Road Bike Persistent Saddle Sores & Numbness - UGH!
Warning to all those about to venture forward into the depths of my saddle sore issue - This is intimate and I am not shy in sharing details.
Top View: In 2015 I only rode my road bike. In 2015 I started to develop excessive numbness in my penis very early into rides. I also started to develop saddle sores on a consistent basis. I have been riding my bike for over 5 years and have not had these issues until now. In Jan 2016, I switched to my tri bike for a race and the problems went away. Post IMSA, I have gone back to my road bike and the numbness and a saddle sore have returned. Do I need a new saddle, a new fit, start wearing chamois cream???
Details: Kindly note the persistent SS & numbness are linked in that they started at the same time.
- I have been riding my current road bike (Pinarello Dogma) for 5 years.
- I have had a professional fitting for it post purchase.
- I have changed out my shoes and cleats post fitting
- I never had excessive numbness or SS
- My problems started about 1 year ago
- I started to have excessive numbness in my penis which sets in (consistently) 30' into a ride (that is very early for me as I could go 120' before something like this would set in ON THE SAME BIKE).
- My penis would go white-ish within 45' of a ride
- My penis goes completely numb within 60' of a ride
- I've started to develop saddle sores on the left and ride sides where my saddle contacts my bum.
- Usually it is one or two at a time.
- My saddle is 8+ years old - do I need a new one?
- Certainly I have lost flexibility in my hips and hammies - do I need a new bike fit?
- I ALWAYS ride in clean cylcing kits
- I ALWAYS shower < 20' post ride
- I do NOT use chamois cream
- I wear quality cycling kits only that fit me great.
- HELP ME PLEASE!
Comments
The numbness is probably from too much pressure on your perineum... New seat of position change?
Are your sores on the under carriage or on the flesh of your buttocks?
My recent issues were caused from my MTB... I had done 4hr rides on this bike/saddle set up before... But when I did a solid 3hr climb all hell broke loose... I got what I would describe as 2 blister's on my A$$ cheeks more than saddle sores... They were out on the flesh and not underneath...I rode the ROAD bike the next day and aggravated them even though it was a different saddle/position... Probably caused by rubbing on the wings of the saddle and not changing position for so long... I will be searching for a new MTB saddle in the future... My temporary fix was to allow a few days to heal, spent another week on road/tri bike saddles before venturing back to MTB... And then on my next really long MTB ride I wore a pair of UA boxer tights and then my bike shorts with chamois cream applied every where... This worked by providing two layers to move against eachother, but its not the real solution.
Tim - thank you for sharing man. I feel for you.
I will dive into the chamois cream world again. Hopefully this helps.
I am going to purchase a new saddle. I am leaning towards this being the issue. Given the location of my most recent SS (which I have named Jerome) I believe it is the wings of the saddle and the rubbing against the wings which are causing the problem. While Jerome has sprouted on my undercarriage, it is very close to the joining of my undercarriage and thigh. On my last ride, I could feel the friction on the wing of the saddle and Jerome becoming bigger!!
On a side note - I have had the blisters/skin abrasions before. But they have only been a function of when I go touring and I am on someone else's bike which doesn't fit me for 8+ hrs a day. I sympathies with you - as those are HORRIBLE!!
Another thing I've noticed is that a really thick chamois pad can cause numbness. Seems counter-intuitive. I find with the Cobb saddles that a thin pad are perfect.
Good luck!
I get a bike fit every season from a top quality fitter. Sometimes nothing has changed. Other times we adjust things a mm here are there and the change can be profound.
You can't just fight through issues like changing bike fit. No point in being a tough guy. Get it fixed.
FYI - If a new fit doesn't fix it. Try again with a new fitter.
Yes, you should use chamois cream of some sort. Ironically, what it will help do is "glue" your saddle to your taint, so that the friction is between your saddle and your shorts instead of between your shorts and you. This reduces sores and any other kind of infection-related thing. A lot. You didn't mention whether you wear bib shorts or regular ones. I STRONGLY recommend trying a pair of bib shorts. Again, the straps do JUST ENOUGH to hold the pad against your skin with less motion between the two to help a lot with saddle sores that are friction based.
This is separate from the numbness/pressure issue. I agree this is a matter of fit and saddle. It's not because your saddle is 8 years old, per se....just that it isn't fitting right. Given the central location of the blood vessels that feed your penis, you might look very carefully at the split saddles, or at least one with a big dent in the middle.