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If you've been struggling to get comfortable on your bike rides, Hannah has lots of helpful tips for you to try here. It's aimed at women, but men might find some of the suggested adjustments helpful too.
There are many things that can cause saddle discomfort. If you are struggling with pain or chafing, work through these steps to try and eliminate the issue. It may be that there is a combination of small changes that you can make that will make your rides more comfortable.
Bear in mind that your ride position will affect the position of your hips – this can explain why you might have been comfortably riding around on one saddle in an upright position on a hybrid, but that same saddle become torture when you switch to a mountain bike or bike with drop bars.
You are aiming to have your sit bones on the body of the saddle, so that your weight is on this most supportive part of your bottom. You want to keep your soft and sensitive tissue up front away from any weight bearing, and also free from rubbing. While these steps are written from the perspective of women’s saddle comfort, men may find some of them helpful to consider too.
You can read the full feature on how to get the right saddle for you here https://singletrackworld.com/2020/05/are-you-sitting-comfortably-a-guide-to-saddle-comfort/
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0:04
hi I'm Hannah from singletrack and if
0:07
you're watching this video then you're
0:09
probably experiencing some kind of
0:11
saddle pain and you want to try and sort
0:13
it out so I am gonna try and help you do
0:16
just that I am a woman so what I'm gonna
0:20
say is going to be most helpful to women
0:22
but if you're a guy watching this keep
0:24
watching because some of this will be
0:26
relevant to you have a think about where
0:28
it is that's hurting is it is sit bones
0:31
is it the skin on your bum and your
0:34
inner thighs or is it your soft tissue
0:36
in your labia there's three different
0:39
things that play there and there'll be
0:41
different ways of solving different
0:44
sorts of pain what we want on a saddle
0:48
is for your bum bones to be supported on
0:52
the saddle on the main body we don't
0:56
want you to be resting your soft tissue
1:00
in your labia onto the saddle because
1:02
that is always going to be uncomfortable
1:04
your labia are super sensitive for a
1:07
reason and we want to keep them that way
1:09
if you're watching this video somebody
1:12
has probably helpfully told you you just
1:14
need to toughen up now if it's your bum
1:17
bones that are hurting there might be a
1:20
little bit of just getting used to into
1:21
being in the saddle but you do not want
1:24
your labia to toughen up and they never
1:26
will so ignore them if that is what's
1:28
hurting you might have been riding for a
1:31
while and been perfectly comfortable on
1:33
the saddle that you were on and then
1:35
you've changed bikes or you riding a
1:37
little bit further and suddenly that
1:39
subtle isn't comfortable anymore don't
1:41
worry it's not that your bum has changed
1:44
is that your ride position has changed
1:46
it might be that you can modify the
1:48
position of the subtle slightly and make
1:51
it more comfortable on your new bike but
1:53
it might be that what you had before was
1:56
a saddle that was quite comfortable when
1:58
you were upright and not sitting in a
2:01
more aggressive position but having
2:03
moved to a different bike and leaning
2:05
forward
2:05
it's just shifting your weight enough
2:07
and it's not comfortable anymore so
2:10
first thing to do is to
2:12
have a look at the subtle that you've
2:14
got and check that you've got it at the
2:15
right height if your saddle is too high
2:19
on the bike then as you pedal you're
2:21
going to rock your hips from side to
2:23
side on the saddle and that's going to
2:25
create friction and discomfort so the
2:28
first thing to do is check your saddle
2:30
height and make sure that you're not
2:31
having to reach down to reach the pedals
2:34
we've done that the next thing it's the
2:38
look at the position of your saddle you
2:41
as I said you're trying to get your bum
2:43
bones your sit bones to be on the main
2:45
body of the subtle so make sure that the
2:48
saddle is neither too far forward on the
2:50
rails or too far back if you have the
2:53
subtle too far forward then you might
2:57
miss getting your seat seat bones on the
3:00
widest part of the saddle and you'll
3:02
also probably find that your soft tissue
3:04
is pushing into the saddle so you'll
3:07
have a lot of discomfort if your saddle
3:09
is too far forward if it's too far back
3:12
you may find that your sit bones are
3:14
slipping down the front there and that
3:16
means that they're not supporting your
3:18
weight and you'll be supporting your
3:20
weight on your soft tissue and your
3:21
labia again again lots of discomfort so
3:25
make sure that the saddle is aligned
3:27
correctly on the rails the next thing is
3:30
the tilt of the saddle you definitely
