seats and saddle sores

[suzbyrd]

I'm having serious trouble with my seat. It definitely takes the pressure off the middle parts but I am getting serious chafing and rubbing off of skin in my right groin area. I have used chammy cream and all kinds of lubricants. I have used different kinds of shorts. The rubbing is on the seam between the heavier padding and the lighter padding--or on some shorts it is where the padding ends and the short begins.

I am thinking about purchasing a new seat ( I hear the specialized Jett seat is a good one) and a new pair of shorts where the padding covers a larger area (Sugoi neo pro).

This is making my biking life miserable and takes all the fun out of it. I just don't want to ride if I am going to be so sore for 2 days after. I would love to ride a century or something, but if riding 15 makes me raw, then I have no chance at that milestone.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Artisan]

I know how you feel. I had issues with finding the right saddle too. I had ridden for over a year on the terry butterfly but when I started to go on longer rides(anything over 40) I was miserable. I tried a serfas seat out when I did a time trial recently and that was a total disaster, the plastic part in between the cutout tore me up.

I tried out the specialized jett and found it too hard on my sit bones. Right now I'm riding on a saddle that Kaian was nice enough to give to me, it's a LeMond with a cutout and is nicely padded in the nose area. I'm not sure it's my "perfect" saddle but it sure is comfy compared to others I've tried so far.

I don't really have any advice other than maybe try to purchase your saddle where they have a good return policy, that way if it's not working for you, you can return it, otherwise you might be stuck with an expensive mistake.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Try reading the large amount of experience in the threads titled "Favorite Saddles" and "Most hated Saddles". Plenty of collective experience there!

For myself- the worst pain I had was the 2 hour ride I rode on a loaner friend's "comfort saddle" with lots of foam padding. She told me "You're just going to LOVE this saddle, it's so soft and cushy!". Well after a cushy first 10 minutes, during the ensuing hour I was in horrific pain and the second hour I was simply totally numb and had to try to ride standing up. Torture!!!!
Got my own bike, and after a few days breaking it in, I find my UNPADDED leather Brooks saddle is just wonderful- we are molding slowly to each other in perfect harmony, like with a really good pair of leather shoes. No tortuous foam mounds to push back at my bones and bits. Don't know for sure why it works, but it does! Of course, everyone IS different.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Another thing to check on is the possibility that your chamois padding is too thick and bulky. I have very light padding and it's very comfortable for me that way.

[KnottedYet]

You might need a saddle that is shaped more like a "T" than a pear. On some folks, the gradual change from wide part to nose on a pear-shaped seat can cause some serious chafing.

(compare the Serfas Niva to the Brooks B67, and you'll see the difference between the two shapes)

[suzbyrd]

OK, so I moved the tip of my seat up and that helped tremendously. Only gave it a 10 mile test run, but I was encouraged. I also wore a pair of my husband's cycle shorts where the padding is a little differently placed (ie the seams in the chamois line up differently). Now the rubbing is in the middle (whew, I can handle THAT) but not terribly bad.

Thanks for the words of advice.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Maybe you should try a ride wearing something that has NO chamois padding- just so you can see if chamois padding is what is causing all your rubbing/chafing irritation problems. Maybe you need more of a smooth surface without padding that is thick/thin in various places.

I often go for 15 mile rides with no padding chamois at all and I don't have problems with having no padding. What I do is just wear some regular black stretch capri leggings and some cotton panties and (don't laugh)- a pantiliner. I found some thin extra-wide extra-long pantiliners and they totally cover over any panty crotch seams nicely and create just a very thin layer of smooth padding between me and the saddle. Works well for me, creates a seamless soft area and the edges of the liner are not near any pressure points as I ride. And they are disposable, so I don't have to keep washing my capris to death.
I don't know if this would work well for really long distances, but seems to work fine for every day type rides for me. It's cheap enough to try anyway. You could even try putting some chamois creme or coco butter on the pantiliner, though I don't put anything on it myself.

[Luci]

Ugh, I hear you. I went through a lot to find a good combo for me. While you are trying out your husband's shorts, don't rule out men's saddles too. I wound up with the Men's Liberator by Terry. Good luck!