Saddle, shorts or lube?

[malkin]

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.

[KnottedYet]

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.

Yeah, try that, too! There are a lot of things you can look at *before* you start spending money.

[tctrek]

If your Trek has one of those padded Bontrager saddles, I would bet money that is at least one of your issues. But too much leaning on your hands and pain between your shoulder blades could also be bike fit... I'm no fitting expert, but you shouldn't have that much discomfort on a 20 minute ride.

I have 2 Treks and even the Bontrager saddle on my Madone was a "gotta go". Pretty white saddle, but no way could I ride on it.

[TrekTheKaty]

I have a 2.1 and my first ride was on the stock Bontrager saddle (DH said, "try it. You might like it. It's white. It looks cool. BLAH) 40 miles and I couldn't ride for a week.

Ditch the saddle immediately.

PS. Hopefully, KnottedYet was kidding about riding naked. Don't try that. Not for amateurs (I've heard).

[GrandPrix]

specifically asking this of knottedyet since she seems to know so much

i have pelvic floor issues, lichen sclerosus and vestibulitis - the last 2 are under control more or less but the pelvic floor issues are currently being worked out in PT....

i LOVE cycling and am off the bike as of last week by order of my PT to let things calm down -

when i get back on the bike...how do i tell if the seat supports muscle or bone? what if i squirm around too much on it - sometimes i feel comfy and other times not?

ever heard of a custom saddle maker? i had heard about this from a friend....

thanks
: ) n

[KnottedYet]

specifically asking this of knottedyet since she seems to know so much

i have pelvic floor issues, lichen sclerosus and vestibulitis - the last 2 are under control more or less but the pelvic floor issues are currently being worked out in PT....

i LOVE cycling and am off the bike as of last week by order of my PT to let things calm down -

: ) n

Measure your sit bones.

Seriously. I work in pelvic rehab AND do bike fits. I'm totally obsessed with saddle fit and what a poor fit does to women.

I really hope your PT has advanced training in pelvic floor work. (trained by Kathe Wallace is a good sign, and yes, it's spelled "Kathe"). It would also be nice if they were trained in bike fitting (Michael Sylvester, Andy Pruitt, or Eric Moen are very good names, and teach all across the US.) I would also be ecstatic if your PT was cognizant of coccygeal dysfunction/derangement. Sounds like you've got it.

I think before you spring for a custom saddle, you really need to first find a commercial one that fits you. I do have to wonder if you have wider sit bones than can be supported by the saddles you've used, and your coccyx is getting wolloped via the tendons that anchor there because the saddles you've been on cause you to weightbear on the tendons of the floor rather than on the ischial tuberosities.

I could be completely wrong...

But please measure your sit bones!

(ETA: I assume you've already been cleared of celiac disease for the L.S.)

[KnottedYet]

Just realized part of my post probably didn't make sense.
Chronic vestibulitis and vulvodynia (and often even cystitis) have mechanical causes. Very often the cause is a coccygeal derangement, which makes all the tensions "off" in the pelvic floor.

(Imagine a group of people holding a parachute nice a taut, then one of them pulls extra hard on his bit and knocks everyone else off balance, distorts the parachute, and puts big wrinkles into it. That bad boy is the coccyx. Now the parachute doesn't work right. And it gets irritated.)

Vestibulitis plus diagnosed pelvic floor dysfunction is a big red flashing sign for a mechanical problem. LS is more an autoimmune issue, which can be kicked into high gear by the other two. But you want to rule out the standard autoimmune problems for that one first.

Your PT has pulled you from riding, thinking the saddle of the bike is contributing to the problem. Mechanical contribution time. Measure your sit bones.

[Groundhog]

[QUOTE=KnottedYet;520966]Measure your sit bones.

Seriously. I work in pelvic rehab AND do bike fits. I'm totally obsessed with saddle fit and what a poor fit does to women.

I really hope your PT has advanced training in pelvic floor work. (trained by Kathe Wallace is a good sign, and yes, it's spelled "Kathe"). It would also be nice if they were trained in bike fitting (Michael Sylvester, Andy Pruitt, or Eric Moen are very good names, and teach all across the US.) I would also be ecstatic if your PT was cognizant of coccygeal dysfunction/derangement. Sounds like you've got it.

I think before you spring for a custom saddle, you really need to first find a commercial one that fits you. I do have to wonder if you have wider sit bones than can be supported by the saddles you've used, and your coccyx is getting wolloped via the tendons that anchor there because the saddles you've been on cause you to weightbear on the tendons of the floor rather than on the ischial tuberosities.

I could be completely wrong...

But please measure your sit bones!

(ETA: I assume you've already been cleared of celiac disease for the L.S.)[/QUOTE]

KnottedYet, I'm always so happy when medical personnel are cognizant about the inpact of celiac and its interaction with other conditions. I have celiac and I swear that docs just think it's a "food-allergy" instead of an autoimmune disease that impacts many body systems and causes or interacts with many other conditions. Kudos to you to mentioning it!

