Painful lady bits - any suggestions please!

[HappyAnn]

Hi. I started riding again after a 10 year absence. I have 2 great bikes (my husband is already a keen road and mountain biker) but I am finding it difficult to really enjoy my riding because of the issue with my lady bits. I have padded shorts but am still getting cysts and chafing whenever I ride. I really want to solve this as it's getting in the way of my enjoyment and I am dreading getting on my bikes. I want to get fit but I want to enjoy it as well.

Is this just me or has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions about saddles, shorts or shields (?) would be really welcome so that I can truly be HappyAnn!

Current road bike is a Merida Juliet racing bike (2014) with the saddle that came with it. The issue is not so great with the mountain bike as you don't sit hard for so long. It's tough on the road bike with the long uphill slogs.

[Sky King]

numerous, numerous threads here with great suggestions, use the search tool. You can probably even use the words "lady bits"

[Blueberry]

Lady Bits Search.

How to and Saddle Search.

How to and Shorts Search.

[nuliajuk]

As noted, there are many, many threads on this topic. A summary of advice:
- Make sure the bike is set up correctly. Especially make sure that the saddle isn't too high, as that can cause chafing as your pelvis rotates around the saddle. (Your toes should not be pointing downward at the bottom of the pedal stroke.)
- You may have to try several saddles, and the one that came with the bike isn't necessarily the best one for you.
- Try to find a shop that will either have test saddles to take home or will take back a saddle within a set period of time if it doesn't work out.
My personal recommendation is to try an SMP saddle, but only if you can take a tester home to try before buying.

[marni]

just another thought since I didn't see it mentioned in your recent summary. Have you considered using some chamois butter, smeared liberally on your lady bits, not on the shorts. I seldom ride without it as I find that if I am chaffing, it provides a barrier between the sore spot and the sweat and dampness of exertion. My favorite is Assos although I also carry a small packet of Chamois Butter to apply id ride or if I use the facilities.

[cocolea4]

ISM Adamo Road - no chaffing and no lady bits pressure or numbness.

Just Purchased a selle smp dynamic from competitive cyclist. They have a good return policy. I don't have a local shop to try out a demo. Went for a casual ride today, without bike shorts and it was great. I'm testing it out next weekend on a 60 mile ride so I hopefully it will go well.

I've tried multiple saddles. The ism and selle smp are the only two so far that haven't given me any problems.

I'll report back after next weekend.

I hope you can work out your saddle issues

[cocolea4]

Also, check out the first article comment from the link below.

http://www.active.com/cycling/articl...plained-873640

It's an excerpt taken from a book titled The Female Cyclist