More attention being given to saddles issues for women

[zoom-zoom]

NYT article.

[Owlie]

NYT article.

Well, it's about time.

Funny this should come up. I tried explaining to my boyfriend why I was considering buying a new saddle last week. It came down to "Well, of course it's going to cause damage! It's just that no one's looked into it for women because there isn't as obvious a sign that things aren't right...and men get very concerned when their parts don't work!"

[zoom-zoom]

Exactly. Because the disfunction of our parts isn't a visible thing it's easy to assume that disfunction doesn't exist. I'm starting to conclude that I simply cannot ride in as aggressive a position as the rest of me would like. I end up rolled too far forward onto sensitive tissues. Some saddles are better than others, but they all cause noticeable discomfort, primarily in the form of bad chafing. I don't have this issue with my cyclocross bike, which is a bit less aggressive than my road bike. It stinks, because the rest of me is perfectly happy riding in a relatively aero position (no neck, back, shoulder, hand pain), but the labial/clitoral irritation is becoming a total deal breaker.

I'd try a noseless saddle, but I know that I use my thighs a lot to stabilize and steer my bike.

[Antaresia]

I biked more than I ever have before on a 50km ride today (30 or so miles)

B17s on a cx frame, there was some irritation going on at the end that makes me question whether I'll ever be able to do the 100km.

question: how long does a ride need to be before you decide to put on the padded cycle shorts? I never thought I'd need a pair.

[lph]

question: how long does a ride need to be before you decide to put on the padded cycle shorts?

1 km

I used to ride without, but once I started riding regularly and for longer distances, I started having chafing problems. Tried padded shorts and never looked back. I now have six, and will only skip putting them on for a very short errand. Some people do ride without padded shorts in comfort, but the majority do wear them. If you're having any discomfort at all I'd say buy a pair as fast as you can, before you get any skin trouble that takes longer to heal.

[Catrin]

...
question: how long does a ride need to be before you decide to put on the padded cycle shorts? I never thought I'd need a pair.

1 mile Ok, I copied LPH but the point is I do not ride without bike shorts. Period. Do I HAVE to, probably not for shorter rides but the fact of the matter is when I need them, I need them. One doesn't have to wear lycra if you don't want to, there are separate liners you can buy to put under other shorts. I really like the liner for my Terry mtb shorts, and Terry also has a short ("Freedom"?) that doesn't fit like lycra but is an integrated short.

I do like the PI Cargo shorts - but HATE, HATE, HATE the 3D MTB chamois of the liner. Love the regular PI 3D chamois but the MTB version is just much too thin for me, or something.

[hebe]

I wear something padded on all rides other than very short errands on my comfort bike. You can also get padded "liners" that just go under your normal clothes for short rides. I'd go for proper padded shorts or tights for longer rides though, with a skirt or dress over if I was feeling a bit exposed.

Congrats on the ride!

[Melalvai]

question: how long does a ride need to be before you decide to put on the padded cycle shorts? I never thought I'd need a pair.

I agree that it's individual, but knowing what others' limits are is helpful in making an estimate of what your own limit might be. For me it's an hour. Any ride under an hour I'm fine without bike shorts. On days when I accumulate 10 miles or more in errands, I notice it at the end of the day.

On the other hand I biked for a few years before I even tried on a pair of bike shorts. I biked all the way to Omaha, NE and back (744 miles over 10 days) with regular shorts. If you have a perfect, comfortable saddle, bike shorts aren't as critical. (There was some chaffing, which was getting uncomfortable by the end of that trip.)

Then I discovered bike shorts and never looked back.

[bluebug32]

And I just realized that my Ruby saddle needed to be replaced because it was too old. So now the Toupe is on my bike. And the tenderness I was starting to feel has vanished.

You make a great point. I was going crazy last summer looking for a new saddle, when all I needed to do was replace the Toupe I had been using (and loved) for years. The key point is that you cannot love most saddles for years. Many break down and lose their shape faster than you think.

[OakLeaf]

Because the disfunction of our parts isn't a visible thing it's easy to assume that disfunction doesn't exist.

Visible to whom?? I guarantee when my parts were chafed literally as raw as hamburger pretty much all the time, it was plenty visible to anyone to whom it mattered, and none of it ever matters to anyone as much as it matters to the person who's getting saddle damage.

Owlie has it right. There's a large segment of the population - mostly male but sadly some female - to whom it just doesn't matter when women are in pain. Sadly, even serious life-threatening pain, as our politics is showing. Bike saddle pain isn't even on their radar.

how long does a ride need to be before you decide to put on the padded cycle shorts?

However long it needs to be for you. That question is no different from "what's the best saddle?"

In the more aero position on my roadie, I don't ride in anything but cycling shorts (except say a block or two test ride after doing some maintenance). In the more upright position on my hybrid, now that I've got a saddle that works for me (which was an old take-off, a saddle that didn't work so well for me on the road bike), I've been over 20 miles in jeans with a normal jeans waistband and a big stonkin' crotch seam, with no trouble at all. There are one or two women here on TE - granted a very small minority - who never wear cycling shorts at all. It's whatever works or doesn't work for your particular combination of anatomy, geometry and saddle.



