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Put a specialized Phenom saddle on my XC bike last year, it's done about 3,500 miles since then. Noticed some pain in my sit bone area on a couple of longer rides recently, particularly on longer road sections where I'm not shifting around so much.
Obviously there may be some positional fit problem I'm not spotting, or perhaps my chamois is not doing its job, but I wondered if anyone else had put some miles into a similar saddle and noticed the padding losing its effectiveness.
My arse bones thank you in advance. 🙂
Pretty much forever, and I actually find they get better with age.
My most comfortably saddle in an ancient Selle Italia Flite, must be 20 years old, mostly road use admittedly, and it's now molded to the shape of my backside!
Have you bent the rails? It's hard to notice unless you take the saddle off
Otherwise I agree with lunge
Here's a thing I've noticed with this kind of saddle, the kind like many modern designs with cutouts that focus the pressure deliberately on your sit bones - I tend towards getting tight hamstrings, a common cyclist problem, and I find that if I haven't attempted to stretch enough then I'll get this pain in the sit bones after 3 hours or so. I'm no anatomist but I assume this is because the top of the hamstring inserts around this point in the glute. If I really focus on stretching then this discomfort goes away - worth a try. Worth remembering that if you ride consistently you'll probably be fairly supple but if you're a ride hard then have a week off type rider then chances are the legs will be stiff when getting back on the bike.
I sometimes think your shape and muscles change around the saddle area, so that over time what used to be a comfy saddle might no longer be.
And also the padding (even if it is minimal) on saddles will get packed down and worn in certain areas - it might look the same when you're not sat on it, but sit on it and it could be sagging in a whole different way from how it did when new
Ages, unless I crash and they get damaged.
I tend towards getting tight hamstrings, a common cyclist problem, and I find that if I haven’t attempted to stretch enough then I’ll get this pain in the sit bones after 3 hours or so.
That's interesting, hadn't considered it but definitely a possibility. Did a much longer ride than usual a week or so ago.
I've got the same saddle on my other, less often ridden, bike - might do a straight swap to see if 'packing down' is an issue. It definitely feels like there is more pressure on the sit bone area.
Just replaced one after 8 years due to broken rail. As lunge said, an older saddle feels more comfy.
Martinhutch, if you think it could be muscle tightness try some hip flexor stretches, I find pain from tight hip flexors feels very deep, often around the joints and bones.
Edit: mileage on that saddle was around 5k.
Less padding leads to less packing down. Part of the reason brooks saddles stay comfy.
Same position on all bikes?
I suggest googling adductor stretch "https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=adductor+stretch&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8`"
As I get older, any long term pressure on the sit bones (which is where the adductors seem to attach) causes localised pain.
Getting off the bike and doing a few standing adductor stretches helps a lot. Best to stretch after warning up and before the pain starts.
Specialised Pro has been the best seat for me.
Same position on all bikes?
Pretty much. I don't do longer rides on the other bike though, and the bars are higher, so there will be some variation.
Stretching sounds like the cheapest option so far. My hip flexors/glutes/hamstrings are definitely tight. 🙂
Having spent a fair bit of time trying to match saddles to riders I can claim one thing with some certainty...that there's a strong correlation between riders who struggle to find any saddle comfortable, endlessly switching to find one - and those that don't stretch and are tight. And at the end of the day, if you cycle a lot and don't compensate by stretching a lot, the chances are you'll be tight.
It's true, I used to go to the climbing wall a couple of times a week, and spend a good chunk of the time stretching my lower half properly. Obviously not doing that right now, so chances are I need to put some effort in before I start buying more saddles!
Will report back...thanks all.
Longer than shorts, IMO. Recently discovered a hard lump made of broken down paddling in an old pair of shorts. Was the source of sore sit bones for me.
I find my saddles rarely last more than a year or two before I either destroy the cover or break them. It's very annoying. I am blessed with an arse that doesn't seem to care what it sits on. I no longer wear liners though as the only chafing I've ever had has been using them.
Either forever, or til I bend a rail doing something stupid. One of mine is looking just incredibly destroyed now, but it's still comfy and still works so I refuse to replace it, it's like Frasier's dad's chair
Waterproof shorts, welsh mud and grit = not much more than 18 months before they need replacing unfortunately, they look like crap from about 12 months in with the saddle cover getting worn away due to abrasion