Saddle Problem? Selle Italia C2

[Dave80]

I all,
I'm getting 'blister' type sores from my saddle (Selle Italia C2 Genuine Gel Saddle). The sores are on the area I would discribe as my sit bone - or the points where you hip bone rests on top of the back end of the saddle. I now have lumps were the sores are and after longer rides they are open and incredibly painful (sorry if thats to much detail). I'm unsure if this is a saddle fit issue, a riding bikes for several hours a week issue or a problem with the saddle design. Other than the sores that I'm getting the saddle feels really comfortable.

I think the problem might be design. If you have a look at the saddle (http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=s3026) you can see the Selle Italia logos are located in the area where I'm having the problem. The logos are on a raised plastic type disc which sits above the leather. I think it might be contact with the 'front' end of these logos thats causing the rubbing. I wear quality knicks and have tried with and without anything underneath.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any suggestions welcomed. I'm a uni student and would really prefer not having to go through an expensive saddle buying experiment.
Cheers

 

[flipper]

I've been using a C2 for close to a year now without any issues - (rides up to about 5hrs, training and racing) The C2 logo disappeared after a week or so.
Has it only started happening recently?

 

[Dave80]

I've been using a C2 for close to a year now without any issues - (rides up to about 5hrs, training and racing) The C2 logo disappeared after a week or so.
Has it only started happening recently?

Thanks for the reply

The bike (and saddle) is only a few months old (i've done just under 2000km on it to date). However the problem has only arisen in the last few weeks of riding (had a month of the bike whilst on holidays overseas - amazing how much form you can lose in a month). The C2 logo on the 'nose' of saddle has disappeared, the logos i'm refering to are the Selle Italia ones 'mirrored' on the back corners of the saddle.

 

[flipper]

I'd look for any other changes over the last month then - any changes to bike fit/setup/components? did anyone else use it while you were away and change/move anything? Did you ride a bike overseas that didn't fit?
Could even be something as silly as using a different washing powder for your knicks. Are they washed after every ride? Weather's been hot as hell lately.

Just looked at my knicks and there's no sign of any wear where they contact those logos. Would've thought something would show after a year.

 

[matagi]

If you have previously ridden the saddle without problems, then you need to look at what has changed in the past few weeks to cause you to have problems now.

Have you put on weight since your holiday? Changed to a different brand of knicks? Changed the position of your saddle? Think carefully, you may have made what you thought was a trivial change, which you might not recall immediately.

 

[jock.c]

Sounds like FoD to me.

 

[matagi]

Sounds worse than the FoD, has it attempted a return, BTW?

(flipper and I were obviously thinking along the same lines - didn't realise he'd already posted basically the same thing I did )

 

[jock.c]

Sounds worse than the FoD, has it attempted a return, BTW?

Nothing is worse than the FoD!

It made a brief yet feeble attempt to once again thwart my training. I scared it off quickly though with a vicious pincer like movement.

Dave, you may have missed my adventure with the Furuncle of Death over on TAN, so here it is. Occaisionally you'll get an infection in the skin folds near the sit bone. It's like a boil, red with a white eye. Because it makes the skin sit up a bit you will normally end up with a chaiffe cut just to add to the misery.

Eventually it will form a nice hard ball of puss under the skin, like a cyst. At this point you can sqeeze the bejeezuz out of it until it pops. The pain is excruciating until it pops, and then you feel a kind of euphoric relief. Unless it pops without erupting through the skin. Then you're probably in deep **** (of the septacemia type). You could try home lancing, but I've never been brave enough to try putting sharp pointy objects near the tender bits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boil

 

[Dave80]

Nothing is worse than the FoD!

Dave, you may have missed my adventure with the Furuncle of Death over on TAN, so here it is. Occaisionally you'll get an infection in the skin folds near the sit bone. It's like a boil, red with a white eye. Because it makes the skin sit up a bit you will normally end up with a chaiffe cut just to add to the misery.

Eventually it will form a nice hard ball of puss under the skin, like a cyst. At this point you can sqeeze the bejeezuz out of it until it pops. The pain is excruciating until it pops, and then you feel a kind of euphoric relief. Unless it pops without erupting through the skin. Then you're probably in deep **** (of the septacemia type). You could try home lancing, but I've never been brave enough to try putting sharp pointy objects near the tender bits.