3:33
don't want it pointing backwards because
3:35
if you've got your sit bones on here and
3:38
the saddle is slightly backwards as you
3:40
lean forward to reach the handlebars
3:42
you're going to be pushing all your
3:44
weight into your soft tissue so make
3:47
sure that your saddle is either level
3:49
and flat or very slightly tilted forward
3:53
particularly on a road bike or a bike
3:56
where you're leaning forwards a bit you
3:59
might find that a slight tilt forwards
4:01
means that as your body tilts forward
4:05
with your hips to reach the bars you're
4:08
not pushing all your weight into the
4:10
soft tissue onto the saddle very small
4:14
adjustments can create quite a lot of
4:17
difference so before you go out and buy
4:20
a new saddle do try making those
4:22
adjustments forwards and backwards and
4:24
with the tilt
4:26
if that is still uncomfortable it might
4:30
be a case of checking whether you've got
4:32
the right saddle for you the first thing
4:35
to do is to measure the width of your
4:37
sit bones you can do this by laying a
4:41
piece of tinfoil on the bottom of your
4:43
stairs at home sit on it lift your feet
4:46
up so that you put all your weight onto
4:49
your bum and when you stand up you'll
4:52
leave behind two little dimples you can
4:55
then measure the distance between the
4:57
middle of those dimples and that will
4:59
give you your sit bone width don't
5:02
assume that you think you've got a big
5:04
white ass and therefore you're gonna
5:05
have big sit bones wide sit bones that's
5:08
not necessarily the case that will then
5:11
tell you what width of subtle you need
5:14
and a lot of manufacturers now make
5:16
their saddles in different widths so
5:18
you'll get the same model of saddle in a
5:20
number of different widths what you want
5:23
is for your sit bones to be on the
5:26
saddle if your sit bones out too wide
5:29
for the saddle then not only are you not
5:32
gonna be supporting your weight on your
5:34
sit bones and you're gonna be sitting on
5:36
your labia again but you may find you've
5:38
got a lot of rubbing because your sit
5:40
bones won't be moving around against the
5:43
edges of the subtle if your saddle is
5:46
too wide for your sit bones then your
5:50
sit bones are gonna be stuck in this
5:51
middle of the saddle and there's gonna
5:53
be all this extra saddles sticking out
5:55
the sides and into your inner thighs so
5:57
you'll probably have a lot of chafing on
5:59
your inner thighs so get yourself a
6:03
subtle this is the right width that is
6:08
the bit that you can measure and it's a
6:10
bit like buying shoes so you can buy
6:15
your shoes and you know what size you've
6:17
got but they don't necessarily fit your
6:20
feet perfectly and it can be tricky to
6:23
choose the right saddle for you there
6:25
are some shops that do test saddles and
6:27
some manufacturers that will let you try
6:29
before you buy or send them back if
6:31
you're not comfortable so that can help
6:34
you find a subtle that's right for you
6:36
when you've started with one that is
6:38
going to be the right width but the
6:40
few other things I think you should look
6:42
for when you're choosing a new saddle
6:44
first thing is if you're a woman
6:47
I really recommend looking for one with
6:50
a cutout that means that when you're
6:53
leaning forwards on your bike your soft
6:56
tissue has a space so that you're not
6:58
leaning onto it
7:00
I'd also look for quite a flat profile
7:04
okay I've got a couple of saddles here
7:06
this one is a little bit more curved and
7:11
you can see what happens then is that it
7:14
sort of slots up into you so although
7:17
you might be sitting on the bum bones
7:20
there you've got this curve that's
7:22
pushing up into your labia and that can
7:24
be really uncomfortable this one also
7:25
has quite a scoop on it that's quite
7:28
short so although your bum bones gonna
7:31
sit here as you lean forward the front
7:35
of the saddle is going to quite quickly
7:36
meet all your soft tissue where is this
7:40
one it's a little bit flatter and
7:42
actually scoops away and doesn't start
7:45
to come back up again until right at the
7:47
nose of the saddle again leaving lots
7:49
more space for your soft tissue so to
7:53
recap on saddles make sure you've got
7:55
your saddle at the right height and in
7:57
the right position on the bike to get
8:00
your weight onto your bum bones and
8:02
sitting on the main body of the saddle
8:05
if you're looking to buy a new one
8:07
measure your sit bones first to make
8:10
sure that you're getting one that is the
8:12
right width and look for features such
8:15
as a flat profile and the cutout if
8:18
you're a woman looking for a new saddle
8:20
I do think it's worth looking at women
8:23
specific saddles it's one of those
8:25
gender specific items that I do think
8:27
works and they're more likely to have
8:29
the features that you need as a woman
8:31
the next thing to consider is cycling
8:34
shorts it's well worth investing in a
8:36
pair that are going to keep you
