pinkman

Alright I did some searching on the forum looking for my answer, didn't want my first post to be a stupid question.
I have not ridden in 20 years, I am a soon to be 54 year old, out of shape, and at least 60 lbs overweight. I bought myself for Christmas a used mtn. bike off craigslist and have started riding it, I have adjusted the seat, and handlebars for my height and comfort,,I know, no other way to ask this question I hope not to offend anyone with my first question, but after a few rides about a mile long my" balls" keep getting squished what do you guys do to remedy this, other than being winded, and not being in control which way my legs go after I get off I have no other problems for now..I am going to get in shape if it kills me..

katsup

Look at where the seatpost connects to the seat. There is usually an adjustment where you can tilt the front of the seat down a little. It takes trial an error to find the right position. Depending on the age of the bike, it may not have this option.

pinkman

Thanks

dabac

First a bit of nit-picking - bicycles have saddles, not seats.
The reason being that you're supposed to carry some of your weight by your legs, through the pedalling effort. And a tiny bit through your arms.
If you're new to riding, you may simply be expecting too much WRT comfort.
(Recumbent bicycles may have seats though)
Next, what kind of saddle do you have?
Many bikes for casual riding have very soft saddles, which generally doesn't work out well for dedicated riding. Sitting on a soft saddle is a bit like walking barefoot in sand. Comfy at first, but after awhile the sand pushing up into the arch of the foot begins to get tiresome. Same for a soft saddle. The sit bones sink through, allowing the padding to put pressure on the soft tissues between.
What angle is your saddle?
Start out with the saddle dead flat, then go from there in small changes.
What clothes do you ride in?
There's more than aero advantage to ride in tight fitting clothes.
If that feels too exposed to you, check out some baggy MTB shorts with liners.
Are you sure you got about the right height?
Many believe they should be able to reach the ground flat footed with butt-on-saddle, which is very rarely the case. Butt-on-saddle, the leg should be almost entirely straight when the pedal is at the lowest.

pinkman

Thanks for the advise a lot of details I may need to work on..I am pretty sure the( saddle) height is about correct, though I will recheck same for the (saddle) angle. I guess I must invest in some riding clothing as well instead of jeans and cargo pants..That is good advise for the hardness of the (saddle) I prefer a much stiffer seat on my Motorcycle than a soft cushion one.

hig4s

Another thing not mentioned there are different shape mountain bike seats depending on riding position. I am assuming your set up for comfort is with the bars fairly high so you are sitting more upright. The different shapes are for forward, neutral, and upright seating positions. Check you these saddles. I am 59 just started back up riding last year after many years off. I like higher bars and use a riser bar with Connect Upright saddle. And for any ride over about 12 miles I wear padded riding shorts. https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/saddles Of course there are lots of good brands, but this is a good website to look at prices and subtle differences.

justin70

I wanted to clarify...are you truly having pain from squishing your "balls"? Or is it just discomfort from pressure on your posterior?

If your testicles are getting hurt, sometimes you can try rotating the saddle ever so slightly, so the nose is pointing a little off the center line. This allows your privates to hang off one side of the saddle instead of getting squished into the saddle.

pinkman

Thank you, I am going to invest in some riding pants, been using jeans,and cargo pants

DMC707

Moderately awkward conversation, but i do understand the topic (and the pain)

--- for me, if both jump off to one side of the seat it is so painful i have to stop and re-adjust

I am usually wearing cycling shorts -- sometimes under gym shorts - depends on the ride. Instead of bunching everything up in a ball, i try to lay everything out pointing at my belly button as much as possible and the tight shorts usually do a decent job keeping everything in place

For a short while i found myself using a saddle that was too wide (was a premium priced Specialized Body Geometry type) -- im a Clydesdale and thought i needed more support back there. I was wrong, as your sit bones have a fixed position whether you are overweight or not. (To the OP, a Clydesdale is a cycling term for anyone over 200 lbs, - if over 275, you qualify for Super-Clydesdale status huzzah! )

Turns out the flared portion of the wider saddle was pushing my hips forward while pedalling so much that i was mostly putting my weight on the narrower front portion --- ouch

Jiggle

I'm confused about the balls hurting. They should sit happily on the saddle. Do you have a protruding belly that is smashing them from the top?

pinkman

LOL..yes I do, but they seem to be getting smashed from the sides...hoping that Bike riding among many other things,like diet will help get rid of the belly

coominya

Like DABAC said, you should have a proportion of your weight on your legs and that means the seat should be at the proper height for your style of riding. Also if you have the right pants your nuts will be riding up out of the way. I don't know if that happens in jeans. I have never ridden in jeans.

fietsbob

Stiff back? limber it Up, dont tilt your hips forward bend above the hips ..

Maybe get Pull back Cruiser bars and change them so you dont have to bend over to reach them?

BobbyG

My 2-cents. What works for some riders, even what works for most riders may not work for you. Try different types of clothing, both loose and form fitting. Also, find a bike shop and try out different seats (on different bikes), firm, soft, wide, narrow. When you find one that works, have them put it on your bike and adjust it until it feels right. Then buy it.