Saddle Discomfort and Lady Bits

[VGS]

Hi folks, I'm brand new here and I've got more info on here in the last few minutes than I have had in the last two months from my bike shop and bike nut husband.

I've only recently taken up road biking in anticipation of a big event I've got in a months time. I got a Trek 1.2 WSD and love it but am now on a test saddle trying that out. I get a cut between my inner and outer ladybits and abrasions elsewhere on them I believe purely because they are much larger than normal. Of course I don't want to have such discussions with the nice man at my local bike shop and I certainly ain't going to show him.

I am going in for an event that will be 81 miles and mostly I'd been doing 40 mile training runs but recovering quickly. At the weekend however I did 68 miles. After 15 I had to stop and adjust the saddle and borrow a friend's gel seat cover. Felt like I had a boat between my legs but I got round OK. Trouble is I also got a burning pain between my shoulder blades. After I got back I recovered pretty quickly but went out on a 28 mile ride three days later and I'm in agony. Cuts everywhere and my neck and vertebrae feel like there is something wriggling around in there coupled with the burning.

I feel really because my legs are fine and I'm really getting into the rides but I'm scared to get back on the bike because of the pain elsewhere. I've only got a month to go before the event. My bike is in for some nipping and tweaking to the handlebars to try to remedy the neck pain but it's now 2 days since my last ride and it's still burning.

[ZenSojourner]

1) what are you wearing in the way of shorts/tights?

and

2) what's the old saddle, and what saddle are you currently testing?

[VGS]

I've got Scott female specific 3/4 cycling shorts

The old saddle was a Bontrager one which came with the bike

The test one is by velo (I think) but it's much fatter. At first I thought it was OK but now I just don't know.

[ZenSojourner]

Check out some Terry saddles. You can get a Terry saddle to try for 30 days with no questions asked return privileges. You might ask on the Terry forums about your problem too, they're at

http://forums.terrybicycles.com/index.php

One of the Liberators might be your best bet. According to the blurbs, they have a "larger cutaway".

Riding the wrong saddle is sheer torture. When I tried to ride the Terry Butterfly Ti, which is a "better" saddle than the Butterfly CrMo that came on the bike, I was miserable. I'm glad the CrMo worked for me because the thought of testing saddle after saddle to find the "right" one (or at least A right one) curdles my blood. In that case I was better of sticking to the saddle I already had, thank goodness the first saddle I tried was a keeper.

[cylegoddess]

I found also, that, rather than thinking of sitting on saddle, I think of myself as three point contact - buns, feet, hands. Then weight is more even. Thats holding me until new saddle arrives.( selle SMP mens, as I have a skinny pelvis, being petite and small boned.)
Also, skinny chix will well, 'stick out' more down there. As well as comfy girls. So either end of spectrum, your going to have to get special saddle.

I still dont know what to do about shorts( other thread). Nothing works!

[crankmaster]

My problem doesn't seem to be one that has been mentioned before, so I hope for some new suggestions.

I was one of the lucky people who had a good bike shop who insisted that my first saddle would be the ladies selle italia, so until buying a time trial bike I haven't had any difficulty. Now on my new bike with a selle italia ladies SLK saddle, I keep on getting a rubbed spot above the labia in the area where there is no hair - only on the right side though. I've solved pressure problems by tilting my saddle down 5 degrees, and I've put a new chamois in my skin suit (the old one was a men's chamois with a seam which I thought was causing the rubbing), but on today's 40 km time trial after 30 km I could feel that I'd rubbed the area raw again. When I'm not in the aero posistion this spot doesn't rub, so it's definitely due to being in the position where I'm rotated over and down more.

The guys use saddles with very soft noses, but after trying 3 of these, I find that I have to have the cutout to relieve pressure, but that isn't helping with the friction 'burn'.

Any suggestions