8:37
comfortable on the ride what you want is
8:40
something with a chamois inside it you
8:43
want your chamois to fit nice and
8:45
closely to your body so that it's not
8:47
going to rub and fold and wrinkle and
8:50
move around so you want it to have a
8:53
little bit of padding around
8:54
bum bones and then a nice close fit
8:56
around the rest of you because nothing
8:59
is going to be as sensitive as your
9:01
labia so what you want to try and do is
9:04
have as much space as you can around
9:08
your soft tissue between your soft
9:11
tissue and the saddle you're not trying
9:12
to fill that space with some kind of
9:15
like packing material like you're
9:16
posting something fragile okay so what
9:19
you want to do is find a chamois that is
9:21
shaped that has the right amount of
9:24
padding at the bum but maybe slightly
9:27
less padding through your legs and where
9:30
your soft tissue is you also don't want
9:32
something that's too big and bulky
9:34
that's going to be like a nappy and
9:36
that's gonna fold and then it's gonna
9:38
rub and chafe on your inner thighs as
9:40
well and it might even chafe your labia
9:42
so choose your show me carefully they
9:47
come in different shapes and different
9:49
kind of profiles so as you can see this
9:52
one here has got lots of shaping and
9:55
ridging on it where is this one here is
9:58
smooth personally I find the smoother
10:02
one's more comfortable find that the
10:05
ridges and the folds are more likely to
10:08
give me like chafing and grazes on my
10:10
labia so I try and avoid ones like that
10:13
you might well have a chamois that's
10:15
comfrey or as part of a baggy short set
10:19
they might do but they're more likely to
10:22
be a slightly lower quality and have
10:25
more prominent seams and edges whereas a
10:28
pair that you've bought specifically as
10:30
a chamois short in their own rights more
10:32
likely to have more neatly finished
10:34
edges on longer trips especially those
10:38
little seams can make a huge difference
10:42
to the comfort of your inner thighs
10:44
particularly you can get a lot of
10:45
chafing from just a small uncomfortable
10:48
edge again as a woman I would recommend
10:51
that you look for a women's specific
10:53
chamois it's going to be much better
10:55
shaped for your body than a men's one
10:59
will as well as women's specific fits
11:01
some companies do shammies that are
11:05
sized according to the size of shorts
11:07
that you're buying which
11:08
um makes a lot of sense and it means
11:10
that you haven't got excess fabric
11:12
between your legs just like you don't
11:14
want too much saddle between your legs
11:16
again it can be very hard to know that
11:19
you've got the right chamois for your
11:21
needs and your body and some companies
11:24
will do a fit guarantee or a comfort
11:27
guarantee so look out for those whatever
11:31
you do do not wear underwear or pants
11:35
with your chamois your skin should be
11:40
straight onto your chamois to recap
11:42
you're not looking for padding at the
11:45
front you want padding at the back if
11:48
anywhere and you want something that is
11:50
just going to sit tightly and firmly
11:52
against you without moving around and
11:55
causing lots of chafing what you're
11:57
trying to do with the chamois is avoid
11:59
rubbing and chafing rather than
12:01
providing any kind of cushioning for the
12:05
final part of your quest for saddle
12:06
comforts you're going to need to get
12:08
very familiar and intimate with your
12:10
most intimate parts because you need to
12:13
apply a chamois cream these are
12:17
specially designed lubricants for
12:19
applying to your undercarriage you don't
12:22
need to use a chamois cream for every
12:24
single short ride but for longer rides
12:26
or rides in the wet you may well find it
12:29
adds a lot of comfort put just as much
12:32
care into choosing a chamois cream as
12:35
you would choosing a skin cream for very
12:38
sensitive skin on your face very
12:40
sensitive down there and you need to
12:42
apply it everywhere okay make sure you
12:45
get it all around your labia as well as
12:48
on the skin of your upper thighs and
12:50
your your sit bones don't be shy
12:53
applying the chamois cream make sure you
12:56
get it everywhere and then when you've
12:58
got your shorts on you might want to
13:00
have a little rearrangement even after
13:02
you've set off if you find that hmm
13:04
maybe kind of sitting on a bit of labia
13:06
or something feels a bit folded up down
13:09
there then have a little rearrangement
13:11
and get comfortable we see guys
13:14
rearranging their balls all the time so
13:16
why shouldn't we as women we arrange our
13:18
labia - hopefully by working your way
13:21
through the tips and this
13:22
video you can find a way to make your
13:24
ride a lot more comfortable don't give
13:27
up if you found this helpful please like
13:30
and share it with your friends and then
13:31
they can be comfortable too
13:33
thank you
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