Got into the habit of using copious amouts of talcum powder in an effort to aid seat comfort. I’ve been riding very consistently for past couple of months and have very little seat problems.
I don’t use cycling shorts (I would if I didn’t need the money for other things) and I’ve got a basic air seat i.e. 20" tube and no foam.
Today I forgot the talcum powder and at the end of a two hour ride was pretty sore. Does anyone else rate it as useful? It’s difficult for me to tell whether seat improvements are down to talcum powder or just getting used to riding for a long time.
Finally! I can completely relate to the benefits of powder. However, using cornstarch has the identical results at a fraction of the price, you can by a gigantic bag in a bulk store for a buck or so.
Not about talc, but something you could try… I recently changed the tube in my airseat from a 20x1.75" to a 20x2.1" tube, and the difference is quite amazing. More like sitting on a pillow, less like sitting on an inflated hosepipe…
Purely out of curiosity (I’m intending on getting bike shorts AND airseat conversion), was your discomfort caused by chafing to the thighs or the err, more towards the middle?
Phil, do you find that your airseat is just kinder in general for both chafing and pressure? I always thought that airseats don’t offer much in terms of chafing protection…
Padded lycra bike shorts would aid both right? First by making it slipperier (reducing chafing), and tucking one’s family jewels out of the way? Right?
asqlerth
Purely out of curiosity (I’m intending on getting bike shorts AND airseat conversion), was your discomfort caused by chafing to the thighs or the err, more towards the middle?
mainly chafing.
The airseat helps a lot with the middle and the talc with chafing.
phil
Not about talc, but something you could try… I recently changed the tube in my airseat from a 20x1.75" to a 20x2.1" tube, and the difference is quite amazing. More like sitting on a pillow, less like sitting on an inflated hosepipe…
That wouldn’t have occured to me, but it sounds like a good idea.
I’ve not had much of a problem with chafing; the only time this has been an issue was when I first got my velo - a wider front than I was used to, wearing jeans, and riding pretty much all day… ouch! My legs were distinctly red after that.
With my airseat it’s not been a problem at all; the sides of the seat are quite smooth. I doubt the fact that it’s an airseat helps chafing any.
I find it’s pressure on the rear that makes it uncomfortable… just like cinema seats, you can only stay on the uni for so long before it starts to ache, and there’s not much fidgeting room on a uni seat. The airseat definitely helps in that regard.
I remember the first time I tried an airseat; Leo White’s, over the Malverns… it was like an armchair on wheel, it was perfectly comfortable even after the ride. For muni I wouldn’t be without mine!
onewheeldave.omayc@timelimit.unicyclist.com writes:
Got into the habit of using copious amouts of talcum powder in an effort
to aid seat comfort. I’ve been riding very consistently for past couple
of months and have few little seat problems.
Does anyone else rate it as useful? It’s difficult for me
to tell whether seat improvements are down to talcum powder or just
getting used to riding for a long time.
I think the only things that work for long rides are:
3. cycle shorts, esp the padded variety,
2. an air seat that’s “just right” (not too firm, not too squishy), and
most of all…
NOT riding on your nuts in the first place.
When I go for a ride of any appreciable distance, I always make an early
‘adjustment’ to ensure comfort thruout the ride. After a mile or more, I
probably have to readjust due to bumps and curbs encountered. These
adjustments tend to look a bit rude, but I prefer offending the occasional
passerby rather than sort-circuiting the wiring and possibly damaging sth.
When I’ve forgotten and THEN adjust things, the feeling is peculiar, like
pins and needles in a place you really DON’T want to feel pins and needles.
For certain long rides, some pain/numbness is almost impossible to avoid
(Mark, EUTers, and others, would you agree?). After the century, I really
never wanted to ride again (this feeling lasted a whole day). I felt a
milder version during a 45-mile ride, too. The numbness can be alleviated
with frequent breaks, but these can only do so much, and towards the end,
I wasn’t able to ride more than two miles at a stretch without a break.
Nuts are never a problem; I find that positioning the seat a little far back prior to mounting and then pulling it forwards before I put weight on it ensures that I avoid the unpleasant sounding ‘pins and needles’ that others have posted about.
I think you’re right about pain being impossible to avoid completley on long rides, but air seats and talcum powder delay its onset, and, though I’ve never used them, I’m sure cycle shorts would do the same.
