luderart

Whenever I ride, I experience some pain and soreness around the tailbone area. Is this inevitable or can something be done to prevent it? I do not ride very often, 1-2 times per week for 6-7KM (4-5 miles).

chephy

This is not normal. Several things could be wrong, and you can try the following:

* Change the saddle. If it does not fit you, it's possible that it's hurting you. You need to make sure that you're sitting on your sit bones (two bones in your butt).

* Try putting more weight on your legs (and arms) when riding over rough surfaces. Don't sit on the saddle like on a couch - whenever you're riding, your weight should be distributed between your feet, hands, and bum, and more should go into feet and hands when you go over bumps, so that your knees and elbows can cusion most of it. On really rough terrain, it's best to lift your butt completely off the saddle, for both comfort and control. Kind of like in this video (obviously it's extreme and exaggerated, but you can get the basic idea; BTW, you can ignore what comes after 2:00 mins and ignore advice about saddle being low - you're not riding on this kind of terrain, after all, and it's important to have the saddle at a right height for your knees).

* If your bike puts you in a very upright riding position, it may actually be uncomfortable and ultimately bad for your back. If your spine is straight, it takes all the road shock. A bike on which you lean forward more may be better for the way your spine is stressed.

My guess is that your trouble is a combination of the last two factors; they are actually related because an upright bike's geometry encourages you to put more weight on your butt. Poorly fitting saddle, very rough road surface, and an underlying medical condition may also be part of the problem.

bigvegan

Get a better saddle. Some saddles have a groove down the whole middle, taking direct pressure off of your tailbone. Then adjust the saddle angle, height, and fore/aft position until you're comfortable.

Take a few rides with tools in your pocket or in a bag, and stop and adjust the seat until it's just right.

AndrewP

A friend had that problem and we eventually solved it. New saddle that had firmer padding and a gap in the middle. Lowering the bars a bit and adding bar ends, so she had less weight on the saddle. Moving the saddle forward a bit so she was really sitting on the widest part of the saddle. Raising the front of the saddle about 5 mm so she wouldnt slide forward while riding. The new saddle was the first thing we tried but I cant remember the order in which we tried the other things.

Panthers007

I agree with the above saddle recommendations. One company makes saddles that are designed with help from actual professional physiologists. And they are gender-specific. The company is Terry, located in Burlington, Vermont. Have a link:

https://www.terrybicycles.com/saddles...FQ975QodU24Y1Q

Though you don't specify what type of bike you're riding, but if it's an upright bike, a Brook's leather-saddle like a B66 can be a godsend. Expensive - but used one's do exist. Or on sale.

luderart

Thanks for the advice. I already moved the saddle forward last night before I started this thread (thanks to other tailbone related questions). I have yet to try it that way. I'll take bigvegan's advice and ride with some tools in my pocket to adjust the saddle. In fact last time I had raised the seat and felt that it was far better in handling (I don't know whether it could have contributed to the tailbone pain). The bike I ride on is a Peugeot Demi-course from around 1970. The handles are already low. But the seat I am using is not its original but a Velo Gel seat. The original is rather harder (has no padding) and has suspensions underneath it.