I’m hoping someone can offer some advice.
I love long distance cycling, and plan to do a 200 km brevet within the next year (with plans to do 300 km, 400 km and beyond as my schedule allows).
I’ve done 180 km+ and regularly ride 80 - 100 km+ at a time (multiple times a month).
My ass, hands, and legs are totally fine until around 130 km, then saddle pain creeps in.
I will admit that doing these distances on a folding bike with 20" tires isn’t ideal, and perhaps that’s just the limitation I have to work with. I do have a suspension seat post and wear padded shorts on those long rides, but again, everything is quite comfortable until around 130km.
Is this a bike fit issue? A padded shorts issue? A small tire issue?
I’ve done 250km on flat ground with a worn-in Brooks leather saddle and deer tallow rubbed all over my private parts to reduce friction.
I wore thin, skin-tight boxers and jeans and had absolutely no issues.
In my experience, I’ve never had a gel saddle I could ride comfortably over long distances. I either use a Brooks and normal clothes with a relaxed riding position, or a hard road bike saddle, padded bibs and padded gloves in a more aggressive position.
Thank you for sharing that! I’m using the Brooks C17 Carved (non-leather) and can get on with some long(ish) rides in comfort with just regular pants or non-padded lycra. But sweat causes me to avoid doing that, and I’ll go with padded shorts for long rides.
Perhaps I’ll need to explore other saddle options, although, I did settle on the C17 after going through numerous saddles when I first got my bike. My concern is that I’ll find a “comfortable” saddle, and won’t really know how it feels until I do a double century, then I’ll be stuck with an expensive item that can’t be returned.
Did you ever measure your seat bone width?
Yes, I do recall doing this when deciding which saddle(s) to look at last year. I do have thousands of KM on my current saddle and can go for <50km rides without padded shorts without any issues to speak of.