[lo123]

I have 2 Treks and even the Bontrager saddle on my Madone was a "gotta go". Pretty white saddle, but no way could I ride on it.

Ditto. I HATE the Bontrager that came on my Madone. It's evil in my opinion

ultimately, saddles are a very personal decision though, so I'm sure there's somebody out there somewhere that actually likes the Bontrager saddle.

[jenniferh]

Thanks for the help everyone! I went today and tried on a bunch of new shorts. I realized my were WAY to big. I bought XL (I normally wear a US14). When I tried on the L and even a M they fit so much better. I went from feeling like I had a towel between my legs to just feeling like a form fitting padding. I ultimately bought the Terry Bella to try.

I'll go out tomorrow and try riding in regular shorts for a bit and see how everything feels. I'd switch to my hybrid saddle, but I hate it. It is a Terry Liberator and it is ok for teh first 5mi, but then it makes my girly tissue numb. I need to replace it, but I was planning on making that my "ride around teh neighborhood with the kids" bike so I'm going to get a huge cruiser padded seat.

Someone asked my outside-to-outside ischial tuberosity span?

I don't know...I don't have any pain in my sit bones. They feel supported and so I'm guessing that is pretty good fit. I did catch myself scooting back on the seat to ease the pressure on the front.

I'm going to try riding in street clothes tomorrow. If all is well then I'll test out the new shorts. If all is still well then I'll concider a new saddle next. I'm pretty sure when I start doing longer rides I'll want one since the stock saddle seems to be so hated

[KnottedYet]

Someone asked my outside-to-outside ischial tuberosity span?

I don't know...I don't have any pain in my sit bones. They feel supported and so I'm guessing that is pretty good fit. I did catch myself scooting back on the seat to ease the pressure on the front.

You wouldn't have pain in your sit bones from a poor saddle fit.
You would have pain in your vulvar area.

If you are scooting back to ease pressure off the front of your crotch, something about your saddle is wrong.

If you sit on a kitchen chair, does your vulva hurt after 20 minutes? Do you have burning pain sitting on a kitchen chair? When you stand up from a kitchen chair, does your crotch continue to hurt for hours?

No? That's because when you sit on a hard chair your weight is on your sit bones. A bike saddle that fits and is set up right should be no more uncomfortable than a hard kitchen chair. Your weight should be on the bones, just like it always is (they are tough).

Don't be frightened of measuring your own pelvis. It's easy.

After you get your measurements, check the cut-out test.

Terry Liberator shouldn't make you numb after 5 miles. No saddle should make you numb. The Terry doesn't fit you either. Either it's too narrow, or it's too pear shaped and you scooted forward on the Terry just like you did on the Bontrager. Terrys are notorious for being pear-shaped. (They are also sometimes over-padded, which can cause problems as well.)

[tiva]

Don't be frightened of measuring your own pelvis. It's easy.

Can you give me a link for doing this? I've tried and I keep getting different numbers.

I'm also having a problem with saddle pain--not on my vulva, but on the inside of my left sitz bone. I've tried 3 different saddles, different seat positions (slightly forward, slightly tipped down), and different shorts, and it's getting better, but it's not yet great. My old squishy serfa cutout on my hybrid bike feels just fine, however!

[Trek420]

..... I'm sure there's somebody out there somewhere that actually likes the Bontrager saddle.

.... but I've never met one

But seriously saddle preference is a very personal thing. My fave LBS offers a "no questions asked saddle exchange", love it or exchange it. I'm fickle and have changed favorite saddles over the years. With bike and saddle fit the ride's always been pain free.

[tzvia]

Boy, so many good responses and ideas here already and I think you are on the right track. Start with making sure you have comfortable pants/shorts. If using lycra shorts, they should fit (and I see you are good there now.) In winter, I can commute to work in jeans but in summer when it's hot I sweat and need to wear shorts with chamois to keep from chaffing.

You had an initial fit to the bike, so that gave you a good starting point.

Your stock saddle may be part of the problem (yea I agree with the others here on that one). The stock Bontrager saddles are too padded and not too comfy (they are not the much better Inform-and even those in WSD are way too padded IMO). More padding does not always mean more comfort, is is usually just the opposite. You don't want to sink in like on an old couch. That's not support.

Did you try your old saddle on the new bike yet?

Another thing to be conscious of when riding: how you sit. On most flat-bar type bikes, you are more upright, which puts you on the sit-bones and not the soft tissue. When put on a road bike with drop bars, it is easy to make the mistake of rolling the hips back to get bent down to reach the bars, basically flat back and levering down as opposed to sitting like on the flat-bar bike and bending at the lower back. This takes some getting used to, and good core strength to support yourself on the bones and not collapse your weight on to your hands. Rolling the hips back puts your soft parts on the saddle and can cause burning/chaffing/numbness.