Sit Bones Pain and Saddle Position



Some follow-up. I wanted to let all of you know (and perhaps future sit-bone sufferers) that it may very well be that I've been riding too narrow of a saddle.

A few years ago when I didn't have this issue at all, I was riding a cheapo stock saddle on my Specialized Allez, which was more than likely (can't check now) 143mm wide. Here it is; one of their "body geometry" saddles, circa. 2005.


The problems really must have started when I bought a new bike (Giant TCR) with a Fizik Arione (130mm wide) on it. Back in 2010, I'd only ride the Giant on Sundays, and I suppose my sit bone issue wasn't really evident at that point, as it usually occurs during consecutive days of hard riding...in which case I get a saddle sore on one sit bone or another. I felt the Arione was okay, and even ended up buying another one for my second bike. As my ride frequency increased over the next couple of seasons, the saddle sores began to be a big problem. At the time, I thought it was my position on the bike. Eventually changing to the Adamos didn't matter one whit, as they are also narrow (135mm). If anything, without a "nose," all of my weight on the saddle was even more concentrated on my two bony friends, the ischial tuberosities.

Fast forward to the present. I've been to a trusted LBS fitter, and he went over my fit very carefully, and helped position me onto a new saddle - a Selle Italia Maxflite Gel Flow (150mm) on my Giant. Didn't even buy the saddle from him; got it online, after reading about width-related problems.

This month I've been trying it out, and a different one for my "rain bike" a 155mm Specialized Romin. The plan is to only keep the saddle that works best, and put the same one on each road bike. It has been hard to tell if the issue is resolved; neither saddle has caused sores yet, but I have been sick for the last few weeks and haven't had as much time to ride far on consecutive days.

To be frank, I never was keen on the swoopy design of the Romin, but at this point I'd probably ride a fluorescent pink woman's saddle if that alleviated the saddle sore problem.
 
Originally Posted by AyeYo
Here's a seeminly off-topic question that actually isn't... how fast are you going on these rides?



Also, I'm not sure the move to the Adamo was a good one, as that shape saddle encourages you sliding to the front. It's meant for people bent over in an aggressive TT position.
The ISM's are weird beasts and bring with them problems of their own - namely, "prong width" - ie the two forward extensions at the front.

I got an ISM Attack, which is their narrowest saddle. It seemed better than previous saddles but something wasn't quite right. I ended up jamming a small piece of wood in-between the prongs to increase the width 5mm and it's much better. Ironically, all the other ISM saddles are about 5mm wider than the Attack. I'd read prior to buying mine that many guys were using heavy duty hose clamps to pull the prongs together by clamping the front of the saddle rails so I decided to bypass this and go for the narrower saddle.

Now I either need to find a permanent way of making my saddle wider (I do like the way the rest of the saddle feels) or buying a new ISM and dealing with the rest of the saddle being even wider all the way back.
 
I just messaged another area, but really believe this Kickstarter is onto something. I've read all the blather about fitting and have been fitted twice from what I'd consider a very good shop. It works for some things, and I get past sit bone pain with no problem after a certain number of miles and consistent riding. However Perineal Pain never goes away, due to the way saddles are shaped. Check out this link,

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1467810797/the-reprieve-bicycle-saddle?ref=nav_search

They have it figured out. And it looks like the production model will be shaped differently than the prototype.

JJN
 
Originally Posted by jjn25
I just messaged another area, but really believe this Kickstarter is onto something. I've read all the blather about fitting and have been fitted twice from what I'd consider a very good shop. It works for some things, and I get past sit bone pain with no problem after a certain number of miles and consistent riding. However Perineal Pain never goes away, due to the way saddles are shaped. Check out this link,

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1467810797/the-reprieve-bicycle-saddle?ref=nav_search

They have it figured out. And it looks like the production model will be shaped differently than the prototype.

JJN
That looks like a great idea, i'm gonna keep an eye on them, looks very promising.