Ouch my lady bits!

[Puffin]

I have always experienced a bit of discomfort in my lower regions when biking. I have experimented a bit with saddle postion and found that the specialised BG racing saddles are good both on and off road. On long rides I might get a bit of chafing, but nothing that Neils Yard baby bottom cream doesn't soothe over night.
However, I have recently got a road bike (riding a hybrid on the road before) and am doing some decent miles on it. Don't know if it is related to this but I have started feeling like my "lady bits" are being pressed into me with a hot iron, after only a few minutes on the saddle. Not great for performance! Is this something to do with the new riding position (I'm much more dropped on this bike) or have I developed a medical condition???
Em

[KnottedYet]

It's probably the position.

Try activating your "core" muscles more to keep your weight on your sit-bones rather than letting the pelvis flop forward so the weight is on your soft tissue and pubic bone.

If that doesn't help (or if your posture is already good) you might need a different saddle for the road bike. (one that supports your sit bones better, or one that is more "T" shaped -for the chafing-, or one with less padding, or one with a deeper/wider/softer/more magical cut out, etc.)

You said you've always experienced discomfort biking. Is it possible you've always been on a saddle that isn't quite perfect?

[Puffin]

Thanks for you reply, Knotted. I tried your suggestion of using my core muscles more on my ride home tonight. It did help but boy did it throw everything else out! Pulling in my stomach muscles and tiling my pelvis forwards means I am in a more upright postion and I need to bend my back in a higher place to be able to reach my hoods. Also, after several miles of it I felt my body dropping back into the easier bad position. 18 miles later and I think I might feel it tomorrow! I still don't feel that I am using my sit bones much, though. I will try moving my saddle forward, perhaps tilt the nose down further.
Finding the right saddle is such an expensive business, because once you've fitted it and tried it out - there's no returning it to the shop!
Anyway, thanks again for the tip.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

See if you can get a bike shop to raise your handlebars up a bit. They may even be able to put some "spacers" on to help do that. Raising your bars will help you tip your weight back more onto your sit bones.

[Puffin]

Won't that compromise my aerodynamics ? Do you have to be built in a special way to ride in a racy position?

[KnottedYet]

aerodynamics - the amount they'd likely raise your bars or rotate your bars is pretty minimal. it will change your weightbearing pattern more than it will change your aerodynamics (unless they REALLY raise them up with a new stem and such) If you are more comfortable with your bars up a bit, you will ride more efficiently and probably more powerfully. Muscle energy that is being spent "guarding" and trying to protect your sore bits is muscle energy that is NOT getting used to propel the bike!

Saddle - since your other bikes are also always causing you discomfort, my vote is leaning toward a saddle issue. Wallingford Bicycle Parts gives you 6 months, no questions asked, to try out saddles and return them. www.wallbike.com I've heard that Terry gives you 30 days. www.terrybicycles.com So, there are options that will let you try saddles and return them if they don't work right for you.

Built to race - you don't have to be built a special way to race, but your bike does! The bike needs to fit you, the components need to suit you, and such. Takes a while to fine tune the bike and your posture on it, but there's no one particular body type that one needs to be racy.

Edit: try to find a copy of Andy Pruitt's Complete Medical Guide for Cyclists. (or something like that title.) The book is great.

[Triskeliongirl]

An aside on the terry warranty, it only applies to saddles ordered directly from them, not in a store. I strongly recommend ordering a brooks from wallingford. If it doesn't work it can be returned. It sounds like maybe your saddle is too narrow, as you say that you don't feel that your sit bones are bearing your weight. So instead your soft tissue is, which could be the source of your pain. Hard to diagnose this over the internet but consistent with what you describe.

[Puffin]

Hey Girls
I found a great article about this issue:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/bicycles-fa...ection-14.html
About half way down, the author mentions bending from the waist and having her hips forward for comfort and aero.
I think you're right that I need to try a different saddle for this bike so I can rind in the position I feel best in. Maybe a larger cut out for my perhaps over generously proportioned "soft tissue"!

[VeloVT]

Unfortunately finding the right saddle is a matter of trial and error. Once you've tried a few you get a better idea of specifically what you like and what you don't. My saddles, for instance, don't have cutouts, because I actually don't do well with cutouts (my bike has a fairly racy position and I end up getting bruised by the edge of the cutout). Also, I ride a fairly narrow saddle, even though I have wide hips (I've never measured my sit bones, per se, but I definitely have a woman's proportions -- narrow waist and wide hips -- I'm NOT one of those girls with boy hips that I've always been jealous of... oh well, being a fashion model was never one of my aspirations anyway ...). I've tried wider saddles that I just didn't like as well... This set-up works for me, but doesn't work for lots of people. And it's just hard to know until you try.

One of my local bike shops has a "cast-off" saddle bin. They sell saddles from people who've immediately swapped the stock saddle on their new bikes for something else. Since the shop sells high-end bikes, some of the saddles are pretty nice and they are sold at a HUGE discount. You might look into whether any of the shops near you do anything like this.

Also, if you can get past the embarrassment of asking, the folks at your bike shop may be able to really with saddles. Of course, it still comes down to experimenting and finding what works best for YOU, but they have seen lots of saddles and lots of riders -- and probably ridden quite a few saddles as well -- and they usually have at the very least some helpful advice!

There are bunches of saddle threads here too, and that may be useful as well. But you can't decide academically what's going to work for you -- you ultimately have to try a few.

Good luck!!! Saddle pain is no fun.

[Puffin]

[QUOTE=KnottedYet;254655]
Wallingford Bicycle Parts gives you 6 months, no questions asked, to try out saddles and return them. www.wallbike.com
You know what's really weird - I live just around the corner from Wallingford in the UK!!!!

[mimitabby]

well, then if you're in the UK you can probably get a Brooks for a much better price than wallbikes can sell it.

[OakLeaf]

Maybe a larger cut out for my perhaps over generously proportioned "soft tissue"!

Ya, that's me too. My Terry Liberator Ti Race works well for me for that very reason, because of its large cutout, even though it's probably not wide enough for my sitz bones. Did you read that stuff last year about women having surgery because their, uh, "soft tissue" wasn't to porn star specs? There was a time - before they made the first saddles with cutouts - that I might've considered that surgery if I'd heard of it, although not for cosmetic reasons!

[pinkychique]

I have a terry saddle, and I've had great success with it. If you get it from REI, they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so if you don't like it after a while, you can still return it (I've heard stories of people returning dog-eaten shoes or ten year old jackets and getting brand new stuff because of the warranty!!)

Also, I've found that tipping the saddle nose slightly down makes a world of difference for a time trial position.