Another Sensitive Woman Issue

Aramei

I've Read Many Posts On Bike Saddles And Soreness Women Have Been Experiencing. I Have Just Started Riding This Year And Am Experinecing Soreness Also. But I Think Mine May Or May Not Be Similar.

Sorry For Being A Bit Graphic, But I've Not Yet Seen Any Posts Addressing The Exact Issue Im Having. My Problem Is That After About An Hour Of Riding I Start Feeling Sore...it's Not A Sit Bone Or Outer Vulva Sore...it Is An Inner Vulva Sore...i Tend To Be A Bit Large There. I Think Too That Maybe The Increased Blood Flow While Riding Is Contributing To This.

I've Tried Chamois Butter And It Worked At First For Short Rides, But Now With Doing Mtb Races I Need Some More Help...lol

I Know A New Saddle Would Help, But I'm Still Looking Into That.

Just Wondering If Anyone Else Has The Same Problem

Thanks,
Christine

Mellic

I am not sure what saddle you currently have, but it sounds as though you need a decent saddle with a cut-out. The cut-out will eliminate most of the pressure placed on your sensitive bits.

romana

decent woman's gel saddle with cut outs, totally agree. padded cycling shorts may also help.

i also checked my handle/seat position, checked i wasnt leaning inappropriately

clock31

Well, my wife had similar experience, she used a Terry Butterfly saddle with the cutout. As it turns out, these saddles have a lot of "Cushy" material which is supposed to help with comfort and they are wide on the back side. Anyways, this cushy material dug into her "unmentionables" as it compressed with her weight and stayed uncompressed on the nose. This applied the pressure and after several hours gave her a lot of discomfort and similar pain afterwards for several days.

So, what i did was this, i replaced the saddle with a Performance Pro SLX (with cutout), moved it about 1cm forward towards the handlebar, and raised it about 5mm up. The new saddle is narrower and stiffer (no more material compressing). I moved it forward to move more of her weight to the back of the saddle and keep her from rolling forward (onto her unmentionables). I also moved it up to maintain the same leg extension as before.

She loves the new saddle, which i was surprised about since it's not a "comfort saddle" but a racing saddle. I would recommend some of these ideas. If moving the saddle forward makes you sit higher, raising the saddle will compensate or moving the handle bars farther down on the steerer. i am not sure if you race or do fast fitness rides.

hope some of this helps. Let me know what you come up with.

Alida

Just a few words to solve your problem ...

Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow saddle!

Mellic

Had one of those and didn't like it. I think when choosing a saddle for a female rider it all comes down to the width of your sit bones. If you are lucky enough to have a decent gap between your sit bones then a women's specific saddle is all well and good. However, if you are unfortunate and have relatively narrow sit bones (like me) then a women's specific saddle is often too wide and your inner legs rub on the outer edge of the saddle.

What I recommend you do is to squat down and measure the distance between your sit bones. Then when purchasing a new saddle check exactly where your sit bones are going to make contact with the saddle. You don't want your sit bones to be too close to the middle of the saddle and you also don't want them to be overhanging the outer edges either.

wackydeirdre

I kept adjusting my seat until it was comfortable and sit on my backside as much as possible ( which is all of the time unless I have an unhappy accident ex: have to stop short and forget to lift myself off the seat). They also sell seats with cutouts which originally were designed for men but are equally used by women. They are pricy though. This is not a "no pain no gain" issue, It's something which requires immediate attention. You also need to lift your but off the seat when you approach a bump, dip, are unable to avoid a pothole, or are turning a corner. Feel better!

Faferoni

Terry Butterfly Saddle.....Wow. You'll be in love, and so will your bum. I ride for hours every day and never have problems...EVER.

LindaNo1

Totally agree there. You need the cut out, no question! I got a great one, made in Italy, but the name escapes me just now - ordered off the internet with no problems!

tlcoles

Just experiencing this for the first time myself and, wow, very disconcerting. My not-unmentionable clitoris is totally numb. I figured that the recovery would be a matter of hours, but it's been two days now. Can you recall how long it was for your wife? Did she see a doctor?

And, seems silly to ask, did she continue to ride in the days during which she was recovering? (The weather has just turned pleasant here, and not having riding time just bums me out!)

My details: a ride over just two hours on a great ride (mostly flat with a scattering of rolling hills) but on a new-to-me bike as I am traveling abroad. This was my third ride of this duration with this bike but I was wearing unpadded shorts this time.

Thanks for the information!

alfeng

Based on my wife's similar lament over the years, somewhere in the middle of last season, I installed a "traditional" LEATHER saddle on her bike to see how much truth there was to the "myth" of the leather saddle ... and, I installed one on one of my bikes as a subsititute for my San Marco Concor.

