Sit bone pain

Dcully

So a few weeks ago i started back cycling after a couple of years out with knee issues.
I switched to a hardtail MTB and doing mostly offroad spins of 30-50k along canal banks,dirt tracks,forests etc and im really enjoying it but after a 40k totaly offroad spin last week i have a lot of sit bone pain.
I have very good cycling shorts, very good bike with a decent saddle [i know saddle could be the culprit] .
No saddle soreness on the skin or anything but 100% pain on sit bones.
I stayed off the bike for 2 days but went out for a ramble around the street with my 5yr old son just this evening and pain is as bad as ever.

Its clear now i need a longer period off the bike which is frustrating in itself but longterm is the more upright position of the MTB going to be an issue?
Anyone else suffer similar issue?

Im not finding much info online, , plenty about road bikes but not much about MTBs.

Its very frustrating after not long back at it and a totally different issue.

Lemming

Is the saddle the right width for your sit bones? It may be a very good saddle but if it doesn't fit it doesn't fit and you'll notice it sooner rather than later. I'd start with measuring the width of your sit bones first and starting from there as least you'll be informed whatever else happens.

Assuming the saddle is all good from a 'fit' perspective, maybe as you said with a switch to a different bike, could it be the saddle setup? i.e. how far forward or back on the rails it is and any associated pitch. Could also consider the reach from saddle to bars and what position you find yourself in on the bike as a result.

Tony04

If its not chaffing on the skin than the saddle is the right width. If your new to cycling your probably going to get some pain as your not used to it.

Has your bike been fitted?
Are the shorts padded?
Is it the oem saddle?

Dcully

Tony04 wrote: »

If its not chaffing on the skin than the saddle is the right width. If your new to cycling your probably going to get some pain as your not used to it.

Has your bike been fitted?
Are the shorts padded?
Is it the oem saddle?

Not new to cycling as such,lived on the road bike for 6 years until knee injury but yes on back a few weeks after 2 years away.

No bike fit
Yes very good quality shorts.
Saddle is the one that came with the bike so a generic giant saddle I assume but I've used giant saddles on my giant road bike previously and always pretty good but obviously not as good as s too quality one I would imagine.

I honestly think I might be over doing it so soon but I feel great out in the bike as I've been doing a lot of very long walks for many months previously so feeling very fit.
The novelty factor of being back cycling with no knee pain was making it hard to stay off the bike.
In the last 2 weeks I've put in about 300k 95 percent off-road with constant bouncing on the rear end over bumps that you wouldn't imagine could cause damage , obviously I'm out of the saddle for serious stuff.

I could be totally wrong but I'm hoping this is the case .

Schrodingercat

I had the exact same thing when I got my new bike recently. I gave it 2 months and it didn't get any easier. It was sore when I sat on any other bike after. I was blaming it on a different sitting position. Changed the saddle back to my old charge scoop, and the pain went away. I think they are now branded as Fabric scoop.

The charge spoon is great as well, and reasonably priced.


I hated the saddle that come with my Giant Trance (7 years ago) and had to change it as well.

Dcully

Schrodingercat wrote: »

I had the exact same thing when I got my new bike recently. I gave it 2 months and it didn't get any easier. It was sore when I sat on any other bike after. I was blaming it on a different sitting position. Changed the saddle back to my old charge scoop, and the pain went away. I think they are now branded as Fabric scoop.

The charge spoon is great as well, and reasonably priced.


I hated the saddle that come with my Giant Trance (7 years ago) and had to change it as well.

I actually used a charge spoon before on a road bike and it was excellent.

Tony04

You cant go wrong with the charge spoon for like 25€

150k a week is quite a lot and i even find when ive been off the mtb and only on the road bike for a while, my arms and shoulders ache a little in the morning.

Change the saddle first before you start messing with fit, especially if you have a history of knee problems

mad turnip

Not sure about what your issue is, but my opinion of giant saddles is quite low. I'm sure they have maybe a couple good saddles but I've come across several giant bikes with very subpar saddles (that said they were road bikes in the 1000e range).

Dcully

Tony04 wrote: »

You cant go wrong with the charge spoon for like 25€

150k a week is quite a lot and i even find when ive been off the mtb and only on the road bike for a while, my arms and shoulders ache a little in the morning.

Change the saddle first before you start messing with fit, especially if you have a history of knee problems

Just ordered a charge spoon, exact same one i had on my road bike which was very good so fingers crossed.
3-5 days delivery, maybe i should base that delivery as time off the bike to give this sitbone time to heal.
Not near as sore to sit on a chair as lastnight after a small spin.
Thanks all for input much appreciated.

Tony04

If the pain you describe is only a mild ache, from your body adapting to the new activity, id continue going out on the bike but maybe on slightly shorter spins. If it is unusually bad id obviously stop.

Anyway you can use the awful weather as an excuse

Biking is never a bad thing.

Dcully

Just to update, new saddle arrived.
I went out for a 19k spin on some back roads and no issues so far.

9 days off the bike helped too but early days.
I also lowered handle bars so I'm less upright so hopefully that helps too.

Tony04

Hopefully you didnt lower them to low as to put pressure on your bits, always satisfying fixing a bike fit problem yourself.