I got out this evening for an 18-mile ride on the Veloway, which was about all I could handle after the MS over the weekend. It was a good ride, just what I needed to ease back into the biking routine after the MS ride left me with a sore taint.
I’ve got a new pair of Sugoi shorts with the largest chamois pad I’ve seen. It didn’t seem to matter. I was struck by the fact that my bottom started complaining after about the same distance when I did the century ride last fall. It’s the soft tissue that gets sore — the perineum.
I’ve written before about my Specialized Alias saddle, and how much I like it. But I gotta say, after about 50 miles, my bottom starts to hurt.
So — it may be time to start rethinking the saddle. The Alias is firm, like a racing saddle. It could be that I need to go to something with a little more padding so that when I do longer rides, I come through them without any soreness. The problem is, how much (or how little) padding do I need?
I like to window shop as much as anyone. I’ve been attracted to the WTB line of saddles. Wilderness Trail Bikes seems to be primarily a mountain biking line, but they do have saddles for road biking. Most are reasonably priced, too. They carry a little more padding than I’ve presently got. Could be worth dropping a few bucks on one to test it out. Most retailers will take back the saddle after a reasonable try-out period.
The other thing that occurs to me is that I might need a real bike fitting. I’ve done some tweaking of my saddle position since I got the bike, so it’s not in the same place it was when they fitted me at the time of purchase. However, their fitting was rather cursory, and I wasn’t impressed with the process.
A shop in Austin is known for its fitting services, and the price is right, too. Any thoughts about new saddles vs. a professional bike fitting? Which way should I go?