Can someone please explain the design of bicycle seats to me?

Megabeth

New member
I'm talking about the thin, weirdly-shaped "saddle" type seats they use for mountain bikes. I've got to be sitting on it wrong, or doing something wrong, because I don't remember hurting like this after a bike ride as a kid! Is there some secret to finding the right bike seat, or am I maybe sitting on it wrong? My bike is about 11 years old, last night was the first time I've been on it in about 6 or 7 years, and I have one of those gel seats but it's pretty narrow. Gel or no gel, my butt is bruised today; what happened?!

I'd really like to get out and ride more often, but not at this price.
 
Not all seats are designed like this - those seats are for performance riders. For comfort you can find seats in various designs, widths, and padding levels, so you should buy one that suits your purposes and comfort. My mountain bike is a racer, but I don't actually compete, and the first thing I did was change that narrow, hard seat to something a little more comfortable. And just because it's a mountain bike does not mean you need a mtb seat - my buddy replaced his with a cushy bmx seat. Good luck.
 
You need to go through butt training rehab. Take shot 20 min rides until you get use to the saddle again and build us some muscles.

http://sheldonbrown.com/pain.html
 
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