Anyway, the article's answer to the whole issue is "get out of aero position and, if you need to, get a noseless saddle so you're way upright AND can't steer or balance properly either." Nothing suggesting that something in such direct contact with the human body might need to, like, actually, fit. It's completely typical of the NYT fitness reporters to identify a real problem and then tack on a conclusion that says, basically, don't exercise.

[zoom-zoom]

Visible to whom?? I guarantee when my parts were chafed literally as raw as hamburger pretty much all the time, it was plenty visible to anyone to whom it mattered, and none of it ever matters to anyone as much as it matters to the person who's getting saddle damage.

That's not quite what I meant. The issue guys are having is ED...since any sexual disfunction issues we have from time on a poorly fit saddle or bike isn't outwardly visible (talking nerve damage, not chafing), it's easy for some to assume that there's no trouble. If a guy can't get it up it's made up to be the end of the world...

And, yes, it definitely parallels what's happening re: barriers to women being able to get contraceptives to combat reproductive pain issues. Heaven forbid the boys can't get their ED meds covered...

[Owlie]

Zoom, that was pretty much what I meant. Well, there's nothing obviously wrong, so there's nothing wrong!

didn't[/I] work so well for me on the road bike), I've been over 20 miles in jeans with a normal jeans waistband and a big stonkin' crotch seam, with no trouble at all. There are one or two women here on TE - granted a very small minority - who never wear cycling shorts at all. It's whatever works or doesn't work for your particular combination of anatomy, geometry and saddle.

Anyway, the article's answer to the whole issue is "get out of aero position and, if you need to, get a noseless saddle so you're way upright AND can't steer or balance properly either." Nothing suggesting that something in such direct contact with the human body might need to, like, actually, fit. It's completely typical of the NYT fitness reporters to identify a real problem and then tack on a conclusion that says, basically, don't exercise.

That's what bugs me about it. "Eh, don't ride your bike. Take up running instead!" Nothing about "There are a ton of saddles available. Try them. It's expensive, but important." I for one could not do a noseless saddle.

[Kathi]

I found this website http://www.hab-it.com/ written by a PT who specializes in women's health issues. I was amazed to find out some things I didn't know about the female body, specifically the pelvic floor.

In the blog about Cardio here's what she says about bicycling.

"How about biking? Again, I like this exercise because of the position it puts your body in. A good bike fitting will require you to reach forward to your handle bars which will roll you forward onto your sitting tripod, which is your right sit bone, your left sit bone, and your pubic bone. This is a position that frees your tail bone from pressure and automatically activates your TA because of the forward reach of your arms."

The position she describes sounds like it puts more pressure on sensitive parts but I tried it on my first ten miles of the season and it doesn't at all. Yesterday my sit bones were a little sore but once I got going I felt good. Last year at the beginning of the season I was complaining about my saddle and thought I needed a new one. By the end of the season I couldn't ride without lower back pain. Using this posture I had no pain when I got off the bike. I'm a flat back posture and am still learning the neutral posture but I was able to hold onto it on my short rides.

The other benefit is I'm now using my leg/glute/core muscles instead of my lower back. My average speed went up 2 mph over last year without specific training even though I was just tooling around the neighborhood. Now I'm wondering if I need a change in my bike fit as I don't seem to be centered over the pedals any more.

I don't think this is a ploy to keep women from bicycling but I do think it's a lack of understanding of the way a woman's body works and the need for good posture to support the pelvic floor.

[GLC1968]

. It stinks, because the rest of me is perfectly happy riding in a relatively aero position (no neck, back, shoulder, hand pain), but the labial/clitoral irritation is becoming a total deal breaker.

I'd try a noseless saddle, but I know that I use my thighs a lot to stabilize and steer my bike.

I'm here to save you the trouble. As you know, our LB anatomy is very similar. The #1 reason I sold my tri bike? Soft tissue pain. I could NOT find a saddle that would work and frankly, it got to the point that I stopped wanting to try, so I gave up. I did try three noseless saddles and all three of them (two Adamo versions and one Cobb) were too wide in between my legs even though they had no true nose. The rubbing on my leg crease was worse than the soft-tissue pain on my InForm saddle! For whatever reason, I can ride in the drops on my road bike in comfort for MUCH longer than I could ride on the aerobars of my tri bike even though the position is about the same. The need to rotate my hips forward so much on the tri bike due to the geometry, made it just dreadful. I explained my pain and my worry about it to my fitter even before I'd bought the bike but he was convinced that we'd find a saddle that would work and that I shouldn't worry about it.

Don't get me wrong, my fitter was great. And he was understanding. But when every single saddle he had in his shop caused pain, I think he was getting frustrated. I even brought in my own to try and they didn't work either. I picked the InForm for the fitting because it was the most bearable...but who wants to ride that? I started to think that he was beginning to think I was making it up or exaggerating even though he never came out and said it.

Luckily, the InForm turned out to be perfect on my road bike so it was worth the effort to at least have found that!

[GLC1968]

Cobb 'use' chart for female cyclists. Hmm. You fit the description of the regular Max, not the Plus. This chart is for Time Trials, but the road appears to be the same.

Just FYI, I tried the Max and it was WAY too wide up front. I did not try the Plus and it looks narrower, so maybe that would be an option that might work for you?

I also tried the Adamo Podium and Road - in both cases, the two front rails were too wide apart and hurt in the leg crease something awful. I just noticed that they have a new one called the Prologue that might be worth trying. It looks narrower up front than the ones I tried.