound. As I'm peddling all the time and the body is constantly moving its happening all the time.

Time for a new one? The current one came wth the bike, looks quite cheap and has a few thousand km's in it at this stage.

Mr Velo

Investing in something like a pot of Assos Chamois Cream works absolute wonders also.

Lumen

Martron wrote: »

right so, after reading that it sounds like it could be that my handle bars could be too low in relation to my saddle and also my saddle too low in relation to the pedals.

I'm not sure where you got that from.

By all means apply some diligence to your saddle height, but I wouldn't expect that to have any bearing on numbness issues which are caused by pressure on nerves and blood vessels.

You just need to find a saddle that works for you.

Martron

it mentioned having an excessive reach to the handle bars can also cause the same problems.

anyway i will have a play around with it today and go for a cycle and see what comes of it.

thanks for all the help.

BostonB

Changing my saddle made a bit difference.

What bike are you using?

Martron

i adjusted the saddle today. its not too bad.

i have a raleigh urban 1

BostonB

Looks like an ok saddle. Its probably how you have everything adjusted.

http://www.nationalcycles.co.uk/avenir-sport-comfort-saddle.html

Martron

thats the saddle alright.

yeah i am changing bit bit by bit. its seems better today but might need more tweaking.

DirkVoodoo

Have a look at the "fizik spine concept", explained here.

It's a load of marketing hoo-dah (you are of course limited to fizik saddles) but the theory is interesting and it explains how spine shape and flexibility affects riding setup. Basically I had an Aliante, bought an Arione and discovered a lot of discomfort. Looked it up and it of course said I was suited to an Aliante as my backwards rotating pelvis (more upright) was putting a lot of pressure on the soft tissues.

Sometimes you can have all the fore/aft, height, tilt adjustment in the world but the saddle just won't be suited to your "shape". The article I linked might better help you pinpoint the problem.

Lumen

You shouldn't be changing your seat position to make the saddle feel more comfortable. That's arseways bike fit, IMO.

The saddle should be the last thing to sort out, after you've sorted out saddle height, fore-aft, reach, and handlebar height. All those factors are determined by important ergonomic things which have little to do with your arse, like knee and shoulder angles, spinal/hamstring flexibility, core strength and so on.

Part of the reason that saddle shape is personal is to do with the way the spacing of your sitbones changes as you rotate forward towards the handlebars - they get narrower. So a racing saddle is narrower than a touring saddle because in that position (whatever your anatomy) the section of your sitbones which contact the saddle are closer together.

So you should set your bike up right for your body and style of riding, then get a saddle which suits that position.

Bluefoam

Martron wrote: »

thats the saddle alright.

yeah i am changing bit bit by bit. its seems better today but might need more tweaking.

To be honest, I went through about 4 or 5 saddles trying to get comfortable & found big bouncy saddles with loads of features and cutouts and stuff did little for me. I have had two saddles since that were comfortable - one was €20 in the bike rack (don't know what make) & it has since been sold on the bike. My current saddle as mentioned previously is a Charge Spoon & is very comfortable even though it doesn't look much...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Charge_Spoon_Cromo_Rail_Saddle/5360029530/

jaqian

I put a new saddle on my bike a few months back, anyway I was getting pains in my left thigh and a little closer to home. I had an allen key with me and everytime I felt a pain, I tweaked the saddle a bit until the pain went away. Now tis very comfortable. If the bolts aren't tightened enough a level saddle can become very slightly un-level (is that a word?). So check every so often.

streacy

Having tried 4 different saddles (including a Brooks) on my road bike, this for me was the numbness cure:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=23428
Quite heavy and ugly as sin but solves the problem. It's not as comfortable as some saddles as it puts all the weight on the sit bones so maybe there's something out there that's a better compromise for you. I've since replaced it with a lighter (racier looking!) version of the same design and it's much the same but with less padding. The higher end ones get ridiculously expensive though.