how long to "wear in" a new bike? (aka Help the saddle is hurting my girly bits!)

[OakLeaf]

Gloves are essential for when you are riding 25 mph and somehow fall and wind up skidding on your palms on asphalt. It's instinctual to put your hands out to break your fall, but it's not like falling while walking or even running. At higher speed, you can do horrible damage to your hands and wrists and nerves there, not to mention losing a lot of skin. PLEASE wear gloves- they are very important for safety.

+1 - but 15 mph is plenty fast to lose a whole lot of skin. Even if "all" you have is road rash and no permanent damage, losing all the skin off the palms of your hands can keep you from working or doing just about anything for a couple of weeks. The guy who built the frame for my race bike did just that - didn't put his gloves on for just a "little" commute across campus, wound up with both hands in bandages for way too long.


Re: your saddle - search this forum for saddle fitting. You can do a couple of tests at home to figure out how wide a saddle you need and whether you need a cut-out or not (not everyone does, and for those who don't, a cut-out can actually cause problems). There's still quite a bit of trial and error involved in finding your perfect saddle, but you can narrow your search considerably by knowing those two things.

Another thing that can cause you to slide forward on your saddle is having a "pear-shaped" saddle (gradual transition from butt to nose) when you need a more "T-shaped" one (sharp transition). That was my experience anyhow - as I pedaled, my thighs would pull my butt forward to the narrower part of the saddle, because when my legs are extended, I don't have that much space between my thighs.

[Biciclista]

My son ended up in ER (my 28 year old son) after a slow mo fall onto his hand off his bike. Nothing heals slower than a palm. He won't ride a bike without gloves, and he's a tough guy.

please get gloves

and as for your saddle, please get it fitted. what helped with MINE was to turn the saddle ever so slightly UP in the front, which keeps me on my sit bones. But if your saddle isn't really supporting you correctly anyway; that might not help.
Good luck; there are lots of better saddles; i ride a brooks.

[GLC1968]

Another thing that can cause you to slide forward on your saddle is having a "pear-shaped" saddle (gradual transition from butt to nose) when you need a more "T-shaped" one (sharp transition). That was my experience anyhow - as I pedaled, my thighs would pull my butt forward to the narrower part of the saddle, because when my legs are extended, I don't have that much space between my thighs.

Ditto this, I had the same problem. And even though I've got a bigger lower body than upper body, until I started biking, I had no idea that my pelvis is actually quite narrow and my sit bones are close together. I need a narrow saddle which is totally counter-intuitive based on my shape. You just never know until you take some measurements!

In addition to the advice given here, there is one more potential issue to think about. If you are finding yourself sitting on the front of your saddle more than back on your sit bones, it may be that your reach to the bars is too long and you instinctively scoot forward to compensate. Soooo many different things come into play when it comes to comfort on a road bike...if one tweak doesn't work, don't give up. You should not have to live with pain (at least, not that kind of pain!).

[lo123]

If you think you'd benefit from trying a different saddle, ask the folks you ride with. Before I bought my saddle, I tried several other riders' old saddles. I didn't end up getting any of them, but it did help me figure out what I was looking for in a saddle.

[Yelsel]

Bikes are sold with the expectation that you will change the saddle... just like pedals, saddle preferences are very individual. So the stock saddles are really cheap - yours retails for $35-40. So at least you don't have to feel like you're chucking away a gold mine. (But it does come as a surprise to have to budget for pedals and saddle... I'm lucky that the Bianchi stock saddle worked fine for me until about 50 miles, so I didn't need to look for a saddle for quite awhile).

[jusdooit]

Unfortunately this is a real trial and error experience. If the saddle company doesn't have a return policy (i.e. Bontrager) the lbs may. Also, is there more than the lbs you purchased from nearby? I'd be hesitant to go back to where I had been dismissed.
I was having a similar problem and went for a fitting yesterday. The lbs guy made several adjustments. They included moving the seat forward, tilting the nose down a tiny bit and a shorter stem. A question he asked was did the pressure get worse when in the drops or on the hoods than upright on the bars? If so it may be more of a distance problem than a saddle problem. Have yet to ride any distance with the changes, but I'm hopeful.

[OakLeaf]

Different saddles can completely change the way you sit on the bike. I'm experiencing this right now even with a saddle that's pretty similar to my old one. So IMO there's not a lot of point to a detailed fitting until you find a saddle that's at least close enough to live with for a while.

[aeiea]

Thanks for the advice all! I made a few adjustments based on your recommendations and it's better. Not perfect, but better.

One thing, though, is that someone passed by on his bike and said my bike seat seems pretty low. I told him that's the highest it could go where my toes could still reach the ground (I'm short and my legs are short). He seemed doubtful. Could seat height be affecting my hurty parts?

I really want to be able to stop and have at least my toes touch the ground. If I raise the seat higher, I think I'd get nervous.

[Cataboo]

Just checked a couple of my bikes - my smallest "road" bike that I commute on, I can barely clear flatfooted barefoot. I still touch the top tube, and I think that's a 43 cm surly frame. Obviously, with shoes on, I do better.

My litespeed, I don't clear barefoot. Stick me in shoes and I think I'd just barely touch the top tube.

If I was a guy, I might be in trouble.