Is it Me? Or is it Something About the Bike?

[Kano]

First -- I've been reading the forum, learning lots, thank you all, and now I have a question I haven't seen yet (of course, there's LOTS of information here to sift through!)

Last year, hubby and I got our old (late 80's) bikes out of the shed, dusted them off, and rode on weekends. I changed hand-grips and seat, and bought some gloves. Things were pretty good. After seeing some mighty "sloppy" guys riding around in lycra, I figured I could be seen in that stuff too, and it was okay to invest in at least a cheap pair of bike shorts, and things were even better.

Fast forward to this spring: We shopped most of April, and the end result is new bikes, Specialized Expedition, the sport model. They call 'em comfort bikes, and aside from the comfort seat I'm quite happily attached to my new bike, and like this new activity a LOT! Kind of a hybrid thing, we sit pretty up-right, and they've got relatively knobby tires, but smoothish in the centers for on the roads. Might outgrow it in a couple of years, but it's a good place for us to start, given the last 20 years of sloth!

So, you might have gathered: that comfort seat, I'm not impressed!

First issue: it's got springs. They squeak, which is annoying as all get out! ALMOST as annoying as my personal comfort level. The seat is a bit too wide, which isn't unbearable, but the MOST uncomfortable part of the seat has to be the back edge. After last weekend's rides, about 30 miles worth, I decided to put the seat from my old bike on the new bike.

No springs on the Serfas Reactive Gel seat, and that's a HUGE improvement.

(Nothing quite like being a heavy rider and having your bike complaining constantly!)

Sit bones are pretty much okay, girlie bits (yes, I'm learning this bike speak quickly! ) could use some improvement, but so far, that's not my big complaint. It's still the back edge of the seat. I can sit on my sit bones forever, but my tailbone and adjacent b**t-parts, YIKES!

So -- the point: Before I go off to the bike shop to talk with the bike guys again, does anyone have any suggestions for either bike adjustments, me adjustments, or the sort of seat I should be looking at? (cut away for the girlie bits is a given)

If it helps, I'm riding at least three days during the week, anywhere from five to ten miles each ride, and both Saturday and Sunday, trying to push myself extra hard, though I'm riding with hubby and one of his friends, and he seems to wear out first, insisting that _I_ must be tired!

(not so important question: if a girl were in Hillsboro for a few days in the middle of July, how would she go about finding this TE store she's been hearing so much about? Is it a storefront where she could shop to her heart's content? She might just consider driving instead of flying!)

Thanks so much ladies for EVERYTHING I've learned so far!

Karen in Boise

[KnottedYet]

Seat:

Is your seat really wide enough? Can you measure the distance from the outside edge of each sit-bone, and is the seat as wide or a little wider than that? I'm wondering if you're sitting waaaay back on your seat to get the width you need.

You shouldn't be weight-bearing on the back edge of the seat. Your tailbone shouldn't be contacting the seat at all, even if you're sitting upright.

Is it your posture? Are you sitting with a rounded lower back (forcing your pelvis into a posterior tilt, which makes you weightbear on the tailbone) or is your back straight? Try straightening or even "arching" your back, does your tailbone come away from the seat?

Is it the seat position? Do you need to slide the seat back a little bit, to center it where your body wants to perch? Perhaps it is slid too far forward, but your body is still trying to sit where it wants the seat to be, so you're landing on the back edge of the seat.

TE shopping:
I get all my TE stuff through the website (upper left corner of the screen, "click to shop"). If there's a storefront somewhere, I wanna know!

[Dok-torr]

I agree! I cannot make my tail bone touch my saddle even if I try. Are you perching too far forward on it? You did right to change from the wider saddle as that pushes you forwards on the seat and therefore putting your tail bone closer to it.
If your shoulders, knees and feet are all in a vertical line with your pedal in the forward position, I cannot see how you could have your pelvis tilted upright enough to do this, it has to be tilted slightly forwards and that should lift your coccyx (lets be technical) off the saddle.
Now, some people do have a forward pointing coccyx and maybe you are one of those? Even so, I am sure that a propper bike fit should sort out
Please have a sit on it and look where you are on the seat, where the rest of you is in relation to it etc.
I am intrigued.

[Tater]

I am thinking move the seat back a bit as well.

Off topic: Another Boise rider!! I live in Meridian!

