# Ladies - Wife wants help with tailbone bruising



## bschoen (Apr 12, 2006)

Ladies,

I'm posting this at my wife's request. I've seen lots of "what's your favorite saddle" posts and don't want to confuse this request with those posts.

We've recently begun tandeming together (redundant - I know) and she is on her third saddle. The problem is that every one so far has caused her tailbone to be sore. She claims bruising, though I'm trusting her on that one.

In any case, here 's the question. If any of you have suffered this malady, what (in broad terms) did you find to be the key factor(s) in whatever saddle that eventually alleviated the problem? And - what brand/model saddle was that?

Thanks.


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## JayTee (Feb 3, 2004)

Are you sure it's her tailbone?

I can't see how a tailbone would even make contact with the saddle unless her reach is so screwed up that she's sitting military-style upright. Have you evaluated her reach to the bars and bar drop? Beyond that I'd suspect a saddle with way too much gel. The big cushy saddles push gel into all the wrong spots.


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## bschoen (Apr 12, 2006)

*Been fitted*

Thanks for the reply.

She was fitted at the bike shop and while I believe she may be a bit upright (very minor), there's no way she's riding in such an upright position that the problem is related to that. We continue to tweak her fit a little. She feels a bit cramped now (yes - that means she is a bit upright due to the reach beign a bit short) and believes that is due to the position of the new seat. I'll try moving it back a bit, but suspect that won't solve her "cramped" feeling. I'm more inclined to believe that the cramped feeling will be resolved if she lets me adjust her bars a bit. But (some sort of tandeming thing) the bars are hers - hands off unless I get permission.

She professes to finding this new seat a bit more comfortable than the previous one. But at the same time she also has difficulty distinguishing precisely where the pain is coming from. I've been thru the standard descriptions with her and suspect she may be confusing the "sit bone" muscle pain with the tailbone issue.:idea: 

I'll give her this - she is persistent. There's no quitting in her.:thumbsup:


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

bschoen said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> She was fitted at the bike shop and while I believe she may be a bit upright (very minor), there's no way she's riding in such an upright position that the problem is related to that. We continue to tweak her fit a little. She feels a bit cramped now (yes - that means she is a bit upright due to the reach beign a bit short) and believes that is due to the position of the new seat. I'll try moving it back a bit, but suspect that won't solve her "cramped" feeling. I'm more inclined to believe that the cramped feeling will be resolved if she lets me adjust her bars a bit. But (some sort of tandeming thing) the bars are hers - hands off unless I get permission.
> 
> ...


Guessing she just has to ride more to toughen up. No saddle is perfect.


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## mountaineer (Sep 26, 2005)

She may or may not like the idea, but(t) she needs to show you exactly where the pain/bruise occurs. If it is the "tail bone", that should be the coccyx, which is in the middle just in the top of her "crack". This area should not be making contact with the saddle. If it is more toward the "front" near her tender bits, or on the sides near the sit bones (ishial tuberosities), this sounds more typical for saddle fit issues.


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## JayTee (Feb 3, 2004)

Yup, I think that's the issue... that the pain may not be (indeed probably isn't) tailbone related. It is sit bone related (which is usually just a function of getting used to the saddle) or pubic bone related (is the saddle accidentally nosed up?).


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

JayTee said:


> Yup, I think that's the issue... that the pain may not be (indeed probably isn't) tailbone related. It is sit bone related (which is usually just a function of getting used to the saddle) or pubic bone related (is the saddle accidentally nosed up?).


Time to bring out Old Ed's Saddle levelling 2x4?


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## bschoen (Apr 12, 2006)

*Alas!*

I appreciate all the replies.

Done the leveling thing.

Bocephus: This tandem thing is clearly foreign to you. It was explained to me this way:
Rule #1: The stoker makes no mistakes.
Rule #2: If the captain even thinks the stoker made a mistake - refer to rule #1.
Same for marriage - by the way. I'm guessign you're single?  

She wants me to post - I post. Let the chips fall where they may.

I'll tell her what you all think - pretty much a repeat of what I said.


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## physasst (Oct 1, 2005)

bschoen said:


> I appreciate all the replies.
> 
> Done the leveling thing.
> 
> ...



Are you kidding?...Bocephus is a god among men...he's not only married, but he's married to a real hawt chica who waits on him hand and foot. She cooks him all of his meals, including breakfast in bed, and is at his beck and call for any needs at any time...


ALL HAIL BOCEPHUS...:thumbsup:


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

physasst said:


> Are you kidding?...Bocephus is a god among men...he's not only married, but he's married to a real hawt chica who waits on him hand and foot. She cooks him all of his meals, including breakfast in bed, and is at his beck and call for any needs at any time...
> 
> 
> ALL HAIL BOCEPHUS...:thumbsup:


Well not really, but I do ride a cruiser tandem with her and she doesn't complain about tailbone bruising.


