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How long till your bum gets sore?

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How long till your bum gets sore?

Old 11-14-19, 10:50 PM
  #26  
atwl77
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I'd say seated time (or to be more simplified, moving time) is the more relevant metric, though I understand why most people use distance since it is more relatable and easier to keep track of.

From my experience, I'd say any good saddle should be good for at least 3-4 hours of seated time; any saddle issues that crop up before this time, and it's worth looking at fit issues, or looking at a new saddle. A really comfortable saddle will probably be good for 7-8 hours before some amount of discomfort can be felt.

Though a lot of this will also depend on your riding intensity and ability to change riding positions to mitigate pressure. Being able to put over 3-3.5 W/kg average, for the duration of the ride, will surely result in less saddle discomfort over soft-pedalling at 2.5 W/kg, all things being equal. At the same time, being able to change riding position (e.g. a more upright position on the tops to a more aggressive position in the drops) will help spread the load, since sitting upright puts pressure at the wider back portion of the sit bones whereas the more aggressive position puts more pressure at the front/narrow part of the sit bones.

Then there's also road condition (and how well your bike smoothens out these rough patches). A rougher, bumpier ride is going to make saddle discomfort show up much sooner than on nice, smooth roads.

Last edited by atwl77; 11-14-19 at 10:55 PM. Reason: typos
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Old 01-17-20, 04:08 PM
  #27  
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That depends totally on the saddle....
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Old 01-18-20, 01:26 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by KraneXL
As am I by yours. Even with frequent in-saddle/out-of-saddle breaks there is still a "bum soreness limit" to how long you can ride in one session. That is the question.
Actually, no there's not. Your personal experience is not law, it's just what you've experienced. 400k is not an issue. I was happy to stop on one of those, but that's partly because of the 15,000' and partly because I was pacing for 400k, not a longer ride. My butt wasn't sore in any case. I also make it a point to try to stand every 10 minutes. That helps a lot, as does stopping for a bathroom break and a water and snack refill about every 50 miles. it's certainly possible to stay on the bike for longer if one is riding supported and can pee from the saddle.

That said, I think your definition of "one session" might be idiosyncratic, that is, it means what you want it to mean..

In any case, the more miles one consistently rides per week, the longer one can stay in the saddle, providing that one has a good pair of shorts and the right saddle for one's butt. It's conditioning, like anything else. My guess is that the OP has not yet found their dream saddle.
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Old 01-18-20, 06:11 AM
  #29  
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Having gone through the long arduous process of experimenting with different saddles, buying and selling them on eBay, fiddling with angles, I have now achieved an unlimited painless butt on a bike.




This image is from the famous Steve Hogg. It shows that if you’re properly seated on a road bike saddle, your full weight will be not entirely on the sit bones, but at least partially on the bones between the sit bones and the pubic bone. There are various adjustments you could make to achieve this: rolling your hips forward, extending your reach, tilting your saddle back, etc. For me, what completely eliminated my sit bone soreness was tilting my saddle back two degrees. Yo, check it out:

https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com...ion-smp-seats/

Last edited by Moishe; 01-19-20 at 04:00 PM.
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Old 01-19-20, 05:40 PM
  #30  
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On my road bike, by 40 - 45 miles of continuous cycling I’m ready — sometimes overdue — for a short break. 5-10 minutes standing rest off the bike and I’m ready to go again. But by 85 miles I’m pretty much ready to call it a day. Most rides I keep to 50 - 65 miles, sometimes less if the wind or hills are wearing me down. Everything gets a little weary with sustained hard efforts, and the colder temperatures this time of year are also a factor. On my old vintage MTB, I’m pretty much spent after 25 - 30 miles. The discomfort doesn’t last, and I usually recover fairly quickly after a ride. But that’s about the limits of my comfort zones these days: 3+ - 4+ hours on a road bike or about 2+ hours on an MTB.
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Old 01-19-20, 06:02 PM
  #31  
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Another (fine-tuning) point - your butt may be happiest with the saddle pointed a touch askew to one side instead of straight ahead. I set al mine with the nose a couple of mm to the left. (Left seems to be the preferred direction for most men who do this, but not all.)

Ben
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Old 01-19-20, 06:24 PM
  #32  
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Okay, let me elaborate on my recent post above. If you are experiencing unbearable sitbone pain in less than eight continuous hours of riding, you have not tried hard enough, in my humble opinion, to find the right saddle, saddle position, saddle tilt, and riding position for you. Look at that creepy looking pelvic skeleton in the third post above. The older buff-looking guy pictured on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel created a very wide variety of shapes for that bone structure between the sit bones and the the pubic bone (the ischiopubic ramus), and He later created a very wide variety of saddle shapes (and positions and angles) to accommodate them. Those posters on this thread who don’t experience sit bone pain have found the right combination of saddle and saddle position for their butts; those whose asses are not not completely in gear need to keep searching.
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Old 01-20-20, 08:39 AM
  #33  
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I thought I had found my perfect saddle and bib shorts combination this past year, but alas, I am getting sore again. It's not the lasting soreness that you feel for days, but the burning soreness during the ride. Probably more a flesh and muscle issue than a "sit bone" issue.

The search continues... At this point I have more cash invested in bib shorts than saddles, so I will try something new on the bike.
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Old 01-20-20, 09:42 AM
  #34  
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If I ride a lot, which saddle I'm using is not that important. I rode 200k or longer on six different saddles last season and at least as many different shorts, so this idea that there's one saddle and shorts combination that works for each butt is not consistent with my personal experiences.
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Old 01-20-20, 11:09 AM
  #35  
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Another thing to consider if you have continuing saddle fit issues is saddle pressure mapping, which is available at most bike fitters.




