Sit bone pain

[knightskid]

Do you have a link, had a quick link on Youtube and couldn't find anything

Just an update on my sit bone issue. I had previously been for 2 bike fits but recently went for a saddle fit which basically turned into a bike fit.
He used a pressure mapping saddle cover and quickly discovered my saddle height was too high and was causing some rocking. We lowered the saddle15mm. I was pretty surprised but having covered 300km since I can confirm that was the issue all along.
Funnily enough all of the saddles in my collection are now comfortable!

i have the same problem and chance upon a gcn video using heel pedaling method, solve my backache, hand numb and saddle sore....will mark the setting to take my benchmark, then fine tune to see whether can get the best out of it.

here is the 1st video i came across https://youtu.be/FNGMRtJ5LIc

which trigger my memory that gcn did years back, which is here
https://youtu.be/FVu5Zrktm40

[CR987]

I don't feel so stupid after watching this video. Apparently it's very hard to fix the seat height when you're not even in the ball park. I tried a few mm here and there and it made no difference.
https://youtu.be/FNGMRtJ5LIc

I like this technique of starting way too low and moving up 3mm at a time

[nycebo]

Yeah I know... I sound like a real novice. I was put in that position after a couple of bike fits and I suppose after a while you kind of get used to it and the very slight rocking of the hips becomes imperceptible.

15mm is a big difference and it sounds like I should have known but I'm willing to sound foolish if it helps someone else!

Do NOT be too hard on yourself. From my casual observations riding in Central Park the past 10 years, most recreational/enthusiast riders (non-tourist and non-Citibikers) have their seats too far forward and way too high. Alas, I also used to be one of them. As you said, you just get used to it, and the readily available early on seems to confirm that decision. However, after longer rides, comfort and endurance suffer.

It wasn't until I came across a passage in recent years that I was curious enough to lower my saddle by about 1 cm and became immediately happier, stronger and more comfortable. So kudos to you for being open to change and better yet, for finding a great solution.

As for the passage, here it is...

From Colnago: "Mounting the saddle too high is instead a very common mistake among enthusiasts, conditioned by the fact that in this way you have the impression of expressing more strength on the pedals. What is needed instead is more awareness of the fact that excessive height triggers a series of problems that lead not only to bad pedalling, but also to real physical discomfort: pressure on the soft parts, irritation, pain and grazing."

[Yoln]

My seat pain problem wasn't solved by hunting for new saddle (6 saddles along the journey, Btw).
Rather, it is solved by fitting change. Push saddle more to the back and lower it a bit. Angle it nose down 2 degree frin horizontal. Shorten stem by 1cm and that's it. No more saddle pain for me.

Exactly what happened to me. 5 saddles not 6 though (thanks amazon for your return policy) and I actually found that Berk Lupina is fitting me perfectly in the journey, so not a totally lost investment.

But putting the saddle further back and lowering the seatpost was also what solved my problems, and that had a much greater impact than finding the perfect saddle.

Won't get into the debate of pro-fitting vs self-fitting, but just like everything else, I believe that with a bit of investment (less than the $450 asked around here for a fitting) and a lot of commitment, having a great fitting made yourself is definitely possible.

[AJS914]

I used to always feel a saddle assymetry as soon as I would get on the bike. It would dissapear after a few miles. I was able to get away with this in my 20s and 30s. I took a break for a number of years and got back into cycling in my late 40s. After a lot of reading, studying, and experimenting I came to the conclusion that I needed a much lower saddle.

When I look at most riders in my club, many of them ride with a saddle that is too high. Many of them sit significantly to the right or left to compensate. And they have been doing this for decades. One guy in my club was pedaling on tippy toes and I mentioned it to him. He was kind of hard headed about it so I no longer try to help people with fit unless they ask.

The fastest guy in my club - a 56 year old cat 1 mountain biker who has the KOM on almost every climb in town - he looks like he rides his saddle too low. Obviously he has got it right and his pedal stroke is so smooth that it always looks effortless.

[Mr.Gib]

15mm? that is a huge amount to be off particularely when this came from a bike fit. That amount too high would be obvious to anyone with a half decent eye for position riding behind you.

The good news it that once you know your proper fit, sometimes even a single millemeter, or maybe two, of your saddle being out of position will be obvious to you. And depending on saddle choice, sensitivity to the amount of tilt can be as fine as one tenth of one degree!

[CR987]

15mm? that is a huge amount to be off particularely when this came from a bike fit. That amount too high would be obvious to anyone with a half decent eye for position riding behind you.

