Educate a newbie on bicycle shorts/proper attire?
sweetteadrinker2
Posts: 1,026 Member
I haven't ridden in awhile. So I got a Schwinn Mirada and some fenders and a seat pad to go with. I hopped on today and explored my university. About 3.5 miles over 30 minutes. I did this in regular exercise capris, and lady bits are not pleased with me. No wounds, but very tender. Is this a matter of not having been on a bike for awhile? Wrong pants? Need a better seat? I loved riding, but I need to be able to walk!
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Probably a combination of all the above. It will take your body time to get used to being on the bike. Padded bike shorts help. Some kind of body glide or cream might also help.0
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Your body, especially the tender regions need to get reacquainted with cycling again. Just keep ramping up the saddle time. It will go away.... Get some padded cycling shorts. And I don't mean walmart/amazon el cheapo's either. Canari and Sugoi both make some awesome shorts. If you get chaffing, look it to getting some lube to reduce friction.0
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When I started riding again a few years ago it led to some extreme female body part pain. When I got REALLY into riding I bought some padded bike shorts and that improved the issue a TON.
If you go for a long period of time without riding (Even a few weeks) It will undoubtedly leave you tender down there. If I wear normal shorts (Spandex or other) it will often times leave sores from the way the seat rubs me. If I wear my longer work out pants it just leaves me sore. My padded shorts completely eliminate the issue. My SO had to purchase a padded bike seat for the time being because he isn't 'ready' to progress to padded shorts (he says he embarrassed lol).0 -
+1 on the shorts. That'll make more of a difference than anything else. Also, as counterintuitive as it sounds, stay away from really soft seats and seat pads. The extra padding can often lead to more chafing and saddle sores. Most high-end endurance seats have very little padding for a reason. They take longer to adapt to but they are better in the long run.
Position on the saddle comes into play as well. Your "sit bones" should be positioned on the wings of the saddle and should be supporting your weight. Your perineal area and associated lady bits will be in contact with the saddle but emphatically should not be supporting your weight.
Last but not least, ramp up the saddle time slowly. You have to condition your body. Good luck!1 -
It took me some time to get used to the idea of wearing padded bike shorts in public. I still get a little self conscious but I haven't had any issues with discomfort since I gave in and started wearing them. I tried to wear them under gym shorts, but that still causes rubbing (pain). I even scaled back my padded seat to something much less padded and still no issues.0
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Probably all of the above. Start with some decent bike shorts, and as you ride more, your parts "toughen up". When I commute places, I throw a pair of thin shorts in my pocket or rubber band them inside a spare water bottle cage... then I can put them on over my bike shorts, just in case people don't want to see some dude in lycra.0
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I'm going to guess a different seat is going to help a lot. You needs something that supports your "sit bones", so that all your weight is on them and NOT on the lady bits much at all. Pain on those sit bones when new to cycling, or returning is "normal". Pain other places should be addressed. A lot of people start with the biggest, most cushioned seat they can find thinking that is the most comfortable but it's really not. I'd go to a real bike shop and see if they can measure your sit bones, and suggest some seats for you. They might even have a demo seat program. Seats can range greatly in price, though. Unfortunately the most comfortable one for you, might not be the cheapest.
Also if you go with bike shorts make sure they are tight enough. I discovered I have this problem in my expensive racing bibs. They are too big so they move around which causing a lot of irritation.0 -
The advice you have got above is all good. But I would also check your seat position for height, fore aft position and finally the angle of the saddle. I would then go back and check them all again. And as you get more time in the saddle expect your flexibility to change and you may need to move things again. I doubled the time I could spend in teh saddle as soon as a I worked at that the seat was not level and I as a result I was not sitting on the saddle correctly. Look on youtube for bike fit videos, globalcyclingnetwork have some good ones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVu5Zrktm40 Enjoy your rides 0 -
Thanks for sharing that video! Some great info!0
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LifeInTheBikeLane wrote: »When I started riding again a few years ago it led to some extreme female body part pain. When I got REALLY into riding I bought some padded bike shorts and that improved the issue a TON.
If you go for a long period of time without riding (Even a few weeks) It will undoubtedly leave you tender down there. If I wear normal shorts (Spandex or other) it will often times leave sores from the way the seat rubs me. If I wear my longer work out pants it just leaves me sore. My padded shorts completely eliminate the issue. My SO had to purchase a padded bike seat for the time being because he isn't 'ready' to progress to padded shorts (he says he embarrassed lol).
Get him some padded shorts and some loose fitting basketball shorts to go over them. Problem solved.0 -
@sweetteadrinker2 I searched for pics and consumer reviews of the Schwinn Mirada. There were quite a number of consumer complaints from ladies regarding the stock saddle delivered with this hybrid bike. But otherwise, the reviews were generally positive. It's not usually the norm for one to get fitted for a big box hybrid such as yours. Likewise, padded shorts and bibs are not the norm for general riding around town during a casual ride. But many fitness riders do upgrade their stock saddle with something a bit more suitable for fitness cycling and commuting.
So, here's the $72 saddle I suggest you install on your Schwinn hybrid bike with relatively flat handlebar:
http://www.amazon.com/Serfas-Performance-RX-Bicycle-Saddle/product-reviews/B00075FG02/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewopt_srt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=helpful&reviewerType=all_reviews&filterByStar=all_stars&pageNumber=1
For $72, the investment isn't much different than a pair of quality, name brand cycling shorts and the price is less than true cycling bibs.
It took at least two seasons to find the perfect saddle for me and my bikes. In the end, I installed Serfas saddles on all of my bikes. The $72 Serfas Rx Performance saddle replaced a $200 Selle Italia saddle on my Trek FX 7.4 fitness hybrid bike for much less than half the purchase price of the Selle Italia. But I'd have been willing to pay a lot more for the long distance / sustained comfort this Serfas Rx Performance saddle offers. At 158 mm wide, it's really comfortable for long, casual rides while seated in an upright position as one does on a Hybrid. No Buyer Remorse here at all. It's a true 5-star winner on price, comfort, and quality of build and you can transfer it to your next bike when ready for an upgrade. TIP: Keep the original saddle in a clean, dry place for future re-installation so you can just transfer the Serfas saddle to your next bike.
Here is the Serfas Rx Performance website page to view technical information, design parameters, and build specification: https://www.serfas.com/products/view/175/referer:products|saddles0
