Skinny girl chamois recs?

[KnottedYet]

Sounds like a saddle position, saddle fit, or posture problem.

You really should not be weightbearing on the pubic bone.

Ask your spinning instructor to help you set yourself up on the bike?

[Lucygoosie]

Sounds like a saddle position, saddle fit, or posture problem.

You really should not be weightbearing on the pubic bone.

Ask your spinning instructor to help you set yourself up on the bike?

Thanks for the response, but he did adjust the bike for me.

[malkin]

Was it uncomfortable while you were spinning or ok during, but painful after?

[Lucygoosie]

It was uncomfortable during and worse after. During the class I kept shifting around on the saddle, trying to find a comfortable position but there just wasn't one.

Bike seats were always problematic when I was a kid, too, come to think of it. The only thing that ever worked for me was one of those big banana seats. I was never able to tolerate the boys' bike seats.

Also, the more forward I leaned, the more painful it was on the saddle. Sitting straight up was the least uncomfortable position.

[OakLeaf]

Knott knows what she's talking about. If you can relieve the pressure by sitting up, that's a huge red flag that it's your posture that's the problem. Try sitting up to where it doesn't bother you, then leave your pelvis where it is when you come back down to the bars.

But another thought ... indoor bikes often come with really bizarre saddles that don't fit any known human being. If the saddle you were sitting on didn't allow you to put any of your weight where it's supposed to be, it's remotely possible it might've thrown you that far forward.

Do you have the same problem on your outdoor bike(s)? If not, does your gym give you the option of bringing your own saddle? I can't imagine a saddle fitting so poorly it would be contacting your pubic bone *without* giving you excruciating soft tissue chafing first - but we're all different down there.

[Lucygoosie]

Knott knows what she's talking about. If you can relieve the pressure by sitting up, that's a huge red flag that it's your posture that's the problem. Try sitting up to where it doesn't bother you, then leave your pelvis where it is when you come back down to the bars.

But another thought ... indoor bikes often come with really bizarre saddles that don't fit any known human being. If the saddle you were sitting on didn't allow you to put any of your weight where it's supposed to be, it's remotely possible it might've thrown you that far forward.

Do you have the same problem on your outdoor bike(s)? If not, does your gym give you the option of bringing your own saddle? I can't imagine a saddle fitting so poorly it would be contacting your pubic bone *without* giving you excruciating soft tissue chafing first - but we're all different down there.

I think you may well be right about the saddle of the indoor bike. They are very small. There was no position at all that was -comfortable- for me. Sitting upright was -less painful- but there was nothing that was painless. I can't see how any adjustment would change that.

My soft tissue really wasn't affected, but the painful area isn't under the girly soft tissue bits. It's further back, between the ischial tuberosities and the terminal front of the pubic bone.

In this diagram from Wikipedia, the painful area would be the lowest area of the 4 where the pubic bone meets the ischium. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lvis-pubis.jpg

Oh, and I don't have an outdoor bike. I haven't had since I was a kid.


I will ask if I can bring my own saddle but I suspect the answer will be no. I'd really like to add indoor cycling to my workout regime. But I'm a little afraid to try it again, because the pain has been so intense.

[dianne_1234]

In this diagram from Wikipedia, the painful area would be the lowest area of the 4 where the pubic bone meets the ischium. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lvis-pubis.jpg



I will ask if I can bring my own saddle but I suspect the answer will be no.

I think you've discovered a big part of your answer - sounds like the seat's too narrow!
I prefer my saddles to be at least 2cm wider than my sit bones, so it has a chance to actually support them.

I wonder if you offered to leave a wider seat on "your" spin bike they might permit it? That way you wouldn't be loosening and tightening the bolts every time, which I could imagine might be a reason they might initially be inclined to say no...?

[Lucygoosie]

Knott knows what she's talking about. If you can relieve the pressure by sitting up, that's a huge red flag that it's your posture that's the problem. Try sitting up to where it doesn't bother you, then leave your pelvis where it is when you come back down to the bars.

But another thought ... indoor bikes often come with really bizarre saddles that don't fit any known human being. If the saddle you were sitting on didn't allow you to put any of your weight where it's supposed to be, it's remotely possible it might've thrown you that far forward.

Do you have the same problem on your outdoor bike(s)? If not, does your gym give you the option of bringing your own saddle? I can't imagine a saddle fitting so poorly it would be contacting your pubic bone *without* giving you excruciating soft tissue chafing first - but we're all different down there.

Darn, I posted a reply but I think it got hung up in cyberspace. Here goes again, more or less.

I haven't had an outdoor bike since I was a kid, so I can't compare.

You might be onto something about the saddle at the class being the problem. The seats were teeny. I tried to push back to make better contact, but then my butt was overflowing off the back (and I'm very small, so it wasn't just extra tush, hehe). I wonder if my ischeal tuberosities are far enough apart that I couldn't make good contact with the seat, and I was thus resting on the lowest/furthest back part of my pubic bone (the part that fuses with the ischium).

That's where the pain was (when on the bike and off it) and would explain why the soft tissue (which is over the highest point of the pubic bone) was unaffected.

[KnottedYet]

Your butt should "overflow off the back."

The saddle is meant to contact your ischial tuberosities, not your buttocks.

Think of it as "perching" on the saddle, rather than "sitting" on it.