The chamois cream is the cheap solution. Try that, then try a few different shorts, then I guess try changing the saddle. Again, your mileage may vary--this stuff is very individualistic.
The chamois cream is the cheap solution. Try that, then try a few different shorts, then I guess try changing the saddle. Again, your mileage may vary--this stuff is very individualistic.
At least I don't leave slime trails.
http://wholecog.wordpress.com/
2009 Giant Avail 3 |Specialized Jett 143
2013 Charge Filter Apex| Specialized Jett 143
1996(?) Giant Iguana 630|Specialized Riva
Saving for the next one...
I have the same bike as you (well... mine isn't a WSD and it is a 2009, so I don't know if it's exactly the same), and when I first started riding it after riding a mountain bike, I was having issues with tingling/numbness in the girly parts.
When I bought the bike, I had my sitbones measured to make sure I had the right size saddle, which it was. After a few rides, the discomfort pretty much stopped. I only have issues now if it's a longer ride on flat rough roads.
Give it a few more rides and perhaps try new shorts.
Just an odd note on the PI shorts... I have two pair that are different years of the "same" style short. The pad is different in both of them. I actually like the older ones better chamois wise, but the new ones fit better.
I have the 2010, but I actually got the men's version. The WSD were sold out and I liked it the best of all teh wother WSD bikes I tried.
It sounds like I need to get smaller shorts and some creme. Then I'll get used to the bike and then see about a new saddle. The LBS said I should give it about 20-30 miles to get used to the bike and then tweak the fit I already have.
Does your saddle fit you? Start there. A new saddle - even very slightly different - can completely change the way you sit on a bike, so I don't see any point to getting fitted until you've got a saddle you can ride on for a few thousand miles.
Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler
I was fitted on the bike already - seat position, height, reach etc - and at the bike shop it all felt great. Of course, I was wearing the extra layer of underwear thinking I might not keep the shorts. Took the underwear off today and within 30 min I have chaffing. The seat itself feels comfortable. My sit bones are nicely supported. There is some pressure on the front, but I'll probably end up switching to cut-outs, but I need to figure out this chafing first.
The men's stock Bontrager saddle is not famous for being fabulous.
If a saddle fits, you can wear just about anything and ride for 20 minutes. You could even ride naked.
Before you start spending money, get into a pair of regular ol' shorts (like you wear out hiking) and regular ol' underwear and ride for 20 minutes.
Does it feel better than the 20 minutes you rode earlier? If yes, the problem is the shorts.
If it feels worse, the problem could well be the saddle (no longer masked by the chamois)
Riding 20 minutes off and on using a trainer stand and getting a fitting is a completely different animal than riding your bike outside for 20 minutes. Don't use that in your data.
Tingling and burning and numbness are usually symptoms of nerve compression. If you already feel pressure at the front, and you're also getting nerve compression signs along the pudendal nerve distribution that persist after you get off the bike.... well, that's a problem. Most likely a weightbearing problem.
What is your outside-to-outside ischial tuberosity span? Is the men's saddle you're using at least a cm or two wider than that? What is your center-to-center span? Are the centers of the saddle cheeks the same span? Is the saddle the typical pear contour of most men's saddles? It could well be causing you to gradually move forward onto the narrower portion of the saddle as you ride, if you really need something more T shaped.
Whatever you are sitting on, if it is a too-narrow saddle or a too-narrow portion of a pear saddle, will cause you distress if it's making you weightbear on your pelvic floor or roll forward onto the pubic rami.
Last edited by KnottedYet; 06-12-2010 at 08:44 AM.
"If Americans want to live the American Dream, they should go to Denmark." - Richard Wilkinson
Can you try the saddle from your old bike on your new bike?
The change in geometry might make it not-the-perfect-saddle, but it could give you a little more information about what is happening.