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52 comments
Sadly, your post not only rings true, it's a fairly typical approach to women in societies where men see themselves as superior and take the notion of 'mastery' far too seriously. I certainly don't think what you've described is a 'woman problem', rather it's an all too evident male problem!
It might be a "cycling culture" problem, because now that I think of it I remember when I was in a bicycling club, it seemed to be a sign of being a high level rider to have a very skinny, very hard bike saddle.
I could tell you are/were a legit cyclist right away simply because you used the word āsaddleā instead of āseatā. š.
Anyone reading this who is considering a bike or even a good stationary (peloton, etc)ā¦. Proper fit is everything. The best bike in the world with the wrong adjustments will leave you miserable. If you go into a bike shop and they arenāt asking you about intended use and taking body measurements to fit you properly, leave and go somewhere else.
See, that's one thing I do appreciate about spin bikes, they're so adjustable. Not just the seat going up and down, but it goes forward and back, and same thing with the handlebars.
I had that fitting process way back when. My results were that I have long femurs, lol. So my prescription was to move my saddle all the way back to achieve the proper knee angle, and then have a very short handlebar stem so that I wouldn't have an uncomfortable reach.
I am so thrilled you told the instructor exactly what the problem is for many women. