My butt is killing me...!

So i've been riding road for only a week or two and after 7 miles or so my butt starts killing me. it's actually more the bottom of my butt where it contacts the seat. by 13-14 miles the pain is definately my limiting factor, i need to fix this. i'm riding a stock trek 5200 with pearl ultrasensor shorts. any suggestions? if it's get a new saddle then which one? thx

 

Have you spent some time adjusting the saddle and getting the position right? Have you experimented with what angle it's tilted at? How much do you weigh? And, are you male or female?

 

Go to a bike store.
Have them put a bike on the trainer.
Try a bunch of different seats.
Then you'll have a very good feel for the differences, and what amount you want to compromise for add'l comfort.

FWIW, keep the milage up and pretty soon the butt pain gets much much better!

 

i'm male, 5' 9", 155
my LBS put me on a trainer a week or two ago and adjusted my bike for me using measurments so i assumed they were correct

 

No such thing as correct when it comes to saddle adjustment. It can be a very personal thing. A slight tilt one way or the other can make a huge diff.

I'd suggest that 7 miles (~30 mins) is waaaaay too soon for the rear to be a limiting factor. You and the saddle don't agree. This can become a crusade -- I am on saddle #15 or so, and haven't found 'the' one, with the 5th or 6th one in the process still the champ. Looks like nothing is going to knock off the Fizik Alliante from my seatpost.

 

Do you stretch before rides? One time, after taking a break after 20 miles and getting back on, I had (literally) very bad pains in the rear. After stretching, though, it seemed better.

 

Sounds like Aztec is right. If you are hurting that early in rides it is saddle not agreeing with your butt for sure!

Start to try other saddles - in this forum everyone seems to rave about the Airone. Gonna pick one up soon.

For now I have a Rolls. Weighs about a kg, but then again, my butt never hurts (could be the built-in padding, though).

Just my two cents...

 

is it your butt or more in the gonads/perineum region? If so, it could be that your saddle needs raising or bars need lowering or you may even need a shorter stem. You may be leaning forward too much horizontally (if that makes sense) and putting too much pressure on your privates rather than the bones of your butt.

I've had a lot of problems getting comfortable but I think I might have resolved it after getting the LBS to refit me and readjust my setup. I've also got a saddle with a hole in the middle which reduces some of the pressure on the sensitive areas.
Anyway, a 100km ride on Sunday should be enough to figure out whether my set up is correct!

 

it hurts where the fat from my cheeks meets my legs but slightly in more on the bone. sorry, kinda graphic

 

No worries....my buddy who I cycle with is sick of hearing the gory details of my discomfort

 

Get a decently padded seat with a big hole in the center. Most weigh a little more than the "racing" type seats, but if you can't ride with the lighter seat, and you can with the heavier, padded one, which are you going to choose- give up riding, or ride in comfort?

I recently bought a Serfas seat that works for me. There are plenty of others out there.

You could also switch to a recumbent bike. I have one of those too and it is without any doubt the most comfortable way to ride.

TD

 

Fizik Aliante, one of the most expensive seats out there but oh so worth it. Your ass will thank you.

Seriously, it is so comfy, it's unbelievable.

 

Believe it's going to take many road miles to get the butt desensitized, regardless of what saddle you have. Under the "sitzbones" is right where it should hurt at first....you want your weight there rather than on the soft parts.

I'm on a Fisik Airone now. It's about as soft as I want to go, but I still get some soreness/discomfort starting around 3 hours. Standing up for a minute or so every 10-15 minutes helps a lot, as does a quick 5 minute rest stop every hour.

Concerning the Trek 5200, I test rode one last fall and thought the saddle was very uncomfortable also. Believe it's an SSM ERA, but the OEM version. I have an SSM ERA on an old bike which is a lot better.

Agree a new saddle should help. You may want to start out with a gel saddle; lots of those on the market now. Selle Italia makes some gel and gelflow models which should be comfy....never tried them though.

 

This is all good advice. At the very least you need to adjust the saddle, but you should also compare the padding on the one you have with padding on some others. One with more (or less) gel in just that right spot could make a huge difference. It could also be that the saddle is pitched too high up in the back. Height is easy (slight bend to the knee), but if your handlebars are too low, you may be pushing back too hard on your sitz bones. I have a nice Selle/Look gel saddle that works fine unless it's too hot, in which case the gel isn't supported and starts rocking (and therefore chafing me). Leads to serious saddle sores.

Also, use some Body Glide.

It's definitely NOT the shorts!