Saddle sore after riding and cramps, always same place

I had two bike fittings and to be honest they didn’t help me much. I think it’s important to figure out what works best for you. If a fitter helps - even better. You can sit on your hands and try to feel your sit bones. Then just look up if your saddle is made for the distance. But if you had help there too, you should be on the save side.

I‘m just back from training and it was pretty warm outside. I had about a gram of Salt in a 750 ml bottle. I have to admit I was cramping a little too :grimacing: Not as bad as I used too though. Have to get used to the heat again I guess. Has been raining in Germany for the last weeks.

I didn’t know what it was until after it was mostly resolved. I just thought it was something I had to deal with and unrelated went in to get a bike fit checkup. The fitter had a saddle pressure mapping device and noticed I had some areas that reached very high peak pressures during the pedal stroke, and they lined up with exactly my problem areas. Through adjusting my fit the bursitis issues were mostly resolved, I found that article about it a couple of months later and then figured out what they were.

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How long after the fit adjustments did it resolve itself? I might be having the same issue. I’ve had a couple of saddle sores on the same spot during the winter. I’ve changed my bibshorts to completely new but that helped only slightly. Only recently I’ve figured it might be a saddle too high/leg length discrepancy issue.

I’d say immediately, but it is a little hard to tell. I would have a bursitis flare up every 2-4 weeks and now its more like a minor one every 3-4 months. Most of those are if I get sloppy on the trainer and spend too much time sitting up as it puts pressure on the areas that the fit changes moved the pressure off of.

I had a main fitting session and 2 follow ups. The main changes were in the first session, so that probably had the biggest effect for me.

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I went through this a couple of years ago. I was basically grinding a spot on my left side raw every ride. It would look like a saddle sore and feel like a pimple but it was just abrasion. Chamois cream would help. It was actually tolerable if I only rode 4 or 5 days per week but I had ramped up my mileage and was riding 6-7 days. That didn’t give the spot any time to heal between rides.

I tried 5 different saddles and different bibs. I had some luck with different saddles but the solution wasn’t 100%. Assos bibs really helped me.

Here was the real problem and solution -

After studying a lot of bike fit, I realized that I sit crooked and twisted counter clockwise on the saddle. Sitting to the right on the saddle “feels” square to me but if you look from behind the center seam of my bibs is 2cm to the right. By sitting to the right, my left side is closer to the saddle and that is where I was getting the saddle sore.

My solution was to pick my butt up and sit it dead square on the saddle so that the center seam of my bibs is lined up with the center of my saddle. At first this felt terrible but now it feels ok. I no longer get any chaffing in that area and no longer use chamois cream every ride.

I also feel that I’m still slightly twisted. If you are looking down from the top my whole body is rotated counter clockwise a degree or two. This means that it feels like I have more reach to the bars with my right had. If I try to rotate back even, it feels super odd. The rotation though doesn’t seem to cause any problems so I’m not actively addressing it.

I also wanted to say that after learning all about this I started looking at all the other riders in my bike club. Most riders actually sit to the right or left of center. It’s rare when people sit dead center. The “worst” guy in my club sits 3-4 cm to one side. I say worst in quotes because he’s one of the fastest guys so it obviously doesn’t cause a functional problem.

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On the saddle-sore topic, I’m sure there’s a lot to be said for updating your fit, finding a better saddle, and a new pair of bibs. But these always struck me as major endeavors with nebulous odds. What I personally found made a world of difference as I bumped my volume up last year is to make sure my rear-end hygiene is beyond reproach. Any cruft left behind from a #2 is going to work it’s way around a wet shammy and it’s just a matter of time for it to migrate onto your personal friction spots. A bidet would be ideal, but a wet-wipe will do. If you want to live a little, spray some isopropyl or denatured alcohol back there to sterilize right before a ride.

This is what I was thinking as well. The most inexpensive “experiment” is to just use Noxema directly on the chamois (assos cream directly on skin is mostly a friction solution, and an expensive one at that. It wears off within minutes anyway). It may not be a friction. Might be just “on the ride” hygiene. Sometimes it’s just keeping it tidy. Noxema, FTW.

I would say based on personal experience and advice from multiple bike fitters, the number one cause of saddle sores, on the same side, is saddle height.

It’s possible your saddle is too high.

Lower your saddle. This fixed it for me overnight.

It wasn’t , bibs, saddle, chamois crème, hygiene etc etc. Those need to be on point too or you’ll still get them.

I now don’t even bother with chamois crème. I very rarely get a saddle sore. Maybe once or twice a year riding over 17hrs a week, year round. Previously, I had them constantly. When I do get one, it’s from being lazy with my hygiene after a long ride, because I’m tired.

Finally, the world tour pro tip for saddle sores. Buy a pack of Heavy Duty Elastoplast plasters. Put one on any new saddle sore after you’ve washed. Then, just leave it on until it goes away.

Yes I know, this sounds like madness, however it’s worked every time. I’ve never had to skip a single day. The plasters are very strong and stay on through showering etc. I didn’t come up with it. I heard it on a podcast with a world tour pro.

Game changer.

The cramp, that sounds much more complex. Cramps are not actually just hydration and electrolytes etc. Most cramps are simply from muscle strain beyond your current capabilities. This is why they usually appear in races or any harder than normal effort. Basically, your muscle loses control, because you smashed it. Normally, if you get one it’s because you are not adequately trained for the race, ride length etc. Or, never did any race simulations to truly push yourself.

Obviously, poor hydration and electrolyte consumption just exacerbate this.

If you’re routinely getting them in training, you’re either greatly extending yourself without adequate base training. Or, by significantly ramping up your duration of exercise, without doing it incrementally.

If you are doing that all appropriately, I’d look at position on the bike. Carefully check your cleats and alignment etc. Get a high level bike fit and make sure you do the required strength work, either in the gym or at home.

Long term road cycling is brutal on the body, it’s miles from a functional full body exercise. Without adequate off the bike work. We all, eventually break, especially older athletes.

Hope that helps.

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I had to look up plasters. :slight_smile:

Plasters (Aus) = band aids (US)

One thing to consider is that if you get the saddle sore in the same place every time then it’s a function, fit, abrasion issue. You need to address the fit, bibs, saddle and pedaling style to figure out why you always get the saddle sore in that spot.

I would agree that the saddle sore on one side is most likely caused by a saddle too high. Lowering the saddle helped me in this matter. However, I get a knee pain in both knees AND a debilitating lower back pain. And we aren’t talking about a huge change either. It is 1 cm down or back. I’ll try to find a sweet spot in this range but I am afraid there is none for me. I’m also trying shimming my sore side because that leg might be slightly shorter but it is a long process to say the least.