Advice to avoid numb bum

[Lycra Man]

My elder brother Tim is entering a charity bike ride only 11 days away. He has left it until now to ask my advice on how to avoid getting a numb bum. In his training rides, this seems to arise consistently by about 20 miles.

As far as I know he is wearing proper lycra shorts. He's on a full sus mountain bike (the ride is Vietnam to Cambodia, so I think that makes sense).

There's no time for him to harden off his bum by getting more miles in, so how can he mitigate the discomfort?

I can think of:
getting out of the saddle on a regular basis, to allow air and bloodflow
err..............  That's it.

It's not chafing, so it's not a shorts/pad/saddle mismatch.

Should he go for a firmer saddle or a mega soft and squishy one?

I thank you for your suggestions.

Lycra Man

[MSeries]

More time to get used to the interface, there is not cheap (quick) fix. Numb is surely OK though, not feeling anything is better than pain.

[Ian H]

Saddle much too low?

[Wendy]

Ahahahahaha!  Sorry, that's not at all helpful, but *smugness* over my low flying lounger.

[Kim]

If he doesn't have the time or the saddle to get it to work properly, stopping and tweaking the saddle adjustment before it gets really bad would at least give different bits of bum a go at sharing the numbness.

[mrcharly-YHT]

numb is wierd - never had that.

Gut feeling is that it's more likely to be due to either:

Too soft a saddle with a low saddle height (so no movement on the saddle, leading to numbness)

Or

Too high a saddle and something being pinched.

[vorsprung]

On the bike the weight is born on the arse, the hands and the feet

So, if your position on the bike is too upright and the bars are too high then there will be more pressure on the backside

If you pedal harder then there is less pressure on the backside and hands but on long distance events what tends to happen is that the legs get tired and as this happens the pressure shifts back to the arse.

I would guess that what is happening with your brother is that his bike fit is no good plus he doesn't have a "hardened" arse from doing the miles.

If you have an opportunity try a longer lower stem or move the saddle back 1/2 cm.  Like Ian says the saddle may be too low also

He has really left it a bit late for sorting this kind of thing out.  I am sorting out my bike fit for PBP, next August, now.

[clarion]

Yes, that's very good advice. vorsprung.  An inexperienced rider is almost certainly riding very upright, putting too much weight on their arse.

[YahudaMoon]

Remove the saddle. Not only will this solve the sore bottom problem it will also save weight on his trip.

[Biggsy]

Medium-firm saddle, and do as much experimentation with the saddle, seatpost and handlebar position as time and patience allows, in every direction, remembering that each couple of mm of adjustment makes a difference.

Shoes with stiff soles as well to more effectively counter the sinking into the saddle.

[jogler]

Remove the saddle. Not only will this solve the sore bottom problem it will also save weight on his trip.

Inserting a cork of an appropriate diameter in a strategically located hole will help to perch atop the seat post
HTH

[Lycra Man]

Remove the saddle. Not only will this solve the sore bottom problem it will also save weight on his trip.

Inserting a cork of an appropriate diameter in a strategically located hole will help to perch atop the seat post
HTH

Jogler and Yehuda Moon - thank you so much for those useful suggestions, I just spilt my coffee, laughing.

I know how to sort out and adjust pedal to saddle height on a road bike. Presumably on a MTB with suspension, you adjust once the rider has taken up suspension travel? Or is it different?

Lycra Man

[Ian H]

If it's a suspended rear triangle, the relationship between saddle and pedal remains the same. If it's a suspension seatpost then you're in trouble.

[Steve Kish]

Perhaps the simple solution at this late stage would be to try and just do a few strokes out of the saddle every few minutes.

[Wendy]

Really Steve!!!   

[clifftaylor]

How far is he riding?? Vietnam to Cambodia could be about a foot, or several hundred miles....

[Greenbank]

Most Vietnam to Cambodia rides do Ho Chi Minh City to Angkor Wat.

400km or so. 5 days of cycling.

[Lycra Man]

Most Vietnam to Cambodia rides do Ho Chi Minh City to Angkor Wat.

400km or so. 5 days of cycling.

I think this is his route. He's off in 10 days, and I'm seeing him tonight for a chat and to dispense my accumulated wisdom (Ha!).

So thank you for all your suggestions. Hopefully I can help him with some bike fitting on Saturday, if not before.

Lycra Man

[Canardly]

Really concerned 'bout this as could be very very uncomfortable a long way from home in hot and humid circs. Get a B17 and whack it on. Humidity sweat and exercise will do the necessary bum molding with a bit of proofide.

[CommuteTooFar]

It is important for a long distance saddle to be hard.  Soft saddles seem good for a short while only. Bottoms are not evenly hard.  With a soft saddles the hard parts of the bottom push the soft material aside which in turn push into the soft parts of the bottom constricting blood vessels resulting in numbness and pain.

[Crumbling Nick]

Is the "numb bum" to be taken literally, i.e. numbness in the sit-bones area.
Alternatively, is it a numb penis that he's suffering from, but is inhibited from putting it so explicitly.

The problem is that the solution to either of these is the worst possible treatment for the other.

[inc]

I don't think I have heard of anyone with a numb bum. Numbness is more usually pressure on the perineum and numb genitals which if he intends to ride any distance like that can have serious long term effects. If that is where he is getting numb then by lowering the saddle a little will put more weight on the sit bones and less on the perineum. If he is not a regular cyclist his position could be far from right.

[Lycra Man]

I saw my brother on Tuesday evening, and we talked through his situation. He's been riding for about a year, and done  a number of trail rdies in the UK, (the Tarka Trail in Devon/Dorset was one) and he's doing 25-30 miles in the Chilterns as training.

I think he will be OK is he gets out of the saddle from time to time, and they have mid-morning drinks stops and don't ride for more than 2 hours at a time. Daily mileage ranges from 30-58, or so, and most of the terrain across the Mekong Delta is flat.

I don't believe there is a hidden aspect of numb genitals. If there is, I can't help.

With no time to 'harden off' his seat, I advsied him to do what I did when I took on my first multi-day tour, which as to wear two pairs of shorts. <Opens can of worms> I know it is not the 'right' way, but he has no time to build up to it. It worked for me on the Paris to London ride, and may work for him. Thanks for all your suggestions.

Lycra Man

[Somnolent]

Used to get numbness even with saddles that had good reputation for long distance comfort.   My problem turned out to be sit-bones that were just too close together for even the narrowest of modern saddles.   The narrower Brooks saddles have been perfect.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Wereas mine are very far apart - woman's pelvis widths. I always get bone ache, feels like my pelvic bones are being forceably split down opposite sides of the saddle.

Perfect saddle for me would have a centre cut out to accommodate my man-bits-nerves, and a firm wide rear bit for my womanly pelvis.  Oh, and it would be made of Ti and cost 50p.