Jock.C you've just described it. The pain can be quite remarkable (understatement of century - you should hear me swear like a trooper when I'm 'attempting to fix it'). They seem to come and go but never completely which is really annoying.

WRT to flippers and Matagi's inquires into changes - I've made no changes other than increased time on the bike. Although the first appearance could be correlated with some of the hotter and more humid days, which I suppose for most equals an increase risk of chaffing.

Jock.C what solutions worked for you? Should i be 'lubing up' with some of the products mentioned on other strings about chaffing? I must admit that I've been a bit lazy about getting out of my knicks when I return from a ride, which can't be good from a bacteria/infectious stuff point of view. Any advice much appreciated.

Apologises to the good people at Selle Italia - its my **** not your saddle that appears to be the problem.

 

[anthonyg]

I tried a Selle Italia C2 (basic OE model) for a while and at first I thought it was OK and I realy wanted to like it but it just didn't agree with my rear end. I too think that the raised Selle Italia logo on the rear may be an issue along with a lot of raised stiching.

Well I went to a more basic Selle Italia, the Initiale model and its great. Its a little wider at the back than the C2 model and importantly in my view is no raised, hard plastic logo's or stiching.

The C2 model realy is quite narrow so maybe those who like it have narrower sitbones. Those with wider sitbones are sitting on the raised logo's which isn't ideal. See if you can pick up an Initiale model to try. There were some going on Austalian eBay with a cutout quite cheaply.

Regards, Anthony

 

[stevebaby]

Maybe you need a new ****? Check at your nearest Parliament House... there are always a few spares going begging.

OR...try treating the FoD with honey, the best anti-bacterial agent I've found so far. Better i.e. more effective than antibiotics. Put a smidge in a large dressing and stick it on and hold it there with tape.
Do you have a seam on your nicks near the FoD? I got one from a pair that I've been wearing for yonks...when I sat on the bike, the seam changed position and combined with a bit of sweat and body heat... Gluteus Horribilis !
I put the dressing on each night and the swelling/infection was noticeably decreased the next day.
The way you wash your nicks can also contribute to FoDs. Just a trace of washing powder or soap can irritate the skin and open it to infection. I now soak mine in woolwash, squeeze out and rinse multiple times and use hottish water. Your nicks won't last as long, but you can always live on noodles and buy some more. Be wary of cross-infection...wash nicks, apply treatment to ****, **** improves...put nicks back on (with a freshly festered family of bugs) and the cycle repeats itself.

 

[jock.c]

Prevention (ish)
---------------
I shower in the morning before I start out and again when I get back from each ride. I use Dettol handwash (green or blue, both work the same) to clean the nether regions and towel dry.

Nicks are only ever worn once before being washed if I can help it, but when I'm at work I have to wear them to and from. It's important to get the chamois completely dry before putting them on for the arvo ride home. An air conditioned office with a static humidity of ~50% and temp of around 22-23deg will dry sweaty nicks in about 4 hours. On rainy days I hang them in the comms cabinet behind the fans of all those heat generating routers and switches (make sure you squeegee all the excess water out so you don't short out any electricals!)

Let your skin breathe: sleep raw or in PJ's or boxers that allow air to get to the affected area.

Shave/wax? Never done this, but it might help.

If you're prone to the little buggers then you're still going to get one or two a year, but keeping everything clean will prevent it being a continuous nightmare.


Relief
-------

Pop 'em. Clean and dry the area and your hands first. Not a cursory rinse, but a thorough clean. Squeeze from all sides until you are left with just clear liquid containing a trace of blood. The clear liquid will fill the void, swell the tissue, and make you feel uncomfortable again for a day or so.

Banana peel (overnight), especially good if you have a scratch

Different nicks

Different saddle

Minor adjusments to bike setup (seat height, angle, fore-aft)


After-pop care
----------------

After you pop the little bugger you'll have an open wound that needs to be treated in the same way as any other open wound. Difference is you'll be placing weight onto it, sweating, scraping hairs across it, and generally making it feel uncomfortable. Antiseptic cream helps. Honey is probably good but never tried it. Keep the area as dry as possible for as long as possible.

 

[matagi]

Thinking about what might have changed ... It is possible the problem has arisen because the gel in the saddle has compressed slightly making the logos on the side more prominent. Your sit bones might be a little wide for the saddle (as AnthonyG suggested) so they are resting on the logo, creating a chafe point.

