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Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT)
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I never thought it would get to this point, but after nine years on the V-Flow Plus for my road bike, I am looking at other options. Lately, I've been having a lot of chafing issues, quite a bit more than normal. Granted, I switched to different bibs last fall (Fall of 2019), and the newer bib shorts (Craft Hale and Hale Glow) may have thicker paddings than my previous bib shorts. However, I didn't notice any issues until recently (as in, the past 2 months or so).

In short, it just feels like a lot of bunching up and rubbing, and this is with the application of chamois cream.

I would like something similar, but a bit narrower. Any suggestions? Perhaps the SHC (which I've tried previously and didn't object to)?

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As for the TT bike, I started a thread last year about what I felt like excessive width on the JOF-55. This is a saddle I've used for the past six years (although I didn't ride the TT bike for two of the six years due to injury). Despite my reservations last year, this saddle has mostly worked for me in the past year; however, I've been chafing on it as well lately.

Weird thing is that the chafing on the road bike is always on the right side, while chafing on the TT bike (one incident so far) was on the left side. No idea what to make of it, other than that it's been quite annoying, and I'd like to be able to do something about it. I think Dash Stage narrow may be a good option? Perhaps the Sitero? I def want something similar to the operational concept of the JOF, but a bit narrower, so I don't get as much chafing.

Many thanks in advance
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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Sounds like possibly an issue with saddle height, given the mention of the new chamois and the asymmetry.
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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Part of the bunching on the road bike might be from a thicker chamois on top of a padded saddle. I absolutely love the specialized power arc saddle, and it's available in a number of widths. As for the tt bike, I bought a bisaddle early this year and it's pretty awesome. No matter what width you need, you can adjust it so it fits
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [imswimmer328] [ In reply to ]
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MattyK wrote:
Sounds like possibly an issue with saddle height, given the mention of the new chamois and the asymmetry.

Strange thing is that I actually lowered the saddle by ~ 3 mm on both. The bunching up was an issue before the more recent episodes, but the chafing became a lot more unbearable more recently.



imswimmer328 wrote:
Part of the bunching on the road bike might be from a thicker chamois on top of a padded saddle. I absolutely love the specialized power arc saddle, and it's available in a number of widths. As for the tt bike, I bought a bisaddle early this year and it's pretty awesome. No matter what width you need, you can adjust it so it fits

How would you classify the padding on the Specialized Power? and would you rank it toward the more "bare bone" side of things?
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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echappist wrote:
MattyK wrote:
Sounds like possibly an issue with saddle height, given the mention of the new chamois and the asymmetry.


Strange thing is that I actually lowered the saddle by ~ 3 mm on both. The bunching up was an issue before the more recent episodes, but the chafing became a lot more unbearable more recently.



imswimmer328 wrote:
Part of the bunching on the road bike might be from a thicker chamois on top of a padded saddle. I absolutely love the specialized power arc saddle, and it's available in a number of widths. As for the tt bike, I bought a bisaddle early this year and it's pretty awesome. No matter what width you need, you can adjust it so it fits


How would you classify the padding on the Specialized Power? and would you rank it toward the more "bare bone" side of things?

I have the Power (non-arc)...love it. I had the V-flow Max and found the nose too wide (chafing and causing my knee to track out), so had to return it (back when they had the 180day return policy). Went to the SHC and it was comfortable for about 2hr rides, but started to hurt past that.
The Power saddle's padding is medium durameter and on the thin side; much less padded than the V-flow and a bit more than the SHC, but it never feels hard when riding.

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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I had chafing issues on the tribike until I got a dash stage narrow. Don't really have those problems on the road bike but fwiw I'm on a bontrager aeolus narrow and its great.
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [ClayDavis] [ In reply to ]
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I love Dash saddles on my TT bike.
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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Check your cleats or pedals are not worn out or moved.

Your problems may simply be aging, skin is not as elastic and is dryer as you get older.
Have you put on weight?
May be some other health issue.

Check for side to side saddle tilt on both bikes.
Do you have less mobility in your pelvis than years gone by?
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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echappist wrote:
MattyK wrote:
Sounds like possibly an issue with saddle height, given the mention of the new chamois and the asymmetry.


Strange thing is that I actually lowered the saddle by ~ 3 mm on both. The bunching up was an issue before the more recent episodes, but the chafing became a lot more unbearable more recently.



imswimmer328 wrote:
Part of the bunching on the road bike might be from a thicker chamois on top of a padded saddle. I absolutely love the specialized power arc saddle, and it's available in a number of widths. As for the tt bike, I bought a bisaddle early this year and it's pretty awesome. No matter what width you need, you can adjust it so it fits


How would you classify the padding on the Specialized Power? and would you rank it toward the more "bare bone" side of things?


Almost everyone I know who I talked to about chafing who needs some type of creme to reduce the friction, I have been successful in getting them to no saddle issues by lowering 3mm to 1 cm. Generally power goes up, but their hip angle closes a bit. Its not an issue on road bike but MAY be on TT bike. I would ask you to go test on the trainer 1 cm lower and see if you can hold the aero.

