[Closed] Saddle Sores- a right pain in the ....

All I can offer is this, I had this for the past 18months and it was not only annoying but stopping me riding. Never had a problem before but tried Savlon, Assos Minty Arse lard, new bibs, Tea tree oil and nothing would could fix it.

As a last resort I swapped my saddle (Charge spoon for a Fabric Scoop) and not a single problem since....

Couldn't believe it would be the saddle, I’ve got a Spoon in every bike for years and find them comfy but now they don’t work for me suddenly??

Iv'e said it before & I'll say it again (even though no-one else seems to have tried it, or even replies when I mention it!)

Germolene, with local anaesthetic in it. Works for me both as preventative & cure.

I have a Fabric Scoop on my full suspension, comfiest saddle I’ve owned. The SDG on the hardtail isn’t quite as comfy and have swapped out the rock hard SDG for a Selle Italia gel saddle on the Cx bike.

Ive been riding the hardtail and Cx a lot more often so maybe need Scoop’s all round!

Haven’t tried Germoline- the anaesthetic part sounds good to me!

I had a bad one that kept recurring after doing a multi-day ride in hot weather. Got some antibiotics. It went and hasn't come back.

Once you're up the proverbial creek, use Bepanthan. It works on babies rear ends so and it will work on yours too.

Obviously prevention is better than cure though.

My local Trek dealer does saddle fittings. You basically sit on a load of gel and your imprint gives them an indication as to which saddle is going to fit you.

I use the Muc Off chamois cream and it seems to work. It's so much better value than the tiny pot of Assos cream you get for twice the price.

You don't sit round in your sweaty chamois after the ride do you? Just a thought.

Get the saddle right, and use only that saddle. I used to think I had a good one - did 8 hours a day for 8 days in a row - but still had the occasional issue. I'd also tried a bunch of different shorts - Assos, Santini, Castelli etc - and decided that I needed the Castelli.

I tried a slightly different saddle on a recommendation and lordy lordy, it was like the fog of mild uncomfortableness had been blown away. I really barely notice it, I can do 12 hour road rides with pretty much any shorts and 4 hours on the turbo is fine.

I've got the same saddle on all my road bikes now, a couple of slightly different ones on the MTBs but I tend to stand and move a lot more on those.

Cheers for advice people- I get changed or showered asap after a ride. Don’t sit in padded shorts

A) Go see a doc, persistent saddle sore can need antibiotics to clear it up.

B) Try several brands/styles of shorts, and consider replacing any that you've worn regularly for a season or more - the chamois can lose its density which doesn't help.

C) Try chamois cream directly on the shorts at the effected area

Use some nappy cleaning solution in your next load of short washing as well. Normal washing temps don't always get all the nasties. Napisan rings a bell for the brand name.

Also, how old are your shorts and saddle, they change over time.

Try Assos Skin Repair Gel. As far as I can tell it’s magic! A friend recommended it to me and I didn’t bother trying it for ages as I didn’t think anything would work much better than Germolene and the like, but this stuff is a revelation. It’s expensive but you only need a tiny amount for each application and the nice thing is that it’s thin and non-sticky so you don’t feel like you’ve shat yourself.

I used to suffer a lot and used assos but found that not wearing padded undershorts sorted it out. Think it was the padding making me too hot!

Weight has little to do with saddle width , Ive seen the skinnyist racer use the widest saddle spesh make because that’s what fitted him

Just for clarity what would you recognise to be a saddle sore?