On a hillside desolate

[venta]

Advice wanted from the bicycle-aware, please...

Firstly, let's get one thing clear. I am not a cyclist. I do not cycle. I am a person who owns a bike who and sometimes uses it to get from A to B. Typically A and B are both within Oxford, and not terribly far away from each other.

My bike is a nice, sensible affair with six gears and straight handlebars. I mostly like it. However, I do have one serious issue with it.

The saddle. When I hop on my bike, it all seems fine. But after more than about ten minutes of riding the saddle has become quite uncomfortable. A few months ago, I cycled out to Nuneham Courtney[*] (about 5 miles) and back, and the net result was bruises in unmentionable places.

My saddle doesn't appear to be the sort that would have this effect - it's quite broad, and quite padded. I have no idea whether the problem is the saddle itself, or something more subtle like the angle at which I have it fixed.

I have no idea how to fix this probem. Adjust saddle, ride for 15 minutes, check for bruises, wait two days, repeat - it's not an appealing process. Similarly with buying a new saddle. How will I tell whether a saddle which a shop offers me will be comfortable not only in the shop, but several miles down the road ?

Presumably finding a comfortable saddle is a well-known problem, so hopefully there is a well-known solution.

[*] Which, I might add, is pretty much entirely uphill from my house. Which surprised me in the woefully flat county of Oxfordshire. My journey back was an order of magnitude quicker than my journey there.

Comments

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

Some saddles are designed to be used in conjunction with a chamois and some are not. If you're only doing short rides, you want the sort that's not. They're usually wider and more padded.

The more padded a saddle is, the more often it will need replacing. It might just be that yours is at the end of its useful life.

A lot of people swear by Brooks, but I've never used one.

If the saddle is OK, you could try a suspended seatpost for less impact. Or even moving your handlebars down a bit (so you put more weight on your arms and less on your saddle).

But the short answer is to tinker around a bit and see what happens. Go for a ride around the park with a set of allen keys. :-

[pm215]

I have a Brooks, but I admit that this is in no small part because I like the retro effect of a leather saddle :-)

[venta.livejournal.com]

But the short answer is to tinker around a bit and see what happens. Go for a ride around the park with a set of allen keys.

But that's exactly what I was hoping to avoid! Yesterday I went from Donnington Bridge to Temple Cowley and back - hardly any great distance - and all seemed OK. This morning, however, bits of me are quite sore.

Any adjust-and-test cycle is going to be quite long and uncomfortable.

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

Yes. I'm afraid that's the way of the world. I think that Specialized dealers will measure your pelvis and fit you for a saddle of the appropriate width, but there are no shortcuts.

Or you could buy some padded shorts.