Q&A: Bicycle Seat Relief

While most cyclists do fine on normal, everyday bicycle seats, some people, like Nick here, suffer so badly they consider giving up biking, which is a shame. Fortunately, there are all kinds of seats to choose from, and even some very unique ones as I explain... 

Q: Hi Jim,

I'm coming to you almost as a last resort. My story is, I got into biking again because I liked it as a kid and my doctor said I needed to start exercising. (I can't walk or jog much cause my back's not so good.) So, I went out and got a basic mountain bike - nothing fancy - but something to ride around on that has a comfortable upright riding position. 

For a few months now, I've been getting out a couple of times a week and actually enjoying it except for one thing. My butt is killing me. And nothing I've tried seems to help. I go numb and get so sore I have to keep stopping and it's taking all the fun away. I tried switching to a wider, softer seat, but that didn't work. I think my seat is adjusted right too. I even bought some cycling shorts with the padding inside and even that didn't make the pain and numbness go away.

Is there any way to get a comfortable seat or do I have to find another type of exercise?

Nick

The Spongy Wonder (keep reading for details)

A: Sorry to hear about your saddle sores, Nick, but it's a common problem with many new or returning riders and something that can bother even pro riders sometimes. In fact of all the cycling inventions created since the first bike came along about 150 years ago, there have probably been more seats than anything else because yours is such a common complaint and always has been.

There's a lot to understand about seats and what causes saddle sores and how to prevent them and my extensive online bicycle seats guide should help you as it has many others in your shoes. For example, you said that you had tried a wider, softer, seat. But sometimes what's needed is a narrower, firmer saddle that provides more support and doesn't squish and get in the way so much. 

You also said you had tried cycling shorts but maybe no one told you that these special shorts are meant to be worn alone (without underwear) since the seams in underwear can press on nerves and cause numbness, and also chafe. And, even seat adjustment can be tricky. A little too high or low makes a big difference and if the seat is angled up or down that can cause problems too. Here's how to adjust a seat.

Any good bicycle shop will have an expert who can take a look at your bike's setup and your seat and tell you if they spot something wrong. And they should be happy to let you try different seats since there are so many types. Usually, as long as the seat is in new condition you can bring it back and trade it for another one until you find the one that feels right. Another way to test seats is to try the ones your riding friends like. Maybe they had problems and found one that works for them that you'll like too. And, the bike shop may be able to recommend a saddle based on what's not working for you now.

The Real Seat

But, let's say that all of these steps don't work, and you just can't find a seat that doesn't hurt you. What do you do then? I recommend trying non-standard seats, also called alternate or alternative seats. They're unique and can be a little hard to find so I provide a regularly updated list (I just added the Carbon Comfort Saddle this week) on my bicycle seats guide and I've provided a few examples here so you can see just how different they are.

Probably the most unconventional looking is the Real Seat. Kind of like putting the seat from a lawn chair on your bicycle, it provides a wide sling seat for comfort and support that feels a little like sitting on a playground swing.

Tip: If you switch to one of these alternate seats from a standard saddle, there's a learning curve. Riding on a regular seat you control the bike a good bit with your thighs holding and pushing on the front of the seat (the "nose"). 

But on alternate seats, you often sit more on top of the seat and there's usually no nose to use to control the bike, so you'll want to practice to get used to it.

The oldest alternate seat that I can remember is the Easy Seat (it also goes by the "Hobson seat.") I remember ads for this in the sixties (the name has changed over the years) and it's still selling strong all these years later.

It's a two-part seat, which is actually a very early design dating back to the 1890's. The idea is that if the seat is split in half, there won't be any pressure on your sensitive areas and each half can move with your pedaling motion unlike a standard seat that remains fixed in one place. 

The BiSaddle

The Easy Seat has two cupped and cushioned "pads" that can be adjusted sideways so that they're directly beneath your sit bones.

Tip: Since alternate seats can be expensive and you may have to order online, ask if they'll take the seat back if it doesn't work for you. If they won't do that, ask if there's a local bike shop that carries the seat so you can try it out. No? Maybe they sold one to someone in your town and that person will let you come check it out? You might make a new riding buddy that way and find a nice new seat.

Two other seats that use the two-part design are the BiSaddle that comes in men's and women's versions and can be fine-tuned to your exact sit-bone distance (photo), and the also adjustable-width Spongy Wonder (photo, top of page), which several readers have told me made their saddle woes go away.

See my list for more choices, and I hope my seat tips help you enjoy pain-free rides so you can continue cycling.

Jim

Santa Cruz Cyclocross: A Look Back

Made in Santa Cruz: Rock Lobster cyclocross bike

For racing cyclists, it's the final season of the year and that means cyclocross! Also called cross or CX, bicycle cyclocross racing originated in Europe as a way for road racers to stay fit throughout the off season.