 

[Wrightstuff]

I get soreness in the same sit bone region after long rides of 100 km+. Good quality bib nix holding things in place and reducing rubbing and chamios creams do seem to reduce it a lot. The saddle type can also be a major contributing factor. Hade a expensive Selle San Marco saddle that just killed my ****. Changed the saddle for one with a little more flex and has been good. However I have not ever completely got over the problem, but I figure if you spend several hours almost continuously on a bike your gonna get a sore ****.

And to quote literally from the "string about the sting about nothing" Cycling is all about pain and all cyclists are saddists. (I think they meant Masochists!!, not people into crying jags)

 

[stevebaby]

Prevention (ish)
---------------
I shower in the morning before I start out and again when I get back from each ride. I use Dettol handwash (green or blue, both work the same) to clean the nether regions and towel dry.

Nicks are only ever worn once before being washed if I can help it, but when I'm at work I have to wear them to and from. It's important to get the chamois completely dry before putting them on for the arvo ride home. An air conditioned office with a static humidity of ~50% and temp of around 22-23deg will dry sweaty nicks in about 4 hours. On rainy days I hang them in the comms cabinet behind the fans of all those heat generating routers and switches (make sure you squeegee all the excess water out so you don't short out any electricals!)

Let your skin breathe: sleep raw or in PJ's or boxers that allow air to get to the affected area.

Shave/wax? Never done this, but it might help.

If you're prone to the little buggers then you're still going to get one or two a year, but keeping everything clean will prevent it being a continuous nightmare.


Relief
-------

Pop 'em. Clean and dry the area and your hands first. Not a cursory rinse, but a thorough clean. Squeeze from all sides until you are left with just clear liquid containing a trace of blood. The clear liquid will fill the void, swell the tissue, and make you feel uncomfortable again for a day or so.

Banana peel (overnight), especially good if you have a scratch

Different nicks

Different saddle

Minor adjusments to bike setup (seat height, angle, fore-aft)


After-pop care
----------------

After you pop the little bugger you'll have an open wound that needs to be treated in the same way as any other open wound. Difference is you'll be placing weight onto it, sweating, scraping hairs across it, and generally making it feel uncomfortable. Antiseptic cream helps. Honey is probably good but never tried it. Keep the area as dry as possible for as long as possible.

Errrrrkk.There goes the custard **** I was just about to gobble down.
http://www.worldwidewounds.com/2001/november/Molan/honey-as-topical-agent.html
Honey as a topical antibacterial agent for treatment of infected wounds

Banana peel? I'll give it a go.

 

[jock.c]

Banana peel? I'll give it a go.

Banana peel is not very glamorous. It goes slimey and soggy because your body generates heat which increase the rate of decay. Best to keep it under a thin piece of tape. This renders new problems, such as how to remove said plaster without screaming the neighbourhood down, but I'm sure you'll work it out!

 

[anthonyg]

See if you can pick up an Initiale model to try. There were some going on Austalian eBay with a cutout quite cheaply.

Regards, Anthony

OK DON'T follow this advice regarding getting them on eBay. I bought one myself because I like the saddle but the Selle Italia Initiale Trans Am's that I bought has a fault in the saddle rails and the seller has gone silent on me for the moment. Avoid.

Regards, Anthony

 

[anthonyg]

OK DON'T follow this advice regarding getting them on eBay. I bought one myself because I like the saddle but the Selle Italia Initiale Trans Am's that I bought has a fault in the saddle rails and the seller has gone silent on me for the moment. Avoid.

Regards, Anthony

I spoke too soon. The seller is replacing the faulty saddle for me. Its a decent basic saddle although check it over if you get one.

Regards, Anthony

 

[jock.c]

I spoke too soon. The seller is replacing the faulty saddle for me. Its a decent basic saddle although check it over if you get one.

Regards, Anthony

So the Selle seller had a spare in the cellar?

 

[anthonyg]

So the Selle seller had a spare in the cellar?

Very good. Yes he had a few for sale. Like a lot of the saddles on eBay a shop has taken the OEM saddle off the bike for a client and fitted a different one. The OEM saddles are for sale on eBay. Some of them are pretty ordinary but some of them are good. Most of the Selle Italia SLR saddles on eBay would have come off higher end Giants.

Regards, Anthony