Saddles - bedding in required?

[slowwww]

I have a 2010 Boardman Team Carbon which had the stock Boardman saddle (i.e. not the Fizik ones on later models), and I found this to be fine, until increased the length of my rides to in excess of 20+ miles. Issues beyond this distance were principally were sore/aching rear end and (Ladies, please avert your gaze!) numbness/pain in the Gentleman’s Vegetables area.

To seek to cure the latter and after some very undignified measuring of my sit-bones, I selected the Selle Italia SLR with the large cut-out which has sorted the latter problem straightaway by removing any pressure on the perineum .

Unfortunately, I’m struggling to get used to the lack of padding on the saddle which is exacerbating the former. I’ve had 4-5 rides of between 20 and 30 miles on it, but am having to lift off regularly after10 miles to stretch and ease the pain. It doesn't get any worse, and is not a matter of wearing sores, it's just uncomfortable and distracting.

I’ve tried moving the saddle around and adding a few degrees of tilt either way, to no avail. I had also previously invested in new bib-shorts with a good pad and so I'm confident that this isn't the issue

Does anyone happen to know whether this is likely to just be a ‘bedding-in’ process while the saddle is adapting to my shape, or have I bought the wrong one?

 

[youngoldbloke]

My very first ride on a new Selle Italia SLS was (unwisely) around 50 miles, and the result was a very sore bottom indeed! Now no problems, and you can see fine crease marks on the saddle where it has changed shape slightly , so it might be worth persevering a while longer.

 

[ianrauk]

Why is your post font so small?

 

[slowwww]

Why is your post font so small?

Sorry, my typing is so crap that I typed this in MS Word, spell-checked this and then cut and pasted it in. Only after posting did I note that this was rather small, but I thought that it was still legible and so didn't bother to edit it.

Is it not readable? Should've gone to Specsavers?

 

[Mike!]

I'm still having issues, having gone from a charge Spoon that was also giving me numbness (after 30 miles or so) I got measured and changed to a Specialized Romin Evo Expert (which also has the cut out), numbness totally gone but despite now almost 300 miles the pain on my sit bones isn't getting much better. I'm hoping to leave off a bit early today and go down the Selle Italia fitting route this time with the hope of a better outcome as it's getting expensive!!

I'd say persevere a little longer but it may just not suit you!

 

[John the Monkey]

I think it helps to consider where the pain is, and relate that to saddle size and shape.

Personally, I settled on a Fizik Arione, and then an Aliante on my SCR2, and a Brooks B17-N on the tourer.

After trying the saddle that came with the Giant (too plush, and the overly padded nose rubbed my thighs) I went for a narrower, less padded saddle (the Arione). Those are terrific, but quite flat (so they don't put all your weight on your sitbones, putting some on the perineum too), so I tried a saddle with a more pronounced rise at the back, and a cutout (the Pro-Logo Nago PAS[1]). After that, I thought a Fizik with a similar shape (knowing that I liked Fizik's level of padding) would be a good bet, and went for the Aliante.

It's a really personal decision, and there is a degree to which you will become used to riding on the saddle as well to take into account. You should also, if you haven't already, have a think about the padding in your shorts, and whether it's worth getting some from a different brand with wider/narrower/more/less padding, and your position on the bike.

[1] The single least comfortable saddle in the entire world. It looks absolutely superb on a bike, but 30 miles on it will have you weeping, and praying for the sweet release of oblivion.

 

[slowwww]

Thanks Mike! and JTM. At the very least, I take encouragement that choosing a new saddle is evidentl not a precise science, but it sounds like it could be a long and costly search!