It ain't the saddle?

[Jason E]

I've been playing with saddles a bit for the past year or so since I started getting in longer rides after a year or so 'break' off. I'm not seeing a lot of sustained comfort past 2 hours on the bike. I find myself shifting and standing and doing whatever I can to not sit as much. Under load, Climbing, the discomfort lessens.

I'd never had a saddle conundrum before. I could ride unpadded broken glass with no chamois for a century without an issue.

I'm thinking back to what has changed over the last few years. I've switched from Assos Chamois cream to Butt'r, and from Assos Bib shorts to mostly Pearl Izumi. The Assos were all worn and coming to pieces, so...

Has anyone had issues swapping chamois cream or shorts? I'm thinking I had a minor eureka moment realizing where I screwed up here, but I would like to hear I'm not nuts here.

Similar experiences?

[FlashUNC]

Shorts play as big a part as saddle imo.

The chamois cream probably less so.

I'd say if you're riding saddles that used to be comfortable but are not the proverbial a$$ hatchet, then the shorts are the culprit.

[Jason E]

Shorts play as big a part as saddle imo.

The chamois cream probably less so.

I'd say if you're riding saddles that used to be comfortable but are not the proverbial a$$ hatchet, then the shorts are the culprit.

Yeah, I've been on Aspides for years. I tried Antares (or whatever from Fizik), I have a Flite that was always the bee's knees, and I even went back to an Arione which I left a decade ago as it was TOO MUCH of a couch.

Not looking forward to buying a bunch of ridiculously priced Assos, but I may start with a pair and see.

[FlashUNC]

Something else to consider too is that your body may have changed over the lay off from the bike.

The shorts that fit me well when I was a 165 lb racer in college (Castelli for one) don't fit my 195 lb frame these days nearly as comfortably.

[93legendti]

I have never liked PI's chamois. They hurt like hell and make a 2 hr ride torture. Heck anything over 30 minutes is no fun. Try your old Assos shorts with your new saddle-you know those work.
Also, make sure your saddle's present tilt is the same as what you were used to.

[Louis]

I have never liked PI's chamois. They hurt like hell and make a 2 hr ride torture. Heck anything over 30 minutes is no fun.

It's a personal thing - PI chamois work fine for me. (They do have quite a few different options, and there are differences.)

[Ralph]

Without realizing it, you may not be setting your bike up the way you did before.

Bar or hood height to seat height, saddle set back, saddle tilt angle, ec, all make a difference in your pelvic rotation, and make a difference in how your butt is presented to the saddle. Also, if you have gained weight, you may have less "room" there for a saddle.

I went thru this same issue recently, constantly changing saddle, with a new frame set up.

[AngryScientist]

its your butt, not the saddle, most likely.

in my experience, with a lot of years in the saddle, your ass just gets used to riding a racing saddle. make no mistake - there is nothing natural about sitting on any bicycle saddle, but the body adapts and becomes comfortable on it. with a good amount of time off, you've "gone soft" so to speak, and your body is no longer used to sitting on a racing saddle for long periods. give it more time, and i'll bet you snap right back into it.

just a thought.

[fuzzalow]

You have swapped saddles on the bike. Each saddle has a slightly different setup even if the frame & bars geometry is unchanged from before. Shorts and cream can't mask or overcome an incorrect setup. The reason it feels uncomfortable on the bike after 2 hours is that the skeletal support muscles that were used to maintain an artificial posture on the saddle have fatigued. When this happens, you can no longer press your anatomy away from the hotspot that was there to begin with because the setup/fit was not yet dialed in.

Your post says that you've been back riding for some time so the discomfort is not from the softness of being away from the bike. You may not have had problems with this configuration before because, as noted by FlashUNC, your body has changed. Or more likely, you had better form back then and a high level of fitness can overcome a mediocre setup/fit through sheer force of endurance.

It is the saddle.

[Bob Loblaw]

PI chamois have a reputation for agreeing with some people and making others miserable. I second the the suggestion of going bAck and riding the assos again as an experiment.

Also, not sure if it applies to you or not but if you gained a few during your break, it doesn't take much added weight to noticeably affect riding comfort.

BL

[Lovetoclimb]

Has your position changed on the saddle? I notice during hard rides or races when i shift between in the drops or on the flats of the bars for climbing, my pelvic bowl tends to shift moving the weight from my sitz bones into my perineum. Maybe something to think about while you are riding, try to identify if this is happening to you or not.

[christian]

I think it's the chamois, myself. I have a pretty insensitive ass and am happy with most shorts and saddles, but every time I have had an issue, it's been the chamois, not the saddle.

[bostondrunk]

I say throw a San Marco Regal saddle on there. Usually solves everything. :)