Saddle sore question

[tjk23]

I have had issues on and off again with saddle sores. They are all right side only. I know common fix is to lower the saddle. The issue I have is that the last fit I had they actually wanted to raise the saddle 15 mm. It never felt comfortable so I lowered it back to the height I have always used.
My question is can you get a saddle sore from a saddle that is too low?

[robt57]

What shorts you using, spend some big money on shorts if you sit in the saddle long duration I have always said.

FWIW, I ride with saddle slightly rotated counterclockwise from centered. Perhaps worth a try for you repeated occurrence/side?

[Joel]

Ok, this is going to be a little weird but here goes.

I was having off and on saddle sores on the left side. Couldn't figure out why. Made no sense. Tried all sorts of saddle adjustments and nothing seemed to work.

Upon routine cleaning turned out my left cleat had slipped sideways. Recentered the cleat and my foot on the pedal and no more saddle sores.

Never ever would have thought that one...

[tjk23]

I wear Assos bibshorts and use Speedplay pedals. Just out of curiosity were you having saddle issues prior to rotating the saddle? And did you rotate it toward to issue or away?

[kppolich]

The lower your saddle the more weight that goes on your butt and not on your legs.

Proper saddle height is important in getting the weight of your body off your butt/saddle sore area and on to the pedals.

[SuperColnago]

The lower your saddle the more weight that goes on your butt and not on your legs.

Proper saddle height is important in getting the weight of your body off your butt/saddle sore area and on to the pedals.

Think it is the reverse? - saddle too high = more weight on butt because legs cant reach?
Only mentioning because Im not really sure ! :help:

[cmg]

I'm sure you have heard this and it's true. Don't stay in shorts for long after hot sweaty rides, take a shower, wear clean clothes. During hot weather rides use a chamois cream prior to riding. wash shorts frequently, don't wear wet shorts. for me it was lowering the saddle until my hips didn't rock and could hold/pedal with my feet in a horizontal position through the pedal stroke, even though you don't normally ride that way. Check your fit.

[kppolich]

Think it is the reverse? - saddle too high = more weight on butt because legs cant reach?
Only mentioning because Im not really sure ! :help:

Lower = more weight on butt because legs are extending.
Higher, to a point gets the weight off your butt and onto the pedals.
Too high gets your hips rocking b/c legs are extending and body is compensating to get one side lower vs the other.

[booglebug]

And make sure you are clean before applying chamois cream

[bikinchris]

I have had issues on and off again with saddle sores. They are all right side only. I know common fix is to lower the saddle. The issue I have is that the last fit I had they actually wanted to raise the saddle 15 mm. It never felt comfortable so I lowered it back to the height I have always used.
My question is can you get a saddle sore from a saddle that is too low?

What kind of chamois cream do you use?

[ultraman6970]

I had and have the problem in the same side than yours and sucks.

My take on this is to ask yourself why it happens, asking this because you have several reasons like for example...

1 - the left leg is too long, or which is the same, the right leg is shorter.

2 - the shorts

3- fungus, with the sweat some areas start growing fungus quite quick and that could help to the problem.

How to fix it??? well shorter leg u just lower the saddle a little bit, you can shim the shorter leg too. Swap to another brand of shorts or swap saddles. As for the last one it depends a lot of the cream u use... sometimes a little big baby butt cream helps a lot.

Hope this helps.

[dbnm]

I try to get out of my bibs as soon as I can after a ride.

I always use a chamois cream, applied to my skin.

And I always use witch hazel after my ride and before a shower. That will definitely clear things up.

[benb]

I'd definitely take a look at your cleats.

There's a lot going on but if they always appear on one side there's a decent chance it's related to cleats on top of or instead of the saddle.

Most of us are not perfectly symmetric. You can think you are but if you keep raising your saddle slightly one side will give out before the other.

A lot of bike fits will miss this. A lot of fits primarily look at the rider from one side and they'll optimize the fit for that side and they often won't look much at your cleats. An aggressive fitter who looks at your "tall/strong" side can end up jacking the saddle up too high or the other side.

If your two sides don't operate symmetrically the fit can end up optimized for the side they tend to look at, and they won't even be able to tell if the position they put you in is causing side to side motion at the hips when you pedal.

A really good fit is going to put the saddle in the compromise position where neither leg is challenged, and then make any necessary changes at the cleats if necessary.

Example:

For me my right foot is longer and that leg is more flexible. Most of the fits I've had they don't do much with the cleats and they do all the analysis from the right (drive) side. This tends to put the saddle up too high for my left leg. My left hipbone will pull to the left when I'm pedaling and I end up with too much pressure on the right side and I get a sore there.

The thing that fixes it for me:
- Saddle slightly down compared to what a right side only fit would dictate (5mm)
- Saddle slightly back from what the right side KOPS fit would dictate (again about 5mm)
- Cleats on left shoe moved forward to slightly lengthen the reach of that foot
- Cleats on the right shoe moved back to slightly shorten the reach of that foot

My cleat offset when I do this is like 3-5mm.

I've mostly arrived at this last little adjustment myself.. I've never paid for a Retul fit though I've had a lot of fits with a lot of different tech. If I have this right my butt is happy on just about any saddle. If it's not right I will constantly get saddle sores on my right side that won't go away without staying completely off the bike, and they can come right back in 20 miles.

A Retul or just a really good fitter who has an eye for looking at you from all angles can catch this. And any expensive fit should be looking at the cleats.

Also... saddle sores are not the only injuries you can get from your two legs fighting pushing you side to side on the bike. It can contribute to knee tendonitis, back pain, wrist or shoulder issues. It's worth figuring out.

[David Kirk]

Here's my two cents -

I've seen this more than once with clients and have had the same thing happen personally. I think that in nearly every case it came down to the fact that the rider wasn't sitting squarely on the saddle but instead was listing off to one side. If the sores are on the right side you are probably dropping your left hip....and this puts much more pressure on the right side as it now carries the bulk of the weight. It also happens to carry the weight in a way that the saddle wasn't designed to.

It's hard to just stop dropping one hip as it feels normal but there is often a good reason for it and that is that the saddle is too narrow. If the saddle is not wide enough to support both sit bones then we tend move to one side to have it at least support one of them to take weight off the soft tissue....and this lets the other side drop and this in turn results in too much of your weight being carried on one side....and....wait for it....weight = pressure/friction and this can cause saddle sores.

The other things are super important....clean skin, clean shorts, proper short sizing....etc. All super important. But just as important is that both sit bones are supported by a saddle that is wide enough to do the job.

Many people think that being thin means that they are also narrow....like "I'm 6' tall and weigh 165 lbs so I don't need a wider saddle" and that is not correct. I'll bet if you try a wider saddle like the Shimano Stealth or the Specialized short and wide saddle the issue will go away and you'll find more comfort and better alignment as a bonus.

dave

[cmg]

I put shims under the cleats to try even out leg discrepancies. Just do a google search for pedal shims. plenty of options.