I have been riding my mountain bike for the last few weeks training for an off road duathlon I have coming up and have been experience A LOT more saddle sores than when I was on my TT bike earlier in the summer. I have not been fitted on my mountain bike and I am currently using a Selle Italia SLR XC gel Flow saddle that seemed comfortable but that was before I was riding it 3-4 times a week for 45-1:30 at a time. The sores are right where the crease,corner, transition from my thigh to taint is. I usually ride in my Tri gear because I brick a lot but recently rode in my cycling pants and it almost seemed to make them worse.
What should I do?
Get a new seat? Fizik Tundra? Recommendations?
I think the cutout may start to hurt more than help, my TT saddle is a Cobb Max. I stay seated for almost the entire ride on my hardtail over semi bumpy/rocky terrain and I think I slide back and forth a lot more on the saddle.
PLEASE HELP!! Getting to the point where they are getting worse and I may have to stop riding to let them heal.
Not trying to make this sound like an ad but… we have a new MTB seat line that will be released in a couple of weeks that should solve your issues. In the mean time, get one of my Plus model seats for the Mountain bike and I believe it will solve your issues. We will gladly trade seats out later or there is always the 6 month trial, full refund option.
FWIW - I had a number of saddle sores in the same place July of this year. I couldn’t figure it out. Nothing had really changed. bike setup, bibs - mileage - everything was still the same. I had one pair of bibs that I got that bother me. They were a castelli medium (wife bought them). All my other bibs were large. I had shrunk over the season and the others shorts were too big causing chafing and ugly gross nasty saddle sores.
Good luck!
MTB body/saddle position is different than TT which requires adaptation. Plus, mtbiking naturally generates more butt/saddle friction and movement than TTing.
(Add: I would also guess that your MTB saddle is too high…lower it.)
Wear real cycling shorts. Tri gear (shorts) have inferior chamois padding compared to dedicated cycling shorts. By wearing tri shorts you created/accelerated the problem - switching too late to cycling shorts after the damage has been done.
Chamois cream.
Probably best to stay off bike a while to allow sores to heal.
I started to use cream, not sure if it is helping or not.
I don’t really feel like standing more, I stand on descents but not climbing so that I can keep weight on my rear wheel for grip.
So what do you do when you run either immediately before or after the bike when you are wearing cycling shorts? Especially if you are in an area where you can’t change your clothes in private.
I do like the idea of my seat being high, I did raise it a bit but I still think I could raise it more. I took the measurement from the middle of my BB to top of saddle on my road and TT bike (both fitted for) and they were the same so I made the change on my MTB to be the same. Does it work that way or should I not assume it is the same for any bike I am on.
I do like the idea of my seat being high, I did raise it a bit but I still think I could raise it more. I took the measurement from the middle of my BB to top of saddle on my road and TT bike (both fitted for) and they were the same so I made the change on my MTB to be the same. Does it work that way or should I not assume it is the same for any bike I am on.
No, it is NOT the same for every bike, especially MTBs. This may your principle problem (for the reasons stated above) - LOWER YOUR MTB SADDLE.
I switch back and forth between MTB & road; get saddle sores in the same spot too.
After messing with saddles and a load of new shorts (using the EIT chamois only since they work for me) I still deal with the sores.
I’m convinced the cause is climbing under heavy load up steep-ish grades in the saddle; when this happens you naturally slide back, there is tremendous pressure on the area in question plus the friction that happens when you climb is different then riding hard on the flats (sitting up).
It’s worth getting out of the saddle now & then when you feel the pressure loading on the effected area.
As far as letting sores heal, dunno about you but I observed it takes a while; if taken care of at least they won’t get worse through more riding.
Btw, my road & mtb saddles have no cut out; FSA SLK & Selle San Marco Ponza K respectively.
Do you use chamois cream? If not, get some. Assos, if you can find it. Rub it into your chamois as well as your undercarriage.
DON’T hang out in your kit once you’re done. I see triathletes do this all the time. Once you’re finished your workout, get out of your kit and into the shower.
Once you’re all clean and dry, rub a bit more chamois cream on your saddle sores - then wander around in something loose and airy to let the skin breathe. You don’t need to wear a kilt, but some loose shorts or maybe boardshorts with the built in liner. Breezy is good. Tighty whiteys & jeans would be the opposite of what you want to achieve.
So what do you do when you run either immediately before or after the bike when you are wearing cycling shorts? Especially if you are in an area where you can’t change your clothes in private. .
Just a note, you can run in cycling shorts. I put a pair over my tri shorts for IMWI, and forgot to take them off in transition. I didn’t realize I had two pairs of shorts on until I undressed. Just sayin, it isnt that bad.