Here's a little background and kind of a funny story about my cross exploits. Be sure to check my cyclocross page on my website for a lot more about old-school Santa Cruz cross.

The challenge for racers in the winter was keeping in shape with high-intensity workouts while staying warm. So the idea was conceived to race on slightly modified road bikes around a mostly grass or dirt track on about a one-mile circuit course. On cyclocross bikes, the frames have additional clearance plus knobby road tires and powerful cantilever brakes are used - soon disc brakes. When I raced, cross frames were mostly steel and the components were aluminum. Today, the bikes are aluminum or carbon and the components get lighter and lighter, including carbon wheelsets and components. Lightness is good because you have to carry your bike.

To slow the riders and ensure they won't freeze, the courses have obstacles and often mud stretches to force racers to dismount, shoulder their bicycles and run for a stretch. How well you can handle your bike on sketchy terrain and how seamlessly you can go from saddle to dirt and back again often determines how well you do in the races.

Fortunately, races only last for from roughly 45 minutes to an hour plus a lap, however, it's one of the most intense hours you've probably spent on two wheels and no one will tell you cyclocross racing is a cake walk. But, it sure is fun and a fantastic way to stay in shape all season long.

My involvement in cross started here in Santa Cruz in the early 1980's because we had a great cyclocross series here (and still do). In high school I was a fair cross-country runner and I had always loved cycling. I figured the combination of cycling and running would be perfect for me.

From 1982 to 1984 I made every race. I rode a custom Oxford cross bike (Jim Oxford was a framebuilder in Bonny Doon), based on the geometry of Tom Cuthbertson's Hetchins cross rig that he purchased in England in the 1970's. At that time Tom helped bring the sport of cyclocross to Santa Cruz. He's best known as the author of Anybody's Bike Book, the first massive best selling bicycle repair book. Tom worked at the Bicycle Center on Mission Street (now known as Sprockets), and went on to write great owner's manuals for Apple computer users.

By the time of the 1984 NorCal District Championships and National Championships, which were held less than a mile from my house, on the University of California at Santa Cruz campus, I was competitive - not the highest level, but close. At the Districts, which were held in Tilden Park in Berkeley, the venue for the first National Championships back in 75, I finished 7th and ahead of two former national champs. But, the Nationals on my hometown course had a surprise in store for me.

Besides being part cyclist, part runner, the other thing that suited me about cyclocross was the mechanical aspect. Cross is really tough on bikes and if you're not keeping up with mechanical issues, you'll breakdown and have to switch bikes or wheels during the race, which can ruin your chances of a top finish. While I witnessed broken seatposts and handlebars, endless flat tires, crunched wheels and bent forks at the races, in my three seasons of cross I didn't have so much as a flat tire.

Nationals: L-R: Steve Tilford, Laurence Malone, Roy Knickman

And, then came the Nationals, the biggest stage of my cycling life until then. Because I had finished top 10 in one of the toughest Districts races in the country, I was allowed to stand in the front row at the start. To my left was 5-time National Champ Laurence Malone. To my right was Roy Knickman, just a famous name to me.

I had raced with Laurence many times and even wrenched on his race bike. He was one of the first guys to give me racing, training and equipment advice. He told me to ride a harder gear than on the road so that I could take my weight off the saddle and float over the bumps. He taught me how to dismount to hit the ground in full stride. He helped me, sure, but, I never kept up with him in the races. And standing between him and Roy, I was so nervous and excited that I thought I would explode if they wouldn't hurry up and start the race.

Dan Nall, Dave McLaughlin, Greg Foy and me - somewhere way back

The start was at the base of UCSC, at the top of Bay Street. If you've been there, you know there's a plush lawn to the right. We started there, turned right, blasted up the road and then veered left onto the grass track around the campus course.

The worse obstacle was a log pile seemingly going up into the sky that we had to run up each lap. But I knew the course well and was ready to fly up the opening hill and stick with Laurence and Roy for as long as I could.

In my dreams. They started us and I hit the gas as hard as I ever have and snapped my right pedal clean off! Unbelievable. I only had one choice: shoulder my broken bike and run a half lap to the pits to retrieve my back-up from my mechanic Scott Terriberry. Somehow, I managed to get there, leaped onto my second bike - an old junker 10-speed I'd modified - all my money in my now-crippled custom cross machine. It was at least rideable and I was able to start racing. It took Scott 3 laps to borrow a pedal off a spectator's bike to get me back on my Oxford.

But I was far behind the leaders and in danger of being pulled. Every lap, I could hear the officials yanking riders just a little ways behind me and I battled to keep passing and moving up. My ugly start and the tough course helped me. As I got rolling, some of the guys in front started to tire and I moved further up in the field. In the end I finished 16th and only 25 guys finished the race. Steve Tilford won in dominating fashion lapping almost everyone in the race at least once. He's still racing and winning.

