Road Bike v. Tri-Bike Seat

Looking for some seat advice. I can ride 100 miles on my tri-bike (steep set-up) without experiencing any seat-bone pain. Road bike is a totally different story. The two bones get deeply bruised after a very short time/distance if I sit on any of the popular/standard/oem seats. I’ve put a serfas gel saddle on, not quite beach cruiser size, but it does look a bit out of place. Anybody experience this kind of dilemma? Suggestions/solutions?

Thanks.

Berti

Hmmmm, That’s exactly opposite the usual problem we usually see posted on this forum. Usually the problem with sit bone pain is poor contact with the seat caused by a seat that isn’t the right shape for you. Some people can ride Flites. Some people can ride Rolls. The problem is rarely solved by putting more padding between you and the seat, or by some sort of cutout, because it is “hard” tissue contact points. You want to keep those points in solid contact. Also, the more you bounce in your saddle, the worse it becomes. Smooth pedal strokes and a properly adjusted saddle can help in this department. More padding just gets in the way on a road bike. Contrast that with a steep saddle position which forces you onto soft tissue areas. In that case more padding definitely works, whether its a QR pad or the new Azoto and Aspide tri saddles.

You need to find a saddle shape that works for you. If you haven’t tried the Concor Light or the Rolls, I’d recommend you try those out.

The other issue may just be lack of saddle time on the road bike. That area gets toughened over time in the saddle. In a steep position, your contact points are completely different. You may just have to give it time.

Unfortunately, I don’t believe it is a seat time issue. I used to be a bit of a fanatical motorcyclist, never sat on a comfortable seat that didn’t bruise the seat-bones…in '99 I rode 11,217 miles in 11 days, happily seated on top of a 2" piece of medical foam used for wheelchair-bound people. Only 11 pain free days I’ve ever had…same kind of thing on the road bikes. Debilitating bone pain.

Thanks for the Concor Light suggestion. Do you feel that a neoprene seat pad would be helpful on such a set-up or just become a source of unhelpful movement on the saddle?

B-