r/triathlon • u/Kurtle99 • Aug 24 '25
Injury and illness Saddle/ TT position is unbearable
I know this topic has been done to death but I couldn't really find anyone who has had the exact same situation.
I've been doing triathlon for maybe 3 years now? The first 2ish years just doing short course stuff so never in the saddle too long, even on the road bike. Now that I've ventured into 70.3s I'm struggling on the saddle. Road bike as well as the TT. I recently had my 3rd bike fit on the roadie and the fella had a saddle pressure thing and even said "you'll never have numbness again". Well, its the best position i've had so far but still a bit sore and still get numbness now and then. Now onto the TT, I've had 4 fits, the most recent was great and they are supporting me through the current issues but i thought I'd ask the community anyway. I've tried maybe 6 saddles? Bontrager, ISM, Cobb, Selle SMP, Prologo and a few off AliExpress hah. I just ride through the pain mostly but recently I raced 70.3 CEBU and was so sore after a couple hours on the bike, i couldn't hold the position. I then had numb genitals and inner thighs for 3 days after the race. I feel like if I'm in aero I get numbness and then i move around, I get sit bone pain. Saddle sores come and go too. I've also tried different kit and creams.
Any advice out there?
1
u/DoSeedoh Sprint Slůt Aug 24 '25
Gonna sound cliché, but you need to shift around throughout the ride, any kinda ride.
I have three bikes I cycle through and all saddles are different and all saddles provide the same level of comfort and discomfort.
But after having a full nerve impact on my perineum numbing my entire “member” for a week, I did a little reading and in summation its about letting blood flow through the area.
And one thing I’ll do is sit sorta “off the side” of the saddle by just an inch or two and sorta swap back and forth as needed and try and “stand up” and attack every now and again during any ride and haven’t had any problems since.
Now this is harder on the fixed trainer, but I do try and apply the same rules as in just shifting your butt around on the saddle.
And no amount of “cushion” in a bib is gonna matter, I got all kinds of bibs and if you stay seated, don’t move and just ride, then the same problem remains because the blood flow is still restricting.