[Nanci]

Maybe with such a big squooshy saddle you're sinking into it and that is how you're getting pressure on the tailbone.

http://www.serfas.com/comfort_saddle...tive_all.shtml

It seems counterintuitive, but a firmer saddle is more comfortable for most people, since it supports you correctly instead of trying to cushion you. Can you borrow a more traditional bike seat from someone and see if it feels better?

Nanci

[Kano]

Knotted -- the "stock" seat is wide as a house and noisy as all get out. Sliding back on it was like, NO ONE has sit bones that wide! (think tractor seat....) I do know that I was trying to sit farther back on it, since something about it wasn't working well. First attempt at fixing the whole seat issue, I was talking with one fo the guys in the LBS service dept. about continually scooching back, so he moved that seat back as far as possible. This fixed the scooching back issue, but oh, my butt!, and the squeaking springs.... (think cheap hotel room -- the one next door, where you can't sleep because...) On the other hand, Earl has that icky seat too, and I can usually tell where he is since he squeaks just as badly! (I wonder how long until he realizes he could change that thing out too?)

Posture is definitely something to look at -- arching my back is EASY, since I have a sway already. the other direction is somewhat of a challenge, and I couldn't be doing that for 20 miles without some serious pain in other parts of me!

Dok-torr -- Picture me out in the garage, checking foot/knee/shoulder alignment using my big ol' Durango as a balance -- in my jammies! Shoulders are a bit back, but other alignment can be good, but then OWWWWWWWWWie! A clue, though: I couldn't KEEP myself positioned so that my knee/foot lined up. The shoulders -- that's going to mean a change in handlebar height, and I'll get to that as my core strength improves! (yes, I WILL make this change eventually, probably sooner than I think!) I find now that I get more power when I put my upper body a bit more forward than it is now. Can't maintain that for very long yet, though.

When _I_ put the firmer seat from my old bike on this bike (Nanci, I borrowed my old Serfas saddle, which is FAR above the not-so-comfort seat a week ago already) I positioned it back like the bike guy did, but, and looking at it this morning it's OBVIOUS as all get out, I gave it a horrid forward-tilt! (how did I miss that???) So, yes, after experimenting with Dok-torr's alignment question, I looked carefully at my seat, and then got out the tools again (I guess this is like where I was with my computer a while back: knowing enough to be dangerous?) and adjusted the tilt of the seat.

GEEZ: I did this to myself -- fixed my bike so I had to keep pushing the painful parts into hard bike parts and make 'em ache still more!

The good news is that pressure is off the wrong parts of my butt. That doesn't mean that this seat is going to do the job -- fixing my butt-bones is definitely bad news for bits farther forward. (how did i think it was good last year?) But at least I don't squeak when I ride! (I'll be off to the bike shop, though -- no 20 milers for me on this seat!)

So, thank you ladies, I think that if my tail ever feels better, we've figured this out!

Tater-- Hi!!! Got any good routes to suggest? Gentle hills are probably best for now, as we come off half our lives as sloths. We enjoy the Greenbelt, and have been exploring subdivisions out here south of town, since hubby is SURE that it's not safe for ME to be in traffic, because HE feels so exposed on his bike! We live along the New York Canal, which has nice, big "ditch roads" to ride, which motivated our staying away from true road bikes. (Goat heads are an issue though, and my tires seem to be "goat head magnets." HOORAY for slime!) Once in a while we go on other dirt trails, but I can tell that I'm a roadie by nature -- those narrow, rocky, rutted, hilly trails.....

Thanks again Ladies! Back to learning from you! (and back to the bike shop!)

Karen in Boise

[mimitabby]

Hey Karen
check out these threads:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/forumdisplay.php?f=36
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/forumdisplay.php?f=37

one is favorite saddles the other is hated saddles.
This is one of our favorite topics.

also check this out:

http://www.cyclefitcentre.com/further%20reading.htm

[Kano]

Thanks for the thread suggestions, Mimi!

As you can probably guess, though, I've been there and keep going back looking for more! somehow, a sore butt will do that: you find any and all information on seats! It's all been great info, and I'm glad I found it.

