Tricks for keeping the 'bits' happy

[KnottedYet]

When I first put the saddle on the bike, I got a lot of snickers about putting a cruiser saddle on my go-fast road bike. Now that it is broken in and the sit area is dented, the snickerers are silenced.

That was the part I didn't expect: the cachet of the dented and worn leather saddle.

Even my beloved B67 with springs gets respect from folks who know bikes. Leather doesn't lie. If your leather saddle is broken-in and showing wear, then clearly that puppy is being ridden.

(my oldest Brooks B67 is only 5 years old. By the time it's 30 years old like Biciclista's B66, why that saddle will look REALLY cool!)

[Catrin]

4. You were measured for sitbones at the shop? I've heard of a couple of people doing that, then trying at home and discovering the shop was off by 30 mm. Perhaps try this at home just to double-check?......

I am one of those people and they were off quite a bit. Nothing wrong with checking for yourself just to be sure - personally I found the play-doh method (making your own with flour, salt and water) to be simple and effective. Also easy to read afterwards

There are whole threads here about difference methods check your sit-bone width - here is a good one but there are plenty of others.

[OakLeaf]

I'm not criticizing what's working for the OP, with her doctor's blessing.

I did suggest that maybe there was something mechanical or systemic contributing to her issues that could be remedied less invasively. Even if the doctor is a cyclist, not all cyclists have the wealth of collective knowledge and experience that this board offers.

What I wasn't thrilled about was the tone of the post, advising intense chemical warfare as the #1 best solution for everyone.

Everyone DOES have to find her own solution, but choosing drugs as the FIRST thing to try is as wrong here as it is in psychiatry.

[shootingstar]

What I wasn't thrilled about was the tone of the post, advising intense chemical warfare as the #1 best solution for everyone.

Everyone DOES have to find her own solution, but choosing drugs as the FIRST thing to try is as wrong here as it is in psychiatry.

Agree. OP needs to recognize how rare her physician's advice is to use that particular type of drug even though I realize she spent time investigating other solutions initially.

I still wouldn't use that type of drug regularily in the women's nether regions/crotch for cycling long hrs. Some of us cycle for several hrs. up and down some hills several days per wk.

This is important, because newbie women looked to experienced women cyclists for safe, sound advice when returning to cyling.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Thanks, Lisa...
And thanks for the Anti-Monkey Butt powder suggestion (that was you?).

Yes that was me. But I hope you made sure to get the one made entirely from organic monkeys.
(JUST KIDDING!) lol!

...if ever there were something that's different for everyone, it's the "bits."

A classic new TE QUOTE OF THE MONTH!
Would make a great bike bumper sticker, but it'd be awful small.

personally I found the play-doh method (making your own with flour, salt and water) to be simple and effective. Also easy to read afterwards

Easy to read afterwards? Then you should use Silly Putty and put the comic section under neath when you sit down on it to make your sitbone print. Then after you get the measurement, you can read the comics and stretch D ick Tracy and Orphan Annie into wacky faces.

(note I inserted a space in the word "D ick", otherwise the forum software censors it into ****.) Sheesh.

[ny biker]

Easy to read afterwards? Then you should use Silly Putty and put the comic section under neath when you sit down on it to make your sitbone print. Then after you get the measurement, you can read the comics and stretch D ick Tracy and Orphan Annie into wacky faces.

This sounds much more fun than putting the folded yoga mat on the dining room table and sitting on it for 5 minutes while playing word games on my phone to waste time...

[OakLeaf]

Can you tell my fortune?

[SpinSpinSugar]

[BEGIN RANT]

Wow.. I'm utterly shocked by the level of intensity of the responses received from this post. Generally speaking I have very few female friends because of situations just like this thread. I simply don't get it.

It's a F*(^&^**G Urinary tract numbing pill!! Get a grip! We're not talking laxative abuse here. I'm not suggesting anything more extreme than taking a few ibuprofin before a long ride to help with aches and pains. (Which I'm sure more than a few on this forum do without a second thought.)

My diet is excellent. I am a healthy, fit, 35 yr old woman, 145lbs 5'5" tall - size 8 pants. For 7 of the last 8 years I never even went to the DR. - I had no health insurance. Common sense use of self treatment kept me well and functioning properly. Amazing how little actually goes wrong with a person if you can't run to the Dr for every little sniffle or ache.

Yes, I have tried so many saddles that my riding group joke about it. I've learned that FLAT saddles with a large cutout usually feel great up front, but KILL my sitbones or give me lower back pain within 20 miles or so. Saddles with a cutout and a curve to them (specialized sonoma) and a full/wide back feel the best on my sitbones and lower back but usually the nose is too wide and the sides of the cutout bruise my labia.

So far the brooks B17 Imperial (mens) has been the most comfortable - great on the backside, passable on the front after loosening the tension so it has more give. But after an hour or two, no matter what the tissue gets sweaty, things slip around and then the pinching chafing begins and shortly after the burning.

If I take the AZO, nothing gets inflamed despite the sliding and pinching and in a few hours it runs it's course and is out of my system. No residual pain or inflammation, no harm done. PERIOD.

Don't make a mountain out of a molehill ladies. Seriously. [/END RANT]