Uhumm...Personal Ladies Question...Ladies please help.

[SADDLESAW]

As you will see this is my first post and unfortunately I need to ask a question on behallf of my long suffering wife (read into that what you will ). Equally emabrassing is the fact that I chose my name for the forum quite some time ago....and my first post had to be this one......

Anyhoo...the problem is that as our cycling experience increases we have embarked upon longer rides, up to 70 + Miles. This is a slowish ride averaging about 16 MPH. My wife is experiencing a great deal of discomfort and swelling after the ride lasting at least a couple of days....initially I thought it was the saddle and so purchased a Selle San Marco Atola Ladies 215M gel . My wife says it is very comfortable but still the problem persists.

Any advice or personal experience that led to a cure would be greatly appreciated by her I'm sure.

Many thanks.....

 

[Rustyhole]

I would suggest a proper fitting by your fav LBS even if it costs a little $$
Not all seats are good for all people and many now come in multiple widths to accomodate varing sitbone spacing. Nor is it obvious as a large man may have narrow bones there whereas a tiny woman may have wider spacing.
It is best to get measured (any good LBS should be able to help)
Is she used to longer rides or did you guys just jump in?
Longer rides at a lower speed = more time in saddle which could lead to more discomfort. Hopefully (without you being more specific) that helps

 

[matagi]

Sounds like she is putting too much weight on her soft tissues rather than her sit bones. A gel saddle is not good in this situation because you tend to sink into the saddle and therefore bring your soft tissues in contact with it and on long rides, they get squished and then you end up with pain and swelling where you don't want pain and swelling.

Ideally, she should be perched on the saddle, with the weight concentrated on her sit bones. If she isn't, then you need to start looking at why. It could be due to the way the bike is set up, which makes her adopt a less than ideal position or it could be due to the fact that she is rolling her pelvis forward, in which case she needs to work on core strength.

Speaking personally, I started with a Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow which worked fine until we started riding distances longer than 20 kilometres (about 12 miles) and then the discomfort started to set in. I switched a Specialized Milano which was rock hard in comparison to the Selle Italia, and have had no problems until recently and those are due to the fact that I don't ride much any more due to work and have consequently lost a great deal of strength and fitness.

A couple of quick and easy suggestions .... start by looking at the seat, is it level? If it is slightly nose up, then this could be part of the problem. If it is level, then you might want to look at putting the nose down a touch. Look at how she sits on the bike - is she relaxed with very slightly bent arms, or is she stretched out with her pelvis rolled against the seat?

 

[SADDLESAW]

Thanks, good suggestions. I guess we should get the set up checked at the LBS and start from there.


Thanks again

 

[domaindomain]

Yes, get the set up checked and, if changing the saddle might help, there is a ladies version of the Selle SMP TRK that is often helpful in such circumstances.