Since Earl will likely call on his way out the office door this afternoon to suggest I take care of what he considers the fussy details* of getting ready for a ride as soon as he gets home, I stopped by the bike shop first thing this morning. Yes, taking care of this is a priority! I am trying the Dolce saddle after gently steering the bike guy away from trying to sell me a "unisex" seat that looked very much like a cross between the two that my bottom is currently rejecting. Popped it on the bike, checked level -- I'm not making THAT mistake again! -- and granted, I'm wearing jeans instead of jammies or lycra at the moment, but a brief sit felt much better than either of the first two seats I've had on this bike. (the tractor seat and the one from my old bike) I can hardly wait to see how she rides! You see, in spite of the aches and pain in the a** I'm rapidly falling in love with this biking stuff!

If I'm learning nothing else so far -- I used to think a seat is a seat is a seat. I can see differences now, and have discovered how much there is to learn about this sport! Once I get this seat thing solved, I think I'll start thinking about pedals -- heck, I'm already reading everything I see you ladies posting about them!

I have also noticed that female employees in bike shops seem to be a rarity.

Karen in Boise

*anything more than "shorts, shoes, helmet on and out the door" is too time consuming. Making my butt more comfortable counts as one of those fussy things, which surprises me, since I am sure he's not comfy!

[faroe78]

Since Earl will likely call on his way out the office door this afternoon to suggest I take care of what he considers the fussy details*....... I'm rapidly falling in love with this biking stuff!

If I'm learning nothing else so far -- I used to think a seat is a seat is a seat. I can see differences now,
I have also noticed that female employees in bike shops seem to be a rarity.
..........*anything more than "shorts, shoes, helmet on and out the door" is too time consuming. Making my butt more comfortable counts as one of those fussy things, which surprises me, since I am sure he's not comfy!

Thinking a seat is a seat is a seat is like thinking a chair is a chair or a bed is a bed, and so forth and that isn't true (nor is a bike is a bike is a bike).

Not that I can speak from experience about bike seats, my first bike is on order, but I've already had questions for the bike dude about the seat. He says if it doesn't come with what I need, we can swap it out.
I'm getting stoked about this bike stuff too. I can hardly wait till I am one of the gang!
I have seen only one female employee in a bike shop, although I did see a female employee at REI who was teaching a class on women's biking. I took it without a bike, hoping for some tips and ideas. Biggest thing I came away with is that changing a tire is totally doable, and that tools are important. Unless you want to walk your bike home. She has 6 bikes, and rides almost everywhere, which impressed me gobs.
I think fussy details are important, and if your south end ain't happy, you won't want to ride.
I'll have my bike a week from Friday. I can hardly wait! I have to look for a helmet and toolkit etc. I need a bike rack too, but I think I can get the bike home in my camper bus. Sorta wishing it was just a bus right now.
Susan

[Brandi]

Maybe with such a big squooshy saddle you're sinking into it and that is how you're getting pressure on the tailbone.

http://www.serfas.com/comfort_saddle...tive_all.shtml

It seems counterintuitive, but a firmer saddle is more comfortable for most people, since it supports you correctly instead of trying to cushion you. Can you borrow a more traditional bike seat from someone and see if it feels better?

Nanci

Yea my local lbs told me a squooshy seat could be bad for someone who is riding all the time. That it can cause a lot of other problems. I think she must be sinking into the seat that is the only way it could happen you know?

[Kano]

Yea my local lbs told me a squooshy seat could be bad for someone who is riding all the time. That it can cause a lot of other problems. I think she must be sinking into the seat that is the only way it could happen you know?

She's not sinking into that "big squooshy" seat anymore!

Big Squooshy has been relegated to a shelf in the garage, never to grace MY bike again (well, maybe, someday, if I sell the bike and want to keep the seat I put on it!) Big Squooshy has been on the shelf for a couple of weeks now, replaced by not-so-squooshy from my old bike until yesterday. After realizing just how badly mounted not-so-squooshy was and fixing that and then deciding that it was very uncomfortable in a whole new range of body parts than the tailbone thing, I've moved on to a Dolce that seems like a big improvement. After riding her yesterday and reading some more stuff last night, I've decided I need to make a bit of an adjustment, but I can give this seat a tentative thumbs up! Girlie bits aren't hurting and sit bones didn't mind the sitting too much. I think the tail bone is going to take a little while, but it's not quite as noisy about how badly I've been treating it today either!

PLUS, my bike looks SO much sleeker than it did with Big Squooshy mounted on it!

Now to figure out how to make Earl think of this seat thing for himself -- watching him ride yesterday was like, ooooooo did I feel sympathy!

Karen in Boise