To keep the memories of those classic cross races back in the day alive, I've put a page about them up on my website with more photos and commentary. It was a different type of cross racing back then - more mud, more obstacles, lower-tech bicycles - but it was just as much fun as it is today. One of the biggest differences is that there are now cross racing series across the country and American riders are even successfully competing against the stars of cross in Europe. That's fantastic.

Have a great ride,
Jim

More Lights: Early Bicycle Lamps

To enlighten you a bit more, here are a few cool vintage bicycle light items from the early days. It's fun to think that even in the 1890's - years before automobiles were being mass produced, we wanted to ride at night and see and be seen. And, the vintage lights that illuminated the way via an elegant orange beam created by a burning wick, were as magnificent as the lovely bicycles that carried them.

Behold the 20th Century 1898 Model (note that they call it a "Driving Lamp," cyclists being the first drivers).

 

Next is the same model, but here they show an alluring nighttime riding scene depicting the powerful Model 1898, "splendid in its improvements," allowing the cyclist to make good use of the half of his cycling time that's dark.

These vintage lights were built to last and they're not that hard to find and quite collectible. Here's a Union Lamp Company William's Globe made around 1897 courtesy of Transport Collectors Auctions. The vents on the top let the heat escape, while the jewel-like glass reflectors provide some side visibility. For fast and easy on/off, the lights' sprung mounts slid over a simple bracket found on the front of most bicycles at the time. The lens is a heavy piece of glass and it's also the door opened to light the wick.

From the same auction site, here's a bedazzling Bridgeport Brass Search Light ornately decorated to be as delightful during daylight as it was brilliant in the moonlight.

And, to demonstrate that the genuine item is as splendid as the bicycle ad for it, here's the illustration for the light shown in the photo above:

Hope you enjoy these treasures from days gone by, and have fun on your nighttime rides!

Jim

It's Time: Lighten Up Your Bicycle!

1930's Colba light bicycle ad

Not that kind of lighten up your bicycle... I'm talking about lighten up, as in adding lights to your bike to be seen and stay safe now that the time's about to change and it's going to be dark earlier for a lot of us.

It's important because, unless you ride only on brightly lit city streets, you can be just about invisible to drivers if you're bicycling at night without lights. We're so narrow and small that they have a difficult time seeing us even when it's light out.

At night, if they're passing us from behind and we aren't using lights, they won't see us until the very last second - if we're lucky. And, they'll also pull out in front of us or turn across our path for the same reason. Both highly dangerous.

 If you ever get stuck biking home in the dark without lights remember that you can't be seen and do whatever you have to to stay safe. For example, riding on the sidewalk, if that's your only option and no one's using it. Cheap flashlights purchased at a convenience store and duct taped to your handlebars and seatpost will work in a pinch and be handy at home too.

Fortunately, with advances in bulb and battery technology, bike lights have improved in leaps and bounds since the cool Colba light in the ad here was state of the art. So there's no good reason not to equip your two-wheeler with lights. Any bicycle shop will have bright, easy-to-install headlight and taillight setups to keep you safe. In fact, most department stores carry them, too, though you won't get the guarantees, spare parts availability and installation help if you need it.

Planet Bike's Superflash taillight and Blaze headlight is a nice example I have on one of my bikes. Using bright and super long-lasting LEDs (light emitting diodes), standard batteries and easy mounting clips, these lights go on and off in a blink (so they won't get stolen if you lock your bike downtown) and are bright enough to be seen and see. (I especially like that the taillight comes with mounting clips for the seatpost and seatstay so you can always find a spot to install it.)

But there are loads of light makers and an endless variety of bicycle lighting systems at all price points, so shop around, ask friends you ride with what they use, but light your bike up soon so you can safely ride right through the season.

See you on the road,

Jim

The Skeleton Peloton Wishes All A Happy Halloween!

Fellow pedalers, from deep within my dusty, spiderweb-shrouded bicycle archive of relics, here are some spooky skeleton cyclists dying to wish you a happy and haunted Halloween.

Talk about low body fat, strength-to-weight ratio and the courage to bury yourself - this doomed peloton powers down the road - unaffected by the wind whistling through their bones, floats ghost-like over the steepest climbs and bombs the descents with death-defying speed.

The 1904 Dawis rider on the left, "Skully," is the team fastman. With his razor-sharp elbows and massive rib cage there's no beating him across the finish line.

And, though "Grinning Boy" on his permanent podium, appropriately painted yellow, appears stuck in cement, his workman beginnings in Oaxaca, Mexico sculpted him into a top domestique up to the toughest tests. His springy legs can close any gap, he can drive the pace at the front relentlessly and is also perfectly delighted to tote bottles all stage long.

Then, we come to our merry band of pranksters, The Politicians drawn by satirist Jose Guadelupe Posada in 1890. Sure to strike terror in the heart of any competitor, this ghoulish gang is ready to dominate with trick aero helmets, cutting-edge framesets and wheels and even wings!  Have a great Halloween everyone!