I have a new bike recently and upgraded my saddle to a Dash Stage Stock…with the narrow option for the nose.
I love it to bits in general but seem to have recurrent issues with chaffing in my groin region-I say groin as it is more where my ball sack meets the skin of my perineal area/inner thigh.
I have tried excessive lubrication and variations in my kit.
I am wondering if I am simply not sitting forward enough on it…or if I need a little more tilt in it?? I have a slight downwards tilt at present…
Would really appreciate advice ASAP…race coming up in 5 weeks so would like to get through these last long rides in some comfort!
I’m sure there are many possibilities, but I got exactly the same issue when I first got an ISM. It’ll be poking you in some skin areas that you haven’t sat on before and I don’t think there’s much you can do except wear yourself in - gently of course. Short rides, avoid breaking the skin if you can because gettin rid of sores is a pain…
Are you applying the lubrication to your skin or to your shorts?
I had been doing only the former for ages (and didnt need any before i bought my TT bike), but i had skins that got rubbed raw. Putting the cream on both my skin and my shorts appeared to have worked (knock on wood).
Even more embarrassing are butt cheek skins that got abraded. Never happened in my decade of cycling, before it happened a few weeks ago when i was on my road bike. Again, cream on shorts seemed to be working
Did your old saddle work for you? Is your saddle height (from BB to the top of the saddle) still the same?
Almost all saddle issues can be removed by lower the saddle. Andy Coggan had done research showing there is no change in power output even with saddle 1.5 inches too low (or something like that). Look how low all the saddle positions are in the tour de France relative to most saddle positions in a triathlon.
So to rewind 18 years on ST, “Your seat is too high”. I have had zero saddle sores in almost 12 years after lowering my saddle from 69 cm to 68 cm. Before that, it was just part of my riding life. Given the age range that I did this in (between 43 and 55), I had close to no decline in bike performance relative to teh 10 years before, but if you are young, I bet your performance goes up with lower saddle position being more comfortable and being able to continuously generate better power in headwinds and gradual uphills and on steep uphills the lower saddle is like night and day because when you sit up on the back of the saddle you increase your saddle effective height…going from too high to even higher just drops your seated climbing power not to mention the nose of the saddle effectively sticking up way too high in front of you.
I had the same issue with my PN1.1. Ended up being the fore-aft positioning; after I moved it back 5mm it instantly felt perfect and the chafing disappeared.
Thanks everyone.
Just to feedback to the replies so far:
Lubrication is used excessively.
I did have similar issues on my old bike training for Ironman.
The saddle height in no way feels too high…knee angle etc is good on all the usual assessments.
I do most of my training indoors except leading into the race when I am out on the race bike once a week, it does not leave huge scope to make lots of changes.
The things I see I could experiment with:
- Saddle tilt
- Fore aft
- Where I am sitting on the saddle…am I sitting too far back and therefore not off the front of it enough!!!
When I switched over to the Dash, I had to drop my saddle about 1.5 cm in order to get comfortable. It’s designed to have your boys off the front so it’s highly possible that you are sitting too far back as well.
I had a similar issue when I switched to a Dash saddle (same model). The saddle had higher total height than the model it was replacing, although the actual saddle from Dash is of course pretty minimalistic and thin. I lowered the seat post just a hair, and also tilted the nose down just a smidge. I have noticed that whenever I have chafing issues on TT bike, it’s because the nose of the saddle is pointed too high, and changing it only a few degrees is usually enough. It’s a delicate balance between sliding off the front and chafing, and it’s just a process of tinkering in small increments.
Thanks. I am wondering that as well. Am thinking of putting on the trainer and riding it more leading into my next race.
Thanks, I think I will tinker like that and resign myself to needing to set it all up on the trainer (not a gun with thru axles on the neo yet).
Thanks everyone.
Just to feedback to the replies so far:
Lubrication is used excessively.
I did have similar issues on my old bike training for Ironman.
The saddle height in no way feels too high…knee angle etc is good on all the usual assessments.
I do most of my training indoors except leading into the race when I am out on the race bike once a week, it does not leave huge scope to make lots of changes.
The things I see I could experiment with:
- Saddle tilt
- Fore aft
- Where I am sitting on the saddle…am I sitting too far back and therefore not off the front of it enough!!!
I am going to tell you that you are in denial that your saddle is not too high.
Try this experiment. Drop your saddle two full inches. No matter the tilt of fore-aft you will have no saddle sore or chafing issues. Zero. You will compress your hip angle and feel like you are riding a kids bike, but all your saddle issues will be gone. Your power output will drop a bit, but not at all sitting bolt upright.
Now raise it one inch. Its going to feel better. You will even be able to ride aero, but more compressed hip angle, but your bars will also be higher relative to your butt, so its not that bad. You won’t have any chafing issues, but its going to be a bit uncomfortable putting out high power in an agreessive aero position, but you will be able to put out all the power in the world you want. Now keep raising it 2.5 mm at a time until you get to the point that you still have no chafing and you can put our power out in aero.
There is a trade off, where slightly too low gets rid of saddle issue, but it may not be the perfect height but its workable until your skin heals itself, then you can go higher and higher. But look at the riders in the Tour…they are all way lower than pro triathletes and they put our massive watts and still get very aero.
Thanks Paul…
I like your plan I just don’t have time to execute it for my next race in 4 weeks…
I can live with it for the moment and try and change the height after the next race…happy to try a few fore-aft changes etc at the moment but don’t think I have enough time for the longer stuff to work through all you mention below just yet.
