Alright road bike peeps. You’ve seen my old bike, it had a sweet, giant, plushy, old man seat on it. That seat was great for comfort but terrible for distance. The padding was awesome, my ass never hurt. But over distance it had a tonne of other problems. So I have my amazing new bike now, it comes with a Body Geometry Romin Comp Gel, hollow Cr-Mo rails, 143mm seat. I’ve got 150 miles on it now and I am nowhere near used to that seat! I’m to the point where I can barely ride it!
So, how long does it take you all to get used to a racing type seat? I mean, this ain’t no straight composite, unpadded tri seat. There is a layer of gel, albeit quite thin. I’m just wondering how long I should expect it to take and when it becomes unusual or time to look for another seat?
It’s gonna take a while. You’ll get saddle sores at first, and I think most people do. One thing you’ll want to look into is buying some proper riding gear. Purchasing a bike of this calibre means you’ve gone past the point of “casual riding”, and may want to invest in a singlet or some riding shorts. Most have additional padding which should greatly improve the amount of time you can spend on your bike comfortably. I used to wear mine under my street wear b/c I’m not exactly into looking like a roadie while riding.
I always wear riding shorts. I’ve got over 200 miles on the bike now and I still can’t get more than 15 miles in a single ride. I didn’t know there were padding levels in seats, mine is a level 1, so minimal padding. The guy at the bike shop said that a lot of people like the seat but if I’m still not used to it I might want to consider a swap to something like a level 3 padding seat. I’m considering the Selle SMP Extra now… I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about it.
Are you feeling any better now that you’ve got more time on the saddle? I see that you’ve got some new shorts that are helping, but are you still considering a saddle change? One thing to consider before a new saddle is some minor adjustment to your saddle height (a couple millimeters might do it) now that you presumably have a better feel for where your riding position is.
I was lucky enough that the stock saddle on my bike suited me well for a couple years. This season I have had some discomfort and, although I got a new saddle (Fizik Arione CX), I think the primary cause of numbness after 30 miles or so was a saddle height that was too tall. Either my riding position or flexibility has changed from last year, or the saddle height didn’t get transferred exactly when the shop swapped out my frame on warranty this winter.
In any case, comfort is key. If you’re not comfortable, you won’t spend time on that sweet, sweet ride of yours.
Well, I upgraded to a selle smp seat which has helped. Still a lot of pain. I’ve discovered I have a calcium buildup from when I shattered my pelvis exactly where sit bones meet seat. So all my weight goes on that pressure point. I’m not exactly sure what to do about that. I’m just gonna keep rolling and hope for the best. I’m riding at least a bit everyday and I’m up to fifty miles for my Sunday ride, which I intend to increase by ten every week.