So why do people wear bike shorts? It does not look comfortable at all… I bike in whatever I wear… Although I really don’t recommend biking in tight jeans.
With the saddle I got, I would last 5 minutes without bike shorts.
I’m no expert, but you could try tilting the saddle forward a little?
absolutely the single most comfortable thing to wear on a bike. any other clothes will chafe (if you ride hard for long), especially cotton like jeans.
Plus, my arse looks great in them. Honest.
Ok, tilting the saddle will help? Or should I wear 2 bike shorts? I am red under my sitting bone and the soft tissue between scrotum and anus was bloody tender.
Make sure you get a descent quality bike tights. Sometimes people go for the super-padded ones, but they chaffe me for longer rides. The best shorts I have are tri shorts with minimal padding. The quality of the cloth is important. It should fit pretty snug, so pull those puppies up tight against your precious bits and tuck them in where it counts. Also, as mentioned earlier, try tilting the front part of your saddle down a bit, so that you feel like only our sitbones touch the saddle. Might help. Also, you might want to get some lube cream such as Bodyglide and use liberally where it counts. If all else fails, get a Specialized Romin. Go to the specialized store and you can try one out for free for a day to see how you like it. It’s worth the investment and has made my cycling experience much better.
That area you’re talking about is called the perineum, and lots of cyclists have problems with it. It’s not usually chafing, though–what happens is that when your saddle puts pressure on it, the blood flow to your junk gets cut off, and you get, er, numb nuts. But there are lots of saddles out there that dip down or have a hole in that area. You might want to try one of those–that ought to fix your chafing problem! Go to Specialized; they’ll fix you up.
Bump! The saddle / seat that came with my bicycle (Giant Defy 3) is getting on in age - the cover (upholstery?!) is peeling off, etc. So I need a new one.
This one’s been fine. I guess. I get uncomfortable when a ride is much longer than whatever my current typical ride is. I honestly don’t know if I can expect things to be much better. I’ve still never ridden more than 100km (hoping to break that soon), but my back and energy levels, and the heat, are usually more of a limit than the seat.
Any tips for buying a new one?
I know that Specialized shops have a fitting system, Retül, where they measure your sit bones and determine the saddle that suits you best. The shop should also have test saddles available for demo. I think you just have to pay a deposit for 2-3 days.
I think Giant has something similar in their Dynamic Cycling Fit system. Same diff as Specialized.
When it comes down to spending the bucks, if you have the funds, carbon rails will absorb vibrations a bit better than its counterparts in aluminum and steel rails and shed a bit of weight on your bike. However, any rail material, with the right fit, it’ll make your journey to 100k a bit more comfy.
Some more info
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I’m not a seasoned cyclist, but I recently bought a Sqlab 612 ergowave active saddle off shopee as an impulse buy 
I only logged around 200km over 4 rides but happy with it so far, very minimal padding but for my normal 40-50km ‘exercise’ night rides I have no discomfort.
But for that 80km ride I just did, I got a sore butt at around the 65km mark…probably since I was not ready for a long ride + heat/fatigue set in. The only downside is one of my bib shorts has a slight textured material and it’s a bit too grippy on the saddle making micro-adjustments difficult.
I measured my sit bones by using a piece of cardboard and then putting aluminum foil over that to get the ‘impression’.
But I think the way to go is what Ranlee said about finding a shop that does loaners and you can see which feels best.
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be aware that saddles seem to come in several ‘families’ of shapes. I noticed a while ago that all the saddles i feel comfortable on are of the Sella Italia Flite shape, which is very similar to the Regal and Rolls leather saddles of years gone by (and i have three bikes with those too). but I don’t feel good on other saddle types, even from the same manufacturer.
so once you have found one style you like, look for others in that shape for replacements.
finding a shop that loans saddles is very helpful. anybody care to post them here?
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Of course, what was I thinking for not listing the shops.
For Retul fitting
https://scheduler.retul.com/search?country=TW
I am pretty certain, Yo-Yo (Specialized) has it, but didn’t show up on the directory
For the Giant fitting system, that’s kind of a no brainer, but you may have to give the shop a message/call to see if they have any demos available.
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This x 100. My ass is happiest on a saddle that has a kick up at the back. So Romin and Fabric work well. I used to always ride on a Concor back in the day. Same style, albeit with more padding.
Concor are 50-50 for me (had one since the 80s on my Colnago) they share the long nose of the Flite, with slight droop, but the flare to the sitbones is not quite wide or fast enough to unweight my perineum. much better when switching to the wider Rolls.
I want this on a t-shirt
Follow-up on saddle purchasing: I finally got to the Giant store in Tianmu - helpful English-speaking service, as has been the case virtually every time I’ve gone there. I’d vaguely intended to get a bike fitting done, but didn’t realize that’d be in the several-thousand NT range, and plus I’d have needed to make an appointment for a day or two later.
For a saddle, they suggested the Giant Fleet SL (NT$2,800), based on the Giant Defy seat I’d been using and happy with for years. Apparently that’s the standard seat with their TCR line at the moment. I opted to gamble and just buy the suggested saddle, no fitting. (There’s a Giant store in Danshui and they’re very helpful, but unfortunately I don’t have the language skills to communicate with them.)
They did have loaners, but all older saddles. I decided I just wanted to get the purchase over with, in part because with the recent weather I’ve had trouble finding a day when I could even get to this store.
I dunno. It’s a new saddle. It feels a bit weird at the moment because it’s different. I think I like the shorter nose. We’ll see. I have no idea when or if an extra NT$1,000 is worth spending for me on bicycle gear.
Have long-term cyclists (at decidedly amateur levels!) found bike fittings particularly beneficial? Has it made much of a difference for you? Partly I’m just skeptical that any sort of “in the moment” fitting done over a few minutes in a store has much bearing on how I’m going to feel after three or four or five hours on the road - which is when the discomfort will start to kick in.
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I had a a friend tell me that over 15 years of cycling, he’s never gotten a fitting done. Another, who has been in the industry for awhile, told me to spend my money elsewhere instead of getting a fitting.
Both these guys said, just try adjusting saddle positions and stem height/length.
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Right saddle width is important , I also agree with those guys lots of adjustments getting it right.
I enquired about a professional bike fitting in London at some fancy-pants place that gives you ideal geometry for your custom Parlee. I don’t wear lycra or anything but I didn’t want to cause myself structural damage on my morning commute.
They didn’t bother getting back to me, so can’t be that important.
Anyway, i’ve got a leather Brookes saddle. I do not recommend it. I don’t see any positives of ownership other than it is a saddle and buying another would be a waste.
Specialized body geometry saddles work for me. i’ve got an aluminium road bike and I don’t wear padded shorts and it’s fine*
*my prostate is probably mashed but that’s ok.
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If you are a competent cyclist just do you own fitting. You’re probably not starting from a position that’s too wrong. Ive been cycling for forty years and racing for twenty and I’ve never had a professional fit. But I have moved my saddle by millimeters and been surprised by the results.
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