So how long does it take to break in a saddle?
 

I picked up a DS 8.5 in May and immediately got rid of the Evoke Saddle. It was literally a PIA. My LBS suggested a Bontrager Boulevard. It is wider and better padded but it is still, after several adjustments, gives me a sore feeling in the soft part behind my testicles. (Sorry ladies.) Sit bones are fine. I tried a gel comfort saddle by Bell thinking more padding is better and it was actually worse.

I've been on this Bontrager for about 45 days. Should I stick with it or start the search again. For reference I am between 275 and 280 lbs. depending on the day.

Thanks

I may be mistaken, but i think saddle break-in is limited to leather saddles. For the other ones, if it hurts on day #1 , it will hurt just as much on day #1 00 (unless your arse HTFU).

The pain you describe is not something you want to ignore. Get a different saddle, or play with the tilt, forward-aft position, height, etc. until that sensation is nothing more than a bad memory.

If all else fails, there is always this:

https://keyassets.timeincuk.net/insp...1230330913.jpg

If I were you, I would try a Brooks or something similar.

I would suggest a saddle with much less padding. That may confuse you but a padded saddle is not optimal. The padding moves around as you shift on the seat. A firmer saddle and proper cycling shorts that contain their own padding is far more comfortable for longer rides and for the kind off bike you own. The padding in the shorts will always be in the right spot to cushion the sensitive areas.

Saddles are tough. Figure out your sitbone width and THEN look for a proper saddle. More padding does not mean more comfy.

I had issues with taint pain, leading to numbness in parts I don't wish to be numb, ever, until I switched to a Selle SMP TRK - really relieves the pressure. Obviously, no one saddle works for anyone, but given your described pain you might want to check one out.

https://www.amazon.com/Selle-SMP-Cyc...gateway&sr=8-6

Omigawd, I thought that was an April Fools photoshop job.
But some googling reveals it was for real.:eek:

I for one, find more padding works better for me, and gel padding at that. I think the most comfortable saddle I have is the Serfas Dual Density DDM-CT with cut out. I don't like the friction caused by the Lycra cover, though. They also offer the TRS-2 Terazzo, which is a mountain bike saddle. It's similar in comfort to the Dual Density but with a cover with far less friction.

I'm currently trying to get used to a Specialized Canopy, which isn't bad.

In my experience, it takes a good 100-200 miles to figure out if a saddle is going to work.


-Matt

for road bikes, I do better with non cut saddles that have less padding. My bikes are fit pretty aggressive with larger saddle to bar drop. I have better shorts to help but doesn't mean the shorts have thicker padding.

For MTB, it doesn't matter. My current MTB came with a WTB Volt Race, which is pretty padded in my stardards and my first ride on the bike was 5hours moving time. Saddle did great and got better as it broke in. No need to change it out and fairly cheap for others to try.

https://www.amazon.com/WTB-Volt-Race...0SU?th=1&psc=1

UPDATE: I moved the Boulevard back as far as it would go and tipped the nose down as far as it would go and it is a little better. Now that the nose is down I may nudge it forward just a little.

I have a smoother gel saddle coming (older Trek) so we will see if that makes a difference. When you're a big guy (or gal) the struggle is real!

The thing to remember is that you don’t break in a saddle. You adapt to it. That goes for all saddles but doubly so for plastic ones. The plastic shell doesn’t change no matter how much you ride on it. You just get used to it or not. Even with leather saddles, it’s more a case of you get used to the way it feels. And that is independent of what your body type is.

I would caution against riding too much with the saddle nose tilted down as far as it will go. All that does is force you to constantly push back on the saddle. It will put a lot of stress on your arms and hands. In the long run, it’s not good for you.

I would also caution against a saddle that is too squishy. You found that when you tried adding a thicker saddle. Your saddle may be too high or, more likely, you are “sitting” on the saddle while you ride. A bicycle saddle is called that because that’s what it is. A saddle is supposed to support you but it isn’t a “seat”. Learn to ride while hovering over the saddle rather then making it take all of your weight. That goes a long way towards saddle comfort.

I guess I did mean how long does it take to get you adapted to a saddle. I know the saddle itself doesn't really change, you get used to it.

The nose does not dip much but I will check tomorrow to see if it is too far from level. The nose down position is taking more pressure off the perineal area and that's where the discomfort is. And as to hovering I'll keep that in mind as I ride tomorrow.

Thanks

I got one several weeks ago, from Chain Reaction in the UK, for around $50 delivered, might be worth checking them out.

I too struggled on my first road bike with saddles. Then after I got my bike fit my bike shop buddy said you have the wrong width saddle. I then purchased the size he suggested and it was an immediate difference. it took me maybe 4-6 rides to really get used to the saddle but its been super good now for 3 years. No discomfort at all. I did buy a higher end saddle but it more the correct size than anything.

Also I learned the hard way that too much padding isn't necessarily a good thing

Depends. For me, it doesn't matter. I find Brooks saddles comfortable out of the box. None of my Brooks (I have several) have even have the classic divot in them. That includes my touring bike (about 9000 miles and about 2000 miles) and my commuter bike which has 25,000 miles on it. My mountain bikes have plastic saddles on them because Brooks just doesn't work all that well for off-road. The feel is slightly different when I change from bike to bike but none of them have taken me any time to get used to.

You said that you have pushed the nose all the way down. Most seatposts* will allow for a downward tilt of the nose to around 20° to 25°. That's a lot of tilt. It's enough to push you onto your hands and, perhaps, make you readjust on the saddle constantly to compensate.

