Private Parts Issue

[sgraham]

I rode 52 miles Thursday on my bike..I ride an Orbea with a Terry gellisimo saddle..Love it..so during and after my ride, my left knee began to hurt in the front so I raised my seat maybe 1/4 inch. I rested a day and in the meantime bought aero bars for my bike...Couldn't wait to try them...Husband and I rode on Saturday morning.. 30 miles..Ok so I go to try my aero bars and when I use them my hips rock back and forth and this puts major friction on my "clit". The ride feels really good, bars and all, but I cannot take this rub..Even with chamois butter..No,Can, Do....My question is, should I change seats and get one with a slit down the whole seat, should I get a shorter saddle, and are there adjustments that I can do to fix this problem.. HELP>>> I know I am not the first that has had his problem..I am still sorta new at all of this and I figure this is the place to come to for suggestions on how to fix this...Any suggestions.... I actually moved my seat forward a fraction and went up with it some..My knee stopped hurting, but this doesn't work when I bend over to use the bars...What to do???? Help

[Miranda]

Well, I don't consider myself some mega seasoned rider, but I have had that pain. Whew... not fun. OK, a couple things come to mind...

Does your bike fit you? Correct frame size etc.? Have you been properly fitted, adjusted, etc. on your bike by a professional?

My old roadie girl was WAY too big for me. Much adjusting, many saddles, etc. never fixed it. Finally found a good fitter (as part suggestion from here on TE). The short of it was with my too big frame and too long top tube, I was always rolled too far forward on my pubic bone.

The aero bars put you in more rolled forward position. I'm not really qualified here to tell you all about the diff set ups for true tri bikes etc. But there are certain things that make that position work.

My new roadie girl is an Orbea Dama Onix TDF (*2* frame sizes smaller than my old bike). I upgraded my saddle model a bit to the tri-gel version.

Funny, I had tried a few Terry saddles on my old too big ride and hated them. Now, I love my saddle. It was the too big bike and rolling forward that was the issue... not all those saddles I tried and trashed. Though, saddle choice is VERY individual. I was shocked when I got off the test ride bike to see it was a Terry I had put on my "saddle hate" list previously.

I would start by getting a good fitting. Even if that means going to a diff shop besides where you bought your bike. Some of my lbs experiences have not been so great. This last bike was a 5hour round trip for the shop.

Btw... "no" you are not the first person to post about this pain...

To be exact... this very same type of post is what drove me to find the TE forum. Nothing like introducing yourself to peeps in sobbing desperation by starting out "hi... my name is Miranda... and I have bleeding abrasions on my labia minora.... for the love of gawd, someone help me... cuz I'm gettin no where with the lbs that took my $...".

Hope something works out soon!

[emily_in_nc]

If your hips rock back and forth when you ride, your saddle is too high.

Myself, I can't live without a cut-out in my saddle. I had a slightly different problem than you, though. For me, without a cut-out, it hurt to pee after a ride. Major irritation of the urethra. I ride and love Terry Butterfly and Selle Italia Lady Gel Flo saddles, but they are rather wide and not tri saddles. Perfect for me, tho!

Good luck! You should not be in pain...

[TrekTheKaty]

Is this a new bike for you? Did you work up to 30 miles gradually (add 5 a week)?

Everyone has given you great advice. Go to your LBS and get "fit." My well-intentioned DH couldn't do what the guy at the shop did with a plumb bob and stationary stand.

Also, try to make only one small change at a time. Moving the seat and adding aero bars is a lot of changes--hard to trouble shoot which is causing the problem(s).

[Zen]

If your hips rock back and forth when you ride, your saddle is too high.

That might alleviate the knee pain too.

[sgraham]

Yes my bike was fitted to me and yes my saddle has a long slit... It actually fits pretty well..I am beginning to think that aerobars should only be put on a Tri bike. I guess there is a difference in road bikes and Tri bikes, am I correct in this... Maybe I should just ride without the bars...It is definitely uncomfortable to ride with them on...Thanks for your comments...

[Cataboo]

You can use aero bars on a road bike without any pain - I've done it. Look at what angle your seat is at, you can drop the nose down slightly to try to alleviate things - but if you have too much of a tilt down, you're going to be sliding forward and putting more weight on your wrists (which doesn't quite matter if you're using aero bars)

I also agree if your hips are moving that much - your seat is probably too high. Or your seat is too wide, if it's too wide, your hips can rock - narrower saddles are recommended for aero positions than upright position (if you look at the charts on the specialized.com website, you can measure your sit bones and they'll give you a recommendation for what width saddle you need depending on whether you're riding aero or upright.)

You may need a different saddle if you want to ride comfortably in the aero position.

If you're having knee pain without raising your seat - maybe check your fit, your cleats may need to move backward or forward, your seat may need to move forward or back, etc.... but your hips shouldn't be rocking. Do you end up pointing your toes?

[Suechoccy]

Either saddle is too high or tribars are too far in front of you, either way leading to you rocking/rolling in the saddle as you strain to reach them.

Plus the aero position does put more pressure on the clit area because you're in a more pelvis-rolled-forward position.

Defo just change one thing at a time. Put saddle back where it was, see if that's better. Try out over several short rides.

I am an ISM Adamo saddle fan (see my other post). Expensive but if you can get a free trial first, worth it.

[SadieKate]

Yes my bike was fitted to me and yes my saddle has a long slit... It actually fits pretty well..I am beginning to think that aerobars should only be put on a Tri bike. I guess there is a difference in road bikes and Tri bikes, am I correct in this... Maybe I should just ride without the bars...It is definitely uncomfortable to ride with them on...Thanks for your comments...

Road and tri bikes have very different geometry.

If you had your bike fitted using drop bars and have now added aero bars, it is likely your fit is now completely off. You will probably need to move your saddle forward accomodating appropriately for saddle height. You may need to reverse the seat post to do this and you may decide you need a different saddle for the purpose. You can always set up a seatpost/saddle combo that you swap out as necessary so you don't screw up the saddle position when you add/remove the aero bars.

Using a road bike this way can mean a lot of weight on the front of a road bike, so be careful with the handling. This is one of the reasons for tri-specific bikes - to balance your weight properly in this extreme forward position.