I have the Specialized Sitero on my tri bike and Power on my road bike. I have also used Power on tri bike, but because of its curve (concave) I can never get it quite right. I like the top surface from tipe to tail of my TT saddle to be flat, not concaved, but that's me. The Sitero is hard as a rock on the surface, but like most hard mattresses, you get used to it and like it. I can ride that saddle with no cycling shorts, just swim jammers on with no padding before and after rides to the pool (some days I will do 50 km with just jammers on, no padding, no lubrication). But my Sitero is ancient (it is from 2014). I believe they have a new one that has more padding:

https://www.specialized.com/...earchText=27118-1600
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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Another vote for Power saddle. I switched to the Elaston (which now appears to be quite pricey) since they came out on road and gravel bikes and love them.

Someone made another comment about aging. Last year I had bad chafing issues that wouldn’t resolve with saddle adjustments. What fixed was generous lotion applications (like a couple times / day as Northern Cal is quite dry in summer) on the nether regions to keep that whole geography pliable. No issues since.
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [lyrrad] [ In reply to ]
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ClayDavis wrote:
I had chafing issues on the tribike until I got a dash stage narrow. Don't really have those problems on the road bike but fwiw I'm on a bontrager aeolus narrow and its great.

turdburgler wrote:
I love Dash saddles on my TT bike.
Thanks for the info, lads. Btw, @burgler, which Dash saddle on your TT bike, and what do you use on the road bike?

I may just look into the aeolus narrow
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lyrrad wrote:
Check your cleats or pedals are not worn out or moved.
Your problems may simply be aging, skin is not as elastic and is dryer as you get older.
Have you put on weight?
May be some other health issue.

Check for side to side saddle tilt on both bikes.
Do you have less mobility in your pelvis than years gone by?

Actually lost a bit of weight (though unfortunately got a little bit of that back).

Definitely changed cleat position slightly (for better knee comfort).

Carl Spackler wrote:
Another vote for Power saddle. I switched to the Elaston (which now appears to be quite pricey) since they came out on road and gravel bikes and love them.

Someone made another comment about aging. Last year I had bad chafing issues that wouldn’t resolve with saddle adjustments. What fixed was generous lotion applications (like a couple times / day as Northern Cal is quite dry in summer) on the nether regions to keep that whole geography pliable. No issues since.

Lotion as in chamois cream or skin care lotion? I guess I could always apply aftershave cream to the area

Also, I've developed allergic reactions to the cream I have been using for a while. Surprisingly enough, I stopped using the previous cream (~2017) for basically the same reason.

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@Dev, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I don't think I can lower the saddle on the TT bike that much more. With a lower position, my quads tire early. May not matter for TTs less than 25 minutes, but I can't get power and HR elevated for longer efforts.

I may give it a try on my road bike though. The distance from BB to seating surface on the road and TT bikes are actually quite comparable, which probably means that I could drop another 3-5 mm on the road bike.

TT position, fwiw

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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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Just regular hand or body lotion, whatever's hanging around.
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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First, I like how that position looks in profile. In regards to the saddle I started searching for one of Kiley's post on saddles, as it was about as good as it gets, but didn't find it within 30s so I gave up. I'm sure you've seen it and I might search some more later. Anyhow....

Time Trial saddle: I had the same issue as you with chafing and thought for sure it was chamois but I have enough different brands, ages, and styles that I eventually came to my senses and realized it was the saddle. But when you pay ~$500 for a saddle that used to work you don't want to change it out. Anyhow, Kiley had tried the Dash Stage Stock on my suggestion (normal width) and was complaining of the same issue I had. He swapped to the narrow and found bliss. I later found one sitting in the lost and found of my friends garage and asked if I could try it and eureka! So, for both of us the width on the saddle was the issue. I can spend hours on end on that saddle now, even on the trainer (4 hours once), with no discomfort. Though, the rest of my fit is pretty dialed in too. ;)

Road Saddle: they're heavy but I love the Brooks Cambium Carved saddles. I have them on the UP, the Felt Aero Road, and the Seven. I believe I have the C15 140mm version on the OPEN and Seven and a C13 145mm on my Felt. Again, I turned Kiley onto those and he fell in love. Even running the different widths doesn't mess me up. If you like a stylish saddle, that is comfy as hell, then you might give them a try.

Taint Cream: One of my friends turned me onto shea butter years ago. I gave it a go as it was inexpensive and lasts forever. I've been using it since 2012, maybe?? Maybe earlier. It works great for me.

Disclosure: I've only used two Time Trial saddles in the last 10 years. Original ISM Adamo and the two different width Dash saddles. Road saddles during that time have been SMP's Evolution, Composit, and Forma. I rode most of the aughts on various Selle Italia SLRs.

My YouTubes

Last edited by: LAI: Oct 7, 20 12:00
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Re: Assistance with saddles (at least for the road bike, if not for the TT) [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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If is hard to tell, but from this side shot your pedal looks to be in the 4:30 position to 6 O'Clock position. It looks like it may end up with our toe pointed down at the bottom. If you just sit on the saddle and put your heel on the pedal at the bottom how much gap is there. When I went to almost zero gap, I ended up with saddle bliss on every saddle I own. It had nothing to do with saddle and everything to do with position. If you see the riders in grand tours you will see how low most of them ride. It took some time to get used to the additional quad burn, but I was getting more quad and glute burn in the slightly lower position because I was generally generating more power.

Think about the sweet spot of a squat. Its not at the top, not at the bottom. That's when you generate the most force, but it also means the muscles are asking for my oxygen (because you may be working harder).
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