Another consideration is the clothes you are wearing. If you aren't wearing bicycle shorts, the seams in regular clothes bunches up around that area. Bicycle clothes aren't worn for fashion. They are for function. If you don't have padded shorts, consider getting some.





*Yea, I know I went through the whole "saddle thing" but that's what we call them....

My seatpost limits how much I can tilt the seat. (Bontrager SSR) Today I tried closer to level and even a slight nose up. Nose down was a little better than either.

I am wearing padded bike underwear as underwear. It does help.

After your last post I'm taking a look at seat height. I do think this got worse when I raised my seat.

I am going to go to my LBS this afternoon and see if the problem is fit and see if they can take an objective view on how my bike should fit me.

We are headed out to the NC OBX Sunday and I want to be able to put down some miles while I'm there.

I'm 5'10", 53 and well north of 200lbs. Saddles and I don't like each other at all... I've tried quite a few over the past few years and have finally decided that the one which works best for me is the Selle SMP line of saddles. One of the LBS's is a dealer and has most of their saddles available for demo. Another LBS is a Fizik dealer and has their saddles but none that I tried worked well for me.

I purchased a used Giant TCR recently and the stock saddle was really bad. Got numb in placed I'd rather not be after about 10 miles on the bike. Decided to swap it out and am currently using a Well which has a 147mm width.

Initially my inner thighs hated it - lots of burning right in the area which makes contact with the sides of the saddle. Thought it might be that it was a bit too wide in that area but I kept at it and it got better... Perhaps I decreased the diameter of my inner thighs a bit over a two week period of time.

I also experienced just a little burning just behind the family jewels but that has also largely gone away. Was always much better than the Giant saddle spec'ed with the bike...

I found level wasn't the best for me so my saddle is also tilted a couple of degrees down. Guess I can't bend in the middle as well as I used to be able to so the compromise is to drop the nose of the saddle just a bit to compensate for now. Hopefully as I continue to ride that will improve too.

Anyway I'd suggest seeing if any of your LBS's have demo saddles and/or actually having a fit done. Barring that you can always get a Prime membership and purchase saddles to try and return if you don't like them. Anything that's just as painful after a week as it was when you first rode it ought to go back as in my mind it's not likely to get better with more time. I do think to some degree your body adapts to the saddle but only to a certain degree.

Hope this helps a little

Just to note there is a difference between padded bike underwear and real bike shorts..... it is form follows function thing....not a fashion thing......just like bike Jersey's with pockets in the back

i have had good luck with https://www.aerotechdesigns.com/ and with https://www.voler.com/ aerotech has up to at least 4xl

I’m familiar with that post. The tilt limits on the Bontrager aren’t any more or less than other seatposts. The old clamp type seatpost allows for more tilt but what the Bontrager allows for is fairly normal. Even then, the downward or upward tilt on either is fairly large.

I am wearing padded bike underwear as underwear. It does help.[/QUOTE]

As squirtdad pointed out, padded shorts are different from underwear. Anything you wear over the padded underwear may be bunched up in a bad place. Bike shorts without anything over them (or under them for that matter) are smooth where then need to be.

There you go. Lower your saddle a little (a few millimeters is enough) and go ride. Lower it a little more if that doesn’t work.

I struggle with this too. I have gotten horrible saddle sores lately, even after changing the saddle. I couldnt ride for like 3 days and I can't afford not to work out that long! I have a couple of pairs of shorts but they don't fit well---there is not a lot that will fit me at my size so I have a lot of the padded underwear too.

Saddle Breakin
 

Agree with at least one or two of the posters, generally in my case I have adapted to my saddles of choice. Favorites being the San Marco Rolls and Selle Italia Turbo for the more racy bikes and the vintage Avocet Touring and Racing saddles from the '80s for the more touring oriented rides.

The only saddle that needs break in is a leather one, the rest is developing bike butt.

People break leather saddles down in an attempt to make them softer. But all they end up doing is damaging the leather without embracing the firmness of a purely leather saddle. I have many leather saddles with from a few hundred miles to 25,000 miles on them. None of them looks any different than the day I took them out of the box. They don't have "divots" or "dents" or any other deformation. And, frankly, each one of them was comfortable from the day I took them out of the box. The one on this bike

https://live.staticflickr.com/908/39...9a1e3bbc_k.jpg2015-05-09 16.50.31 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

Had only a couple of hundred miles on it before it went on a 5 week, 1500 mile tour.

Update:

I picked up a used Trek gel saddle and when installing it I noticed that when I sit in a more upright position the pressure on my perineum was much lessened. So I had a stem riser installed and raised my handlebars.

I then drove 6 hours to the OBX for vacation and the drive gave me some chaffing so the rides at the beach switching back and forth between saddles was inconclusive.

When I got home the chaffing was gone and I put 5 miles on the get saddle with the raised handlebars and had much less pain. I have the nose slightly down with the saddle well forward on the stem and I seem to be sitting firmly on my sit bones, not my perineum. I'm going to ride this saddle through July and see how it goes.

I am learning to hover and it is helping. Thanks for the advice.

I learned to rotate my hips back to not put pressure where you say you have discomfort .

when I started riding on my Leather Brooks team pro saddle I bought in the mid 70's..

we broke in to each other for 10 years of local riding , before it was my go-to long distance touring saddle..







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