Sore butt after riding

[grumpy rooster]

After going for a ride of any distance of about 10kms or more I find I get a sore butt. I ride a hardtail that has a SDG Grand Prix seat on a suspension post. I wear normal nylon type baggy shorts. Tyres are Larsen TT's but couldn't tell you what pressure. They don't feel rock hard.

So what can I do to help my poor boney arse? Will knicks make a big difference? Is it the seat?

Any suggestions?

[rocky j]

Don't know how often you ride, but with time you tend to toughen up a bit down there. After a while the pain goes away.

Someone told me the other day that knicks with chamois are not actually designed with padding in mind. Their first purpose is to draw moisture away from your groin area. Having said that, I think they are way more comfortable than shorts and undies, or worse, boxer shorts.

I guess i'd also be checking my seat height and the angle of the seat.

[LTR]

Post a pic of your seat to see what angle it is at! A lot of people have problems because of the angle their seat is on. My butt hurts alot atm, but that could be because of the 260km ride yesterday... :o

[scratchy]

There are so many variable down that end of town... LTR and Rocky j have been generous, I would have just told you to try different adjustments and see what works for you. Borrrow mates spare seats and experiment with different shapes just because SDG are popular doesn't make it a good seat for you. If your riding without a Chamois, well then you begging to get a sore arse.

Sore arses are also part of shocking muscles into something they aren't used to.

Solution?

Experiment with your setup and ride lots!

[ebuk]

but that could be because of the 260km ride yesterday... :o

260km!!!....damn and I was feeling good about my 3 laps of manly dam.

[bighitter]

if you cant ride for 10k's or more without pain, then something is seriously wrong. Id say that you have your post set too high and the angle of the saddle is just all wrong.
Maybe try using a fit calculator that will help you setup your bike too help you get maximum performance/comfort.
Proper cycling shorts with chamois will make a huge difference

[grumpy rooster]

Thanks for all your help.

Seems I have a bit of reading and fiddling around with my bike.

Time to get serious it seems.

[Mtb_Endo]

Which part is sore? Your arse bones or the bit inbetween?

May want to get yourself a proper seat if you dont have one. I use a specialized BG seat, was 125 i think, with a titanium rail (would of prefered a CroMo...)

I now get a sore arse bone after a bigish ride, but not sore in that sensitive area in between.... Which happens to be an artery so you dont want to hinder blood flow... ;)

[Goobs]

Maybe try standing when it gets a little rough. That should save some pain.

Other then that, knicks are ok, but eventually your bum will just get used to it.

All good things take tim...

[grumpy rooster]

Which part is sore? Your arse bones or the bit inbetween?

May want to get yourself a proper seat if you dont have one. I use a specialized BG seat, was 125 i think, with a titanium rail (would of prefered a CroMo...)

I now get a sore arse bone after a bigish ride, but not sore in that sensitive area in between.... Which happens to be an artery so you dont want to hinder blood flow... ;)

Its the bit in between which leads me to the conclusion from reading all this and doing a bit of research that my seat is too high and may need to go forward a little bit. I'm thinking I may be sitting too far forward on the seat and leaning over too much for the bars.

Does that sound right? :confused:

[craigb]

get a seat with a hole in the middle of it. itll take the pressure off the part your talking about. i used to have a simmilar problem

[Mtb_Endo]

Its the bit in between

Seat height may have a bit to do with it.... But mostly its a flaw in the design of bike seats. They put pressure on the pudendal artery....

http://www.specialized.com/bc/microsite/bodygeometry/main.html?x=y

Explains it a bit better then me quoting big words :)

As far as height goes... i normally set mine up so on a downstroke of the pedal, when it reaches the lowest point, my knee is only slightly bent... This is for all flat/uphill riding :)

I went from a cheap arsed seat, to the specialized rivalhttp://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=12942 and that helped a lot... Now my arse bones themselves get sore... which you quickly get used to and they dont bother you after that :)

There are cheaper alternatives you can get for 30 bucks or so, no reason why they cant be less effective.. .as long as it has the cutout :)

Hope that helps some.

[hdtvkss]

to get an apprx estimate of your saddle height, measure your inseam and times it by .883. this is the approx height from the centre of your BB to the top of your seat......

[schwing]

If its the bit in between certainly look at your saddle height, but look also at maybe moving it forward so the wider area of the seat catches your arse better.

[grumpy rooster]

If its the bit in between certainly look at your saddle height, but look also at maybe moving it forward so the wider area of the seat catches your arse better.

I've done all of that as well as change seat to the Velo that was on my old Giant.

Will see how it goes on the weekend doing the 50km Sydney Spring Cycle.

[Hud]

A seat doesn't really need a big padding and a hole in the middle to be good. My ID 5 came with an I beam SDG Bel air. Initially it looked and felt like a skin and bone seat but Rob at Brunswick St guarenteed it.
It's great, no soreness to speak of, good blood flow, good support where you need it. It does all this with only a very shallow groove along the middle. and minimal padding.

[Mo]

so is a Specialized Body Geometry saddle better than oe saddles???
coz i got one and i might use it if it's better.

[grumpy rooster]

Well I changed the seat, changed the seat height and moved it forward. I have done 100km over the last 3 days. And guess what? No sore butt. :D

Thanks for all your replies. I can ride without pain from now on.

[Mtb_Endo]

so is a Specialized Body Geometry saddle better than oe saddles???
coz i got one and i might use it if it's better.

Yes and No...

What brand is the OE?

Some bikes come with the SDG saddles which are pretty good... Depending on the bikes, you can get some decent sadles.. Even the Specialized BG OE seats look ok.

The WTB seats arent too bad either :)