I have what's described as a "fitness bike" (cube sl road race). Fitness bike, flat bar gravel bike, hybrid, take your pick of caregory it can fall into.
It's super nippy and maneuverable around traffic when computing and also very comfortable on longer 2-3 hour 40-50km runs.
At about 40km however I start to feel the saddle a little, right under my ass bones.
Note I don't wear padded shorts/liners etc.
Its not super painful, no broken skin but I expect pushing up to 50 or 60km could be a lot more uncomfortable.
I was wondering:
- Will a different saddle might fit better and give extra time in the saddle without any soreness, or am I expecting too much?
- Is a bit of chafing or discomfort expected after 2-3 hours if no padding is used?
- With enough searching and maybe a bike fit session, is it possible to find the magic saddle that is completely comfortable for 4+ hours?