Bad saddle!
 

Hey,

I’ve got a saddle that came with a fixie that really hurts after around half an hour of riding!

I don’t want to buy a massive saddle, I still want the bike to look good but I need something A.S.A.P.

Road bike racing saddle that’s comfortable basically. Any suggestions?

Sukaflip (in pain)

Infinity saddles.

I'm a fan of Brooks B-17 and Cambium saddles, but they're not for everyone's budget (or arse).

I don’t know just how long, how frequent the OP rides or if the OP had a significant break from riding over the Winter but (:D) in my experience, the first few weeks of MY riding season do leave my bottom a bit sore. RE: saddles, they are very much a matter of personal choice and can involve more than a little bit of trialing the wide variety of available saddles. I will say and many will agree that once a person develops a “callus” on their sit bones (arse bones, if you insist), riding will be way more comfortable even on different bikes as long as the saddles have similar dimensions.

Give it a few weeks. If the pain feels like it's deep in your bones and joints, it's probably just you getting use to it. Particularly if in your coccyx. I get the same when I've been off my bike for several months.

Playing the saddle swap game might have you just thinking the saddle you find two or three weeks from now is the perfect saddle.

Oddly enough a massive saddle, and/or one with lots of padding can actually make you more uncomfortable, especially with numbness, since the padding can get bunched up down there and reduces blood circulation to that area.

Find a bike shop that has a memory foam type device (or other types) that you sit on that can measure the width of your "sit bones", and then find a saddle that was designed for your width, and find a shop that will let you "try before you buy" and/or has an easy exchange/return policy.

I agree the saddle should fit your sitz bones, and as well the padding should be firm - not soft and not cushy. This is even true with recumbents, where a too-soft pad can cause problems after a few miles.

So one you will want to make sure you have the saddle at the right height, angle and setback and that your bars are set up in a good position for you. Don't just go straight to the saddle being bad because a big part of comfort is fit. Once you have determined your fit is good (an actual fitter is perfect for that task, then you can start looking at different saddles. You want to find a place you can get your ischial tuberosity measured (aka your sit bones) and then find something with a good shape and the right padding. Finding that right saddle may not happen the first time it may take a few but can be done. Having padding isn't always good or bad if it is really soft it won't support you well and will cause further pain.

Any saddle covers are out completely and shouldn't exist unless it is used to cover a saddle for rain. They slide around and are so soft they don't actually help you in any meaningful way and just create more pressure points.

One final point, ride your bike, any new bike can feel a little off for a bit until you get used to it and get it dialed in (as discussed above, see a fitter for the best help) I have a saddle I think I am going to keep it has been 1900 miles and so far so good. Everything seems to be pretty well dialed and I am liking it but initially I thought nah this is not my saddle but my saddle is out of stock and I don't want to swap saddles from another bike. Now I am happy with it, granted it has all been mostly under 30 mile trips and probably mainly 10 mile trips to work and such but if I can just wear my undies and normal shorts or pants than I think it is pretty swell.

The seat on my Triumph Bonneville made me want to get off after half an hour. It was convex; I needed concave. Why do I mention motorcycle seats on a bicycle seat thread? Because the principle is the same: it has to fit you, and it will suck until it does...

My under-carriage is best supported by a Selle SMP TRK. I bought three, and when our dog chewed one up, I bought a fourth.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3a1747d813.jpg
Selle SMP TRK

IMO, many cyclists care way too much about how things LOOK. I know I do. But, when seated, your saddle is mostly invisible, so no worries!

But hard thin carbon fiber seats look so cool to impress strangers!

I'm sure that gained is worth a sore butt for life :D

The will again be a lot of post like this in the early spring. It happened to me every year when I still rode DF bikes.

As a regular bike flipper, I've come across every seat possible to be able to actually use them on actual rides.

Fancy seats are removed to hoard in my collection.

A cyclist can only assess so much from sampling in a LBS, yet ultimately needs to purchase the seat to try on the field.

The truth is that one must obtain and install the seat and try it.

That usually means purchasing it, and if unsatisfactory, it's their problem to deal with returning it or reselling it.

After trying several saddles on my newish road bike I bought a Ergon SMS Sport Gel saddle. It has a small amount of gel padding where it counts. It was very comfortable on day one. I still need to adjust it to get the saddle to handlebar stem exactly where I needed it and a couple of adjustments of the downward tilt of the seat to make it perfect.

I have had gel bike gloves but would not have considered a gel saddle in the past. But with the Ergon gel saddle it is a big improvement in comfort without affecting normal riding posture or leg movement.

I replaced my Trek stock hard mountain bike seat with this Sela from Walmart. Way better comfort and it was only $20, have this brand of gel type seats on a few of my bikes. This one did not affect the handling either.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0802f0edd4.jpg

OMG. The most comfortable saddle I have is my Brooks B17. Back when I first bought it I was talking with the lads at one of the bike stores "I've heard they can take some time to break in!" Can't remember how the rest of the conversation went but yeah.

Some people find them comfortable out of the box. I have a bony posterior and I did not. Holy jeebus! The break in process was painful! It was like sitting on a block of wood!

Talk about sit bone awareness!

Eventually and through suffering and determination I broke it in (or my posterior adapted!)

I used to have saddle soreness.

Problem was fixed when I lowered the saddle and reduced the stem length. It could be your bike fit (way off!!)