Hello: I'm not an avid biker by any means. I own a mountain bike I've outfitted with non-knobby city tires. My problem is that I've never found a comfortable bike seat, even the wider gel seat I have now doesn't cut it for me. My problem isn't the width of a seat being too small or too large, it's that no matter what, the seats press against my "butt bones" for lack of a better description making for a deep soreness rather than a fleshy soreness if that makes sense. I've thought "if I could mount a tractor seat on my bike, maybe that would solve the problem! I'm not serious of course. I also am not into biking enough to buy a recumbent bike which I believe would make for a more comfortable sitting position. Any suggestions on seats? Thanks. Chris L
Hi Chris, I am not a huge biker either.....but, padded bike shorts work well for me, I Mountain Bike as well and I have a normal size seat on mine....some times just slightly changing the position of the seat will make all the difference... I think the smaller / normal seats work nicer than the larger ones as there is less friction than what is caused by those larger gel padded ones..... I vote padded shorts Neale
Thanks Neale. I guess I never thought about trying to adjust the seat in any way other than up and down. I think it may have a way to adjust the tilt as well. I'll try that. Maybe I'll try the bike shorts as well. I appreciate your help. Chris L
Chris, the saddle can be adjusted up, down, forward, backward as well as tilted. I would suggest taking it to your local bike shop and have them make the adjustment. They can put the bike on a stand, put you on the bike and move the saddle where it needs to be. Or, you could go here and read up on it yourself. All this assumes the bike itself fits you. That said, Neale is very right about cycling shorts. Not particularly inexpensive, and a definite fashion statement, but you will not believe the difference. Truly. Oh, and supposedly, the absolute WORST saddles are the thickly padded gel saddles. I ride a road bike only, but I like my Fizik saddle below. Good luck!
My saddle is similar to Michaels, except a bit more on the aggressive looks as it is for a mountain bike...I have found slightly angling the seat can yield comfort improvements....and it's easy enough to do your self....just carry an allen wrench with you and make slight changes until it feels perfect... Cycling shorts don't have to be the skin tight ones either as they have paddled mountain bike shorts as well that aren't the tight Lycra / spandex materials and they really do help big time over a long ride.....both styles work great though....I sometimes like the lycra for the support it provides to the quads / hamstrings.... There are also some seats / saddles that have channels in them that are said to reduce friction / sore spots.....my wife has one and she likes it....not sure if they are made for men too though. Neale
I have heard this too, but have never tried one so I do not have any first hand knowledge to compare it too.....
Here's what works for me: In addition to having a gel seat on my bike, I wear two pairs of shorts. First I put on those tight Cycling Shorts. Then to not look wierd, a pair of regular shorts over them.
REI sells a lot of different types of shorts as do most cycling shops.....Here's some to look at These are nice ......
I rode a bike a lot as a kid up until I got my first car at 16. Then I rode a bike to work in summers in South Dakota where the whole town was flat and had little traffic (26K population). Then I took up bicycling for exercise three years ago. In the summer I ride about 40 miles three days a week on the Katy Trail, a 200+ mile long converted rail line state park bike trail. Plus I ride about 12 miles on country highways on the days I don't ride the trail weather permitting. I have a road bike and ride only on paved roads or finished bike trails. I started with a narrow seat but got "sore bones" too. I'm past 70 and have a bony rear end. I switched to a wide seat that helped then I bought a strap-on gel pad that helped even more. It takes a week or so for me to adapt to riding every season. I had my bicycle seat professionally adjusted a couple of times by an elderly Amish bicycle mechanic. Many Amish around here ride bikes instead of using buggies for their daily transportation. I think the seat adjustment helped more than anything. My wife wears the spandex type shorts but I don't like the look or feel of them. I find loose clothing works best for me. Richard
I BMX and take a lot of spin classes. When I get off those bikes the inside of my legs are killing me and it feels like somebody took a blow torch to my *&(&(&(#@$@#%. I hear the padded bike shorts help alot. I ride with a seat the size of about 1 and a half of my hands thats 100% plastic with no padding at all. You just get used to it
I have a fizik arione saddle and found it very comfortable riding 200+ miles a week (back in the day). The aforementioned advise is spot on. Good padded riding shorts and a quality road seat adjusted properly.
Eat more, get a bigger butt problem solved I don't do cycling shorts either. Here is Austin there's a million Lance Armstrong wannabes all over the darn city. They all look pretty funny specially the fat guy that wears the skin tight outfit...man the rolls go forever:happy102 Padded shorts should do until you get more natural padding on your behind.