Yes, you would think. During the saddle fit he put some stickers on my back/hips and recorded the view with his phone. It was quite embarrassing watching my hips rocking like a donkey

[ghostinthemachine]

Just bare in mind that a huge number of "bike fitters" have absolutely no idea what they are doing and no training. It's just an easy way to make money.
Other have lots of training and will still use their own preconceived ideas of what a fit should look like. That's an easy way to make even more money.

[alicetaylor1]

I have this problem now and want to try physio. Has somebody tried and had good results?

[wwnero]

I have this problem now and want to try physio. Has somebody tried and had good results?

I have a bike fit scheduled with a chiro in a month. If I don't update here by mid May, remind me. He seems very confident that these issues are generally fit related vs saddle realated since I've tried a specialized power (155, probably should have gone for a 143), Fizik Argo (150, wish I had a 140 available), Fizik Antares adaptive (139) and a few others that I have borrowed for a few rides. Hopefully he will be able to resolve my issues and I will be pain free. Ideally would like to land on using a 3d printed saddle if it means ultimate comfort. The roads are really bad where I ride.

[alanjob]

I used to cycle a lot too and had similar issues with sit bone pain, no matter how many saddles I tried. It was incredibly frustrating. The pain seemed to get worse over time rather than better. What finally made a difference for me was visiting a physio clinic. I worked with a physiotherapist named Thusheinth Sivarajah, who specialized in sports injuries. He helped me with targeted exercises and adjustments to my cycling posture, which significantly reduced my pain. It wasn't an overnight fix, but with consistent treatment and following his advice, I saw a huge improvement. Now I am back to cycling and feeling much better.

[RDY]

If you have sit bone pain, stretch your hamstrings regularly. A factor is often hamstring tightness pulling at the connective tissue around your sitbones.

[c60rider]

I have this problem now and want to try physio. Has somebody tried and had good results?

As a chartered physiotherapist myself and having long standing issues with left sided saddle related pain there isn't anything I haven't worked on over many years, even exploratory surgery after a lump was discovered on scan but ultimately shown to be a red herring. What I eventually established was that over many years bikes have become increasingly stiffer, deep section wheels adding to that stiffness coupled with increasingly poor roads surface especially here in the UK. It was simply down to the subtle vibration going straight through the bike over many hours and straight onto the contact areas in particular the saddle. It was so subtle that no tweak of position and parts change over several years affected it. What's sorted it? Going back to my really old steel bike, hand built wheels with lower profile rims, latex tubes etc. all these parts absorb a degree of that vibration and it's like night and day the comfort compared to my Colnago C60 with Bora Ultra wheels. The actual position on my bike is identical from one to another but the more rigid ie modern the worse it is. You will see videos of bike fitters claiming all and sundry will sort that problem out. But they're dealing with and changing fractions. I don't believe anyone keeps their bum in exactly the same place on a saddle so just mm of position change there completely voids minor changes made by the bike fitter. If you're close enough position wise, and there's plenty of general guides out there that will get you a close to position, then spending hundreds on a bike fit is unlikely to affect a lot for the majority. Of course reading the cycling press they'll always say have an annual bike fit but of course they would they're trying to generate business for the industry they're in. There's far too many factors that can have an impact on comfort on the bike so that there's not going to be one single thing; bike fit, type of saddle, short/chamois brand, flexibility, accessory muscle strength and so on that's going to work. For the people that do have problems it's likely to be a either a multitude of minor issues and a long standing issue to deal with until you get the right advice or stumble across it by chance.

[Mr.Gib]

@c60rider, Perhaps the change to vintage equipment made a difference for you, but is it possible a break from cycling made the difference, or some other change in your body due to the passage of time. And surely it is possible to achieve all of the compliance of the vintage equipment on your c60 with saddle choice and tire pressure. (Granted the c60 is limited to 28mm IIRC - but tubeless at 60-65psi is possible.)

Ultimately every case is different. A lower saddle or different saddle, or a combination of both can do the trick...or sometimes not. If the problem is ischial bursitits, stretching may help, as may softer deeper padding - something that should always be tried. This list goes on.

If someone has sitbone pain the only guarantee fix regardless of cause is the Infinity saddle. Forum members are free to contact me if they want one - I have a spare that I am willing to sell.

[patchandscruff]

A high number of ischial bursitits are down to people riding saddles that are too wide and set too high.

The desire to 'look pro' with slammed stems / big saddle to bar drops, and the trend for those must have, dumb ass (excuse the pun) short nose saddles, isn't helping.