Last edited by Moishe; 01-20-20 at 01:15 PM.
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Old 01-23-20, 08:56 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by 79pmooney
Another (fine-tuning) point - your butt may be happiest with the saddle pointed a touch askew to one side instead of straight ahead. I set al mine with the nose a couple of mm to the left. (Left seems to be the preferred direction for most men who do this, but not all.)

Ben
This is the first time I'm hearing this. I'm not disbelieving you, I'm just surprised. Do you "dress" to the left?
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Old 01-23-20, 08:04 PM
  #37  
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For me, I've never gotten sore sit bones. If I have a proper bike fit and am wearing a quality brand well-fitted bib I've never had any problems. Rides have been up to 7 1/2 hours and 105 miles in length. If I have any saddle issues it is from the bibs or the bike fit, usually saddle height and fore-aft setting. Even then no problems on the sit-bones but friction issues on soft tissue.
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Old 01-25-20, 01:16 PM
  #38  
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I've been riding Brooks and Ideal saddles for over fifty years without a problem, except for an occaisional saddle sore, probably caused by clothing.
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Old 01-27-20, 03:18 PM
  #39  
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So I have been still riding with it and fiddling with it to no success. I have a 3 day 375 mile ride coming up in Feb, so I dropped some cash on a new saddle. I got the Cobb Randee, anyone have any experiences with the brand or that saddle?
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Old 02-02-20, 07:37 PM
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Update: so I got the Cobb Randee saddle (no longer made) and tried it out on a 65 miler this weekend. Other than the very high front end and the leather being slippery, the seat is amazing. Much more support throughout the full sitting area and relief where you need it. Hopefully I can get another double digit ride in on it to break it in a little more before the big ride.

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Old 02-08-20, 12:42 PM
  #41  
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I use Brook pro on my training rides, and Fizik aliante for races and brevets (different bikes).
I do get some annoyance with either saddle even though I try to stand frequently, but the more klm I accumulate the less annoying it becomes.
Also, I find that riding uphill put less pressure on the saddle so on rides with a lot of climbing you can also relieve the pressure on the downhill.
On long Brevets I do not load my rear pockets, but use a handlebar bag so there is less pressure on the saddle.
On a 6X200 brevet several years ago I developed a saddle sore towards the end, and a few years later on a similar 6X200 I made it my business to stand a lot.
I avoided the saddle sore, but developed numb hands that was worst.
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Old 02-11-20, 09:41 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by 79pmooney
Another (fine-tuning) point - your butt may be happiest with the saddle pointed a touch askew to one side instead of straight ahead. I set al mine with the nose a couple of mm to the left. (Left seems to be the preferred direction for most men who do this, but not all.)
Decades ago, when I was riding ~150mi per week, or more, I noticed this. Rotated just a degree or two to one side, it made the saddle comfort much better. Probably wasn't the best saddle choice for me, at the time, given my riding position and all the other factors, but still. Wondered about it, and wondered why nobody else ever seemed to try such a minor tweak. Worked for me, though.

Haven't needed to do that with the past couple of bikes. Am assuming the shape of my butt and/or my riding position changed subtly such that that last adjustment is no longer necessary. Go figure. (Apparently had a wonky butt alignment all those years ago, but not now. )
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Old 02-11-20, 10:23 AM
  #43  
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Sexy_Lugs I'm glad to hear that. If you had no pain after 65 miles, I think you found your saddle. So you had the nose tipped up? That's the right idea, but I guess it's tipped up just a bit too much. It's easy enough to correct it. I don't know why, but most of us like our leather saddles tipped up more than other saddles.
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Old 02-11-20, 10:33 AM
  #44  
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Sore bones or immediate area around the bone sounds a whole lot like shifting position in the saddle and sitting in the adjusted position for extended periods of time. Think shifting forward on the nose and offset to one side or another. Extended periods in positions such as these do not support your sit bones uniformly and puts quite a bit of pressure centralized in one spot.
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Old 02-17-20, 04:15 PM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by coopman
I have to take a butt break after riding 2 miles. Pathetic!
I'm there with you , around the 2 mile mark I start to feel the burn , need suggestions on different saddles to try out
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Old 02-17-20, 04:23 PM
  #46  
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hard chairs make my sit bones hurt .I have found a saddle I can do my 20 miles of commuting day without real pain but I need padded shorts for 20 miles in one go.
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Old 02-17-20, 06:07 PM
  #47  
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For maximum comfort, I like to use a large saddle. With a large saddle, I don't have a problem. With small saddles, I can get sore. I don't do huge distances.

I wear regular shorts/clothes. I don't wear padded shorts.
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Old 02-17-20, 07:53 PM
  #48  
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Can't beat a big cushy cruiser seat for short distances. The seat on my cruiser says "Super Soft…Ahhh!" on the back in big white letters.
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Old 02-20-20, 01:13 PM
  #49  
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With my Amazon special cycling shorts about 4 hrs, without about 45 minutes
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Old 02-29-20, 10:31 AM
  #50  
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I always get the developing saddle sore (skin abrasion) on the right side after a long ride Brevet 200k or more. On repeated daily 200k brevets this abrasion develops into a sore.
I use Chamois cream on these long rides too.
When I shimmed the right cleat using LeMond wedges the skin abrasion developed less.
I also turned my saddles nose slightly to the right relieving some friction on the right sit bone that I also think helpedtoo
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