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## Keeping up with Junior (Feb 27, 2003)

*Wrong Term*



bschoen said:


> ...in broad terms...


Using the term *broad* in a discussion of your wife's butt can never lead to a good result for you. 

Some rambling thoughts from our tandeming experience:

Cramped - could the cramped feeling be do to the nature of the tandem where she is feeling cramped just because she is so close to your back? Do not move the saddle back to create more room as it should be positioned in relation to the bottom bracket. 

Bumps - are you a good captain who smoothly guides the tandem around bumps in the road? Do you call out those bumps you cannot avoid so she can unweight herself from the saddle? Does your tandem have a suspension seat post and if so is there too much up an down motion in the seatpost? Do you have wider tires inflated to the proper pressure? 

Butt Breaks - typically on the tandem you do not get all those little butt rest you are used to on a single bike. Do you coast from time to time so she can relieve herself? Is she able to pedal standing up for some relief when needed? Do you stop every so often for a rest?

Single Fit - if her single bike fits properly and she likes the saddle on it have you duplicated the setup? Only duplicate the setup on her single if she truly has it dialed in. My wife does ride a bit more upright on the tandem than our single. One final thought on being upright, since she does not have to steer, shift, break is she _sitting upright_ more often, thus putting all her weight on her butt rather than splitting it between her saddle and the bars. 

Saddle - step one is to get her into some good cycling shorts with a womens pad that fit her own unique, delicate parts properly. Next is to be sure the bike is fit properly, particularly the saddle height, angle and fore/aft position in relation to the bottom bracket. When setting up saddle height be sure to adjust for longer cranks if applicable and also for the weighted height of the suspension post if applicable. Finally get a saddle that fits her body. NOT too much gel or cushion as this seems nice when you poke it with your finger but rarely works for actual riding of any distance. Also do not get too hung o up on women specific saddles if they do not fit her body. My wife is smaller and the womens saddles are simply too wide for her sit bones, she prefers a mens Selle Italia Flite Gel on her single and the tandem.


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## indysteel (Jul 21, 2006)

What saddles has she already tried and does she regularly ride on her own, i.e., is her butt already toughened up? I felt "seasoned" enough on my saddle--until this week. Last week was our first week of really good weather and I went from riding about 75-100 miles per week to riding 260 + miles over the last week. Needless to say, my seat is a little tender right now. 

I think Terry saddles are a good place to start. I like my Butterfly Tri-gel. In general, I think a firm saddle with a good pair of shorts is better.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Keeping up with Junior said:


> Bumps - are you a good captain who smoothly guides the tandem around bumps in the road? Do you call out those bumps you cannot avoid so she can unweight herself from the saddle? Does your tandem have a suspension seat post and if so is there too much up an down motion in the seatpost? Do you have wider tires inflated to the proper pressure?
> 
> Butt Breaks - typically on the tandem you do not get all those little butt rest you are used to on a single bike. Do you coast from time to time so she can relieve herself? Is she able to pedal standing up for some relief when needed? Do you stop every so often for a rest?


Good points. I've seen several stokers with suspension seatposts. This might help the butt soreness. Hopefully it won't lead to knee problems.


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## Keeping up with Junior (Feb 27, 2003)

*Poorly Adjusted Seat Post*



il sogno said:


> ...I've seen several stokers with suspension seatposts...


Often times these come with no directions on how to adjust and most LBSs lack the experience to adjust them properly. Like gel saddles, they _seem best_ when set soft with lots of cushion in the shop. But instead they create a lot of up and down motion when pedaling rather than being firmer and just smoothing out the bumps.


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## KayTee (Jun 24, 2006)

DH and I ride a road tandem on average about 1-3 times a month plus a cycling vacation each year. Would a different type or set-up of your wife's handlebar help change her position any so she's not sitting so upright? For example, I can't use a cowhorn bar on our tandem b/c I like to have more hand positions and riding the drops in a lower, more forward position helps take pressure off my sit bones. When you're both stretched out like that, she will need to have a fairly long saddle w/long rails in order to sit far enough back that her head's not up your butt. I prefer men's saddles b/c they are longer and wide saddles don't work for me anyway. On the tandem we both use the men's Terry Fly, and I have a crummy Tamer pogo-type suspension seatpost with not a lot of travel. The Fly is firm with a little more give than the SI SLR gel-flow saddle that I ride on my single bikes. I find that on the tandem the "give" helps, combined with butt breaks, lifting off the saddle if/when we can coast a downhill, and changing my position periodically (scooting back and riding drops, sitting up, standing and pedaling). The more you two ride together, the more comfortable she (and you) will be learning to change position without moving the bike. Good luck :thumbsup:


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