Her first ride was a bust ... she refuses to test any adjustments before hitting the open road ... but, the discomfort was MY fault because I installed the saddle in the micro-adjust seatpost which was on her bike and it did NOT allow me (yes, I'm blaming the inanimate object!) to properly set the angle ... the top of the saddle was dead-LEVEL for the maiden ride.

I changed the seatpost and set the angle to what I knew should be a more comfortable angle (see attachment) ... where the RAILS are close to level.

Voila!

She said it was great ... "the most comfortable saddle ..."

What difference could one small adjustment make?

IMO, and OTHERS have disagreed in the past & will undoubtedly in the future, a significant key to comfort is WHERE a person sits on the saddle (see second attachment) + the angle of the top of the saddle ...

It is my contention that a person wants their sit bones to be in the GREEN area ... and, with the rear of the saddle slightly higher than the nose of the saddle, the tender areas should experience less pressue.

Sitting in the RED area invites discomfort ... excessively padded shorts, while providing SOME relief, are a poor remedy.

This is true whether or not it is a leather or "plastic" saddle.

A reason that a leather saddle is more comfortable is because they are generally WIDER ...

Of course, a so-called Woman's saddle is also wider, but the benefit is lost if the person is not sitting on the widest portion.

I ask my wife after EVERY ride how the bike AND saddle are -- the report after every ride is not the same, but the leather saddle generally scores higher marks for comfort than all other saddles.

BTW. A problem with the cushy saddles is that the sit bones sink down a small bit which means the perineal region may still be pressed into the nose of the saddle ... so, even if there is a cut out region, the portion which surrounds the cutout is still there.

Hearing-or-reading people who set their saddles level or slightly elevate (!?!) the nose complain about perineal discomfort but who refuse to set the nose slightly downward only makes me shake my head & wonder why they refuse to try a different angle for the top of their saddle ...

A "plastic" (contemporary) saddle which is wide enough which is being sat upon in the proper area should be comfortable ...

FWIW. I wear unpadded RUGBY-type shorts when I ride ... I guess that half my butt is hanging off the back of the saddle ... and, I only wear padded cycling shorts in cooler/colder weather to keep the chill down!

BTW2. NOT all leather saddles are the same ... some are wider than others, and some are harder than others ... and, the nose area on some is not as stiff on some as on others -- WRIGHTS saddles are made with a thinner and (therefore) more compliant leather (i.e., a negative amongst aficianados which can be looked upon as a positive!); but, hard or less-hard shouldn't matter if the saddle is properly adjusted.

The disadvantage of a leather saddle is that it is generally TWICE the weight of a "plastic" saddle -- over 500g is not uncommon. Also, leather saddles require more maintenance ...

An potential advantage of a leather saddle (on longer rides in hotter weather, in particular) is that the leather saddle will be a little cooler because the excess body heat is dissipated more readily through the leather platform vs. being trapped by an "insulated" plastic platform.

A leather saddle which some MTBers highly endorse is the BROOKS Conquest which has coil springs in back -- it weighs over 800g -- supposedly, as-good-as-or-better-than a suspension seat post. Undoubtedly, a leather saddle on a mountain bike requires even more maintenance than one used on a road bike unless all the riding is in dry conditions.

NOT everyone agrees as to the comfort of a leather saddle ... they AREN'T for everyone ... and, NOT necessary if the perineal discomfort can be mitigated or eliminated by re-angling the saddle "properly" AND sitting toward the rear of the saddle (i.e., on the widest portion); but, if all else fails, then a leather saddle is worth considering.

That's my opinion, and I'm stickin' to it ...

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vagabunda

I have used a SPECIALIZED "dolce ti" saddle for the last couple of years (once on a 5,500km bike tour) and have had no more problems with soreness. I also tend to be a bit large "down there" and was having problems with padded pants rubbing. Now I can wear whatever I like on my bike (even jeans for in the city) and I'm totally comfortable. I think the secret with this saddle is that it's fairly firm as well as having the cutaway center, so you really sit right on top of it without sinking in and squishing those sensitive bits.
It might depend how wide your bum is though, it's only 150mm across so if you are very broad-ended you maybe should look at a different model.Happy cycling!

Joyka

I have found that the gel seats, after about 30 miles, create what I call the "blow torch syndrome." I have switched to non-gel and cut-out. That works for me. A product called Vagiguard in the feminine product aisle will numb the area sufficiently. I used to take it on long tours. It works great!

incroyable1

Has anyone ever used Assos chamois creme? If so, what has your experience been in terms of effectiveness? It seems that when I ride on hot days for 2-4 hours, my labia and the surrounding tissue become very red and irritated, which I am thinking is due to the heat and moisture from perspiration. I thought I would try the chamois creme before doing the run around with trying to figure out what type of saddle to purchase.