Sore sitbones aka ouchy fanjo

[DontBuyANewMumCashmere]

Does anyone know anything about the positioning of saddles for optimum fanny comfort?
My saddle appears to be perfectly level, if I have sore "sitbones" should I tip saddle up/down/back/forward?
I looked online once and didn't get a helpful answer, and am very unwilling to ask in my LBS.
Anyone know anything about it?

What sort of saddle do you have?

Just looked up my specs and think it's a San Marco Era Start Power.
Definitely San Marco; that's written on it.

I'd try tipping the nose of the saddle up slightly, but it may be that you and the saddle are not compatible. I have a Selle Italia Diva flow gel which is great, especially once I got the right shorts (or rather a oad that was the right shape for me).

Is it a women's saddle?

Watching with interest. I was burning when I had a pee after my ride last night. My bum is totally fine though. It's just one small area at the front. I've invested in gel shorts and they make no difference despite feeling like a giant nappy. Mine is a woman's gel saddle.

It's all about saddle set up.

Trial and error and a bit of advice from a friendly local bike shop.

I am positive it is a women's saddle, I can't actually remember now but I'm convinced it's a women's bike. It doesn't say and isn't the colour of oestrogen pink so I'm not sure.

Good point about shorts, I have two or three padded items and all three are not comfy on this bike - on my other bike they seem fine.
I've never used a gel saddle, are they really good/recommended/worth it?

If you want to try a different saddle take a look at Specialised rival body geometry. When I bought on the measured the distance between my sit bones - just a matter of me sitting on a gel pad. This means you get the right width. I wonder if your saddle is the wrong width for your sit bones and so the pressure is on your fanjo?

The Specialized has a bit of a cut out for delicate parts. I cycle an hour a day with no problems. I am on my second saddle of this type.

This is the recent one that is available in several different widths.
www.specialized.com/gb/gb/components/saddles/womens-oura-expert-gel/105572

www.cobbcycling.com/innie-or-outie/ This was quite good at explaining bones, position of hip joints in relation to pubic bone. Australian site - I googled some of the saddles.

Thanks all, will have a look.

I had big issues when I was cycling!

Bum butter or chamois cream
No underwear under padded bike pants
Good quality padded bike pants

I tired lots of saddles and changing the angle of the seat but in the end a bike fit made the biggest difference.

Team GB has done some research in this which suggests you should try pointing the nose of your saddle down.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/aug/15/team-gb-cycling-saddle-sore-medals

Handsup
I don't use chamois cream, as I thought that was more of a rubbing issue solver? This isn't rubbing, it's more like too much pressure?
I don't wear knickers, just my padded shorts/leggings and they are good ones, Gore etc not own brand stuff.

Pretty thanks I'll have a look at that, might solve the issue.

Cheers.

I wanted to leave that joyful nugget of information as a surprise when reading the article!

Is there nothing and nowhere that British Cycling won't go in its search for marginal gains?!

There are many variants of bike saddle, so the first thing I suggest is you go to a bike shop where they can measure the width of your sit-bones. Usually its a flat board covered in a gel like top that you sit on (!) for a while, when you get up there will be two impressions where the bones are, get this measured (best to wear cycle shorts for this). You can also try it at home: www.artscyclery.com/learningcenter/measuresitbonewidth.html

I was going to link that Guardian article too and say that you should also make sure you have a nice comfy cushion of pubes.

Agree totally with getting bum bones measured. Mine are ridiculously wide apart and no amount of saddle adjusting, shorts buying etc helped with the numb / sore vulva. I needed a different saddle. I had no idea my bum bones were so far apart, naively thinking than my quite narrow hips meant this wasn't an issue.

I tipped my saddle forward on my last ride and it made and instant improvement. Big relief!

Best advice would be to go and see your local bike shop, we see this all the time its a common issue that all bike shops will be able to help with. Avoid non dedicated bike shops as the staff are not a clued up on cycling.

• Get a woman specific saddle
• You can get yourself measured for the correct size saddle (based on sit bone width )
• Padded shorts OR padded under shorts are a must if you do not already have them. As mentioned before you do not need to wear anything under them.
• You can get a mini bike fit done. Saddle height, angle and position front and back all make a big difference.

I hope that helps,
Daryl

bicyclechain.co.uk