Sore Sit Bones

Everything Else
1

Hi All,

This is the first year that I have been putting in decent Kms and my left sit bone is starting to hurt for the first 10-15 Km I am on the bike (right sit bone feels fine). Any suggestions? Do I need to just rest for a week or so?

Thanks,

Edsel

2

Hello Edsel,

How much experience do you have with biking? Do you have a road, hybrid, mountain (XC), mountain (DH), etc. bike? These would influence possible solutions and causes for your problem.

Here is a few “checklist” questions to help guide us to the source of the problem:

  • When is the last time you checked the alignment of the saddle with the frame (making sure it is straight)?
  • What is your current riding trip lenght (average)?
  • Do you use cycling short (with chami or paddings)?
  • Is the saddle stock from when you bought the bike or did you changed it? Do you have the saddle brand and model?
  • Where you ever “fitted” to the bike (either by a bike shop, a trainer, a friend)?
  • Would you describe the problem as “abnormal pressure” or some “dizzie feeling” (or other things)?
3

Hi Seb,

How much experience do you have with biking?
–>2 years
Do you have a road, hybrid, mountain (XC), mountain (DH), etc. bike?
–>Road bike
What is your current riding trip lenght (average)?
–>80 Km.
Do you use cycling short (with chami or paddings)?
–>Yes, with Chami cream.
Is the saddle stock from when you bought the bike or did you changed it? Do you have the saddle brand and model?
–>Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow
Where you ever “fitted” to the bike (either by a bike shop, a trainer, a friend)?
–>No
Would you describe the problem as “abnormal pressure” or some “dizzie feeling” (or other things)?
–>Annoying pressure, but nothing extreme.

Diagnosis?

Thanks,

Edsel

4

i also have pain on my sitbone. I think it’s pretty common. You can either endure, or try another saddle. I have the Spec. Toupe : horrible, The Selle Italia Flite : pretty good, Fizik Arione : the most comfortable saddle ever made. If you want, i can lend you some to try.

5

sounds to me like it’d be time to look into getting a more comfortable saddle if possible. Many people also find that the various chamois creams available for cyclists are effective if the problem is “friction” related.

6

There might also be some issue related to your position which might not be “optimal”, being a team member you have some rebate on bike fitting at Cycle Gervais Rioux, so you might want to do that if you really want to go into biking like crazy (or ask some exerienced riders for their take on your position).

Elsewhere I agree with the saddle, I personally have Selle Italia TransAm Gel on both my mountain and road bike and I am about to throw them as far as I can because I can’t bare them anymore (it came with the second bike so I could not choose it). Try some of your friends or other team members saddle (a quick test or something) if you can to see if it helps solve your problem.

7

Edsel,

I’ve got a Flite myself. Though I am comfortable on it, it offers very little fore-aft adjustment, and if either the fore-aft position or the angle is just slightly off, the saddle will absolutely destroy you. They’re great saddles, but there are many saddles on the market that are much more forgiving in terms of adjustment. The Fizik Arione is one, and it is quite popular.

Saddle adjustment is a precise soup, but you can think of it like an arc, with your leg extension as the constant variable. If you have your legs in the right position (with about 15-25 degrees bend in your knees,) moving your saddle down (dropping your seatpost) will mean you have to move your saddle back (aft) a certain amount in order to maintain the right leg position. I ran into a problem here with my Flite, since my original straight seatpost wouldn’t let me get my saddle low and far back enough to where I was comfortable and could handle well in the saddle. I resolved this with a setback seatpost. If you can find a deal or have some Christmas money, go Thomson. They are the strongest on the market, and offer the best adjustment. Just make sure you buy the right length if you get one of their setback ones.

And now, the problem. Today’s road bike designs are tending towards a more “aggressive” setup, with a more forward saddle position and a higher seatpost. This, like many of the world’s problems, stems from triathletes. Seriously, it does. Regardless, if you are able to move your seat further back (and consequently drop your seatpost, too) you might find yourself in a better position both for comfort (since you will take impacts from the road in your legs first and your behind second, and not the other way around) and bike-handling (since you will be able to maintain a lower center of gravity, with a more even weight distribution.)

What you mention about a hurting left sit-bone and pain-free right one throws a wrench in that theory, though. If your right one is genuinely fine, I’d look for a problem in the centering of your saddle, like Seb says.

8

Wow, thanks for all of the advice. It makes me feel a bit better that I am not alone (I feel like I am in therapy). I’ll look into trying some other saddles and look into a bike fit at Gervais Rioux.

E.P.

9

Edsel, an easy way to try other saddles is also to go at CGR. This applies to all of you who want to try a Selle Italia saddle. At CGR, they have these demo Selle Italia saddles that you can try for a week or two. Just ask for it!

10

We’re here for you.

11

Great post Mike. Except I happen to like the more aggressive geometry :stuck_out_tongue:

Another thing to check is not only yaw but the far rarer possibility that something has happened to the saddle and it is pitched over to one side.