questions

[Nycool]

Newbie here (thanks Nancy) and I am really curious as to who make a good afforable short? I don't want some super short shorts (just not my style) and most that I have seen locally all have little to no padding.

Then onto the seat. I have a Trek WSD 1500 and I know these seats aren't meant for comfort BUT the front of it is a bit uncomfortable in the crotch area. Is this just part of getting use to riding????


Thanks in advance.

[spazzdog]

Welcome to TE Nycool!

Do a couple of searches; one for shorts, one for saddle. There have been innumerable discussions on these topics. An easier way is to look at the main forum listing... There are specific listings for apparel and gear (Favorite Saddles being a topic under that heading).

Enjoy!

spazz

[RoadRaven]

Glad you dropped in to TE, Nycool

As Spazz said, do some searches on the site - heaps of discussion on both.
I'm guessing your seat will be to do with the angle and positioning - you'll see what I mean when you find the discussions

See you round!
Raven

[CorsairMac]

Welcome to the board Nycool! If you get a chance - there's a thread under open title "getting to know you".....gives ya an idea who we are and - if you're so inclined - tell us about you!

[abarensfeld7]

Hi Nycool--
I was having the same problem in that area of the seat (crotch hurting!). I adjusted my seat camber so that the nose was angled downwards more -- enough so that it looks a little weird when you look at the bike, like it's maybe tilted just a tad *too* far. But it isn't, and it works! Takes some of the pressure off or something.

[KSH]

As far as shorts goes... I will ONLY wear the Cannondale, 8-Panel, Chrono ones.

The padding is thick, and they have a 8" inseem (? spelling).

Not to mention that they DO NOT have that annoying plastic that hugs the thighs as a gripper... instead they have a nice elastic band that is covered with soft material. Yes, the legs stay in place.

So, my cellulite is covered, and they feel good!

Now, I have paid $80 for my 2 pairs... they are more expensive, but totally worth it!

[Nycool]

As far as shorts goes... I will ONLY wear the Cannondale, 8-Panel, Chrono ones.

The padding is thick, and they have a 8" inseem (? spelling).

Not to mention that they DO NOT have that annoying plastic that hugs the thighs as a gripper... instead they have a nice elastic band that is covered with soft material. Yes, the legs stay in place.

So, my cellulite is covered, and they feel good!

Now, I have paid $80 for my 2 pairs... they are more expensive, but totally worth it!

$80 for two pair isn't bad. The whole 80 for one pair that barely look bigger than a thong is what had me going :p

[Nycool]

Hi Nycool--
I was having the same problem in that area of the seat (crotch hurting!). I adjusted my seat camber so that the nose was angled downwards more -- enough so that it looks a little weird when you look at the bike, like it's maybe tilted just a tad *too* far. But it isn't, and it works! Takes some of the pressure off or something.

Sweet I will try to do that tomorrow since that is the only location that is *ahem* uncomfy

[KSH]

$80 for two pair isn't bad. The whole 80 for one pair that barely look bigger than a thong is what had me going :p

Eh... sorry... that is $80 for each one.

But, for what it's worth... they are much bigger than a thong! And they hold up!

[Nycool]

Eh... sorry... that is $80 for each one.

But, for what it's worth... they are much bigger than a thong! And they hold up!

/grumble why is every sport I get into expensive bah

[KSH]

/grumble why is every sport I get into expensive bah

Yea... I know... everything is so expensive in cycling!

I will say though, that these shorts are worth the money. Not having silicone leg grippers is the selling point alone for me.

And you know, until I had to do the MS150 (where I had to ride 2 days back to back)... I didn't even own more than 1 pair.

[doc]

Nycool,
Listen to spazz. Do the searches. My LBS strongly advised against tipping the nose of my saddle low enough that you could see it was tipped. They were right. I needed a cutout saddle. Terry butterfly to be exact.
As for shorts. Check out nashbar.com and performance.com

But most important, check out all the previous threads on these 2 topics. You'll learn more than you wanted to know!

[nuthatch]

Nycool,
My LBS strongly advised against tipping the nose of my saddle low enough that you could see it was tipped.

Slightly off topic but does anyone else here feel like they are sliding off the saddle and puting too much weight on their arms when their saddle is not tipped slightly up at the nose? Maybe I have too much "baggage" back there under my sit bones, but I tend to roll down to my tender parts if I don't tip that nose up a bit. I'm riding a Brooks B-17 (still very ouchie at 400 miles!) and a Selle Italia XO, so it must be me, not the saddles.

[Trek420]

nuthatch writes"anyone else here feel like they are sliding off the saddle and puting too much weight on their arms when their saddle is not tipped slightly up at the nose? .....I'm riding a Brooks B-17 (still very ouchie at 400 miles!) and a Selle Italia XO, so it must be me, not the saddles."

ah the elusive yet hard to acheive saddle/shorts/angle/height/weight balance kinda like balance between work/home/play ;-)

I *just* got a Sella Italia Womens saddle weeks before the AIDS Ride (I know, I know, don't change ANYTHING before a big ride) and it's very comfy.

If you look at your bike from the side is your seat parallel with the handlebars or even higher? That puts more weight on your arms but is more aero dynamic. My bike seat looks slightly lower than the bars, more upright position which is not just yanking the seatpost up, there's the whole stem ring thingies bit (someone more technical please help).

Then there's seat angle, again on the ride about the 3rd day i was feeling a tad bit smooshed there. Thanks Spazz who text messaged me (ain't technology grand folks?) to have the nose of the saddle tilted down by the fabulous volunteer bike techs from Cannondale. Visualy it's imperceptable but that teensy tiny itsy bitsy bit made all the difference, I feel fine.

I don't like to feel as if the saddle is tilted forward because I spin so like to slide my butt back when I climb instead of stand. The mechanics even asked me about that, the adjustment is almost imperceptable that way.

[spazzdog]

My saddle is about 4" higher than my handlebars. It is also level to the ground plane. Since it's split, I get no smooshing.

With Trek420, I had her drop the nose one click (those little jagged teeth - each tooth, I call a "click"). Glad it had a good result.

spazz

[fasteryet]

Spazz and I ride the same saddle (Koobi), and mine is also higher than my handlebars, but only about three inches. The one difference is that my seat tilts down very, very, slightly. How do I know? I use a level. I also had to work on the forward/aft position of the seat, about a millimeter at a time, to get it right. It took over a month. But now it's great. So play with positioning for a while.

[Nycool]

I bought a new saddle the Serfas Niva for women. 10000000x better already. That and my trico gel shorts(mine not his) solved the soreness problem. I did 8miles this morning and feel great. I didn't want to wait around hoping my seat would get comfy. Seats are cheap enough to try different ones. Besides mine came with a 90day comfort guarantee.

[Technotart]

I started out with a stock trek seat - too much padding - your bony areas mash down, pushing the padding in the middle UP into your softer parts. If you want a seat with padding, get one that has the most padding where your bones hit it. Cutouts are another awesome invention!