Don’t dismiss your shorts as well
https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7260289#p7260289
The rider/saddle interface is the MOST important … failure any of the others can be “endured” for a time, butt a problem in the undercarriage will ruin your day instantly
Thanks Paul…
I like your plan I just don’t have time to execute it for my next race in 4 weeks…
I can live with it for the moment and try and change the height after the next race…happy to try a few fore-aft changes etc at the moment but don’t think I have enough time for the longer stuff to work through all you mention below just yet.
You can do this in 30 minutes on the trainer. If you want your race to be better follow my input and invest that 30 min trainer session. My bet is you convert at 2.5mm-4mm lower than what you have and all your sores go away and you will have no appreciable delta in your aero profile, but your power gets better over the entire race and you are able to stay aero longer meaning you actually push less wind overall, even though your theoretical wind tunnel position is “less good”. Your practical real world aero profile integrated over every minute of the race may end up being better because you are more comfortable and can stay in the aero.
Remember how Laurent Fignon lost the Tour de France by giving away 53 seconds to Lemond due to standing up with saddle sores…don’t be like Fignon. 4 weeks is lots of time.
Thanks Paul…
I like your plan I just don’t have time to execute it for my next race in 4 weeks…
I can live with it for the moment and try and change the height after the next race…happy to try a few fore-aft changes etc at the moment but don’t think I have enough time for the longer stuff to work through all you mention below just yet.
You can do this in 30 minutes on the trainer. If you want your race to be better follow my input and invest that 30 min trainer session. My bet is you convert at 2.5mm-4mm lower than what you have and all your sores go away and you will have no appreciable delta in your aero profile, but your power gets better over the entire race and you are able to stay aero longer meaning you actually push less wind overall, even though your theoretical wind tunnel position is “less good”. Your practical real world aero profile integrated over every minute of the race may end up being better because you are more comfortable and can stay in the aero.
Remember how Laurent Fignon lost the Tour de France by giving away 53 seconds to Lemond due to standing up with saddle sores…don’t be like Fignon. 4 weeks is lots of time.
I think you called it right on the denial, Op is kind of wedded to this saddle height for some reason. It really is easy to do a version of this. As a pro Ive gotten different TT rigs year on year and I always set them up 3-4 cm lower on saddle height than my road bike and work up from there. It takes like 3 rides max to find the sweet spot. As you adapt to the bike/position/saddle you sometimes find yourself going higher later on in the season but too high is a big problem right away that won’t feel better going lower 1mm at a time.
Thanks Paul…
I like your plan I just don’t have time to execute it for my next race in 4 weeks…
I can live with it for the moment and try and change the height after the next race…happy to try a few fore-aft changes etc at the moment but don’t think I have enough time for the longer stuff to work through all you mention below just yet.
You can do this in 30 minutes on the trainer. If you want your race to be better follow my input and invest that 30 min trainer session. My bet is you convert at 2.5mm-4mm lower than what you have and all your sores go away and you will have no appreciable delta in your aero profile, but your power gets better over the entire race and you are able to stay aero longer meaning you actually push less wind overall, even though your theoretical wind tunnel position is “less good”. Your practical real world aero profile integrated over every minute of the race may end up being better because you are more comfortable and can stay in the aero.
Remember how Laurent Fignon lost the Tour de France by giving away 53 seconds to Lemond due to standing up with saddle sores…don’t be like Fignon. 4 weeks is lots of time.
I think you called it right on the denial, Op is kind of wedded to this saddle height for some reason. It really is easy to do a version of this. As a pro Ive gotten different TT rigs year on year and I always set them up 3-4 cm lower on saddle height than my road bike and work up from there. It takes like 3 rides max to find the sweet spot. As you adapt to the bike/position/saddle you sometimes find yourself going higher later on in the season but too high is a big problem right away that won’t feel better going lower 1mm at a time.
LOL…wow…the assumptions are in force today!
The OP is not wedded to his saddle height and not everyone has as much time to fiddle around with things as you both have suggested. 60 hr/week job, 3 children, maximum 3 outdoor rides prior to race day. Change one thing at a time and given this issue is apparent on longer rides only (don’t see it on my indoor sessions which are up to 1:45-2 hours…) I don’t have the time to change multiple things prior to race day. The height is at the lower end of all the FIST protocols etc so it certainly is not excessive, i would rather change something else first…
I’ve had issues with this as well, always in tri suits, but never on long bike rides (with bib shorts). I’ve had a few different saddles, kits, played with seat height, it just still gets irritated in that area. I’ve had moderate success with using body glide (hopefully more water resistant and stays put) + chamois cream, but not full success. I like the other posters idea of applying directly to the suit. I use the assos gel after the race/shower
I have a new bike recently and upgraded my saddle to a Dash Stage Stock…with the narrow option for the nose.
I love it to bits in general but seem to have recurrent issues with chaffing in my groin region-I say groin as it is more where my ball sack meets the skin of my perineal area/inner thigh.
I have tried excessive lubrication and variations in my kit.
I am wondering if I am simply not sitting forward enough on it…or if I need a little more tilt in it?? I have a slight downwards tilt at present…
Would really appreciate advice ASAP…race coming up in 5 weeks so would like to get through these last long rides in some comfort!
I totally get this. I just went from a JOFF 55 to Dash Stage Stock as well. Measured ground to top of saddle so it is the same & same distance nose to pads & tilt as per instructions on website. I found I kept sliding onto my bars & almost off my seat & it is NOT comfortable. So I lowered the seat about a 1 cm. Then tilted it slightly up. Still not right. The JOFF has softer cushion & way easier on the butt. But I’ve developed a slightly irritated right hip since using the DASH, so thinking my seat is still too high. In short, I’m going to end up getting another bike fit soon, so I’ll keep playing with it some. It feels okay when riding but may be just a bit too high. Maybe half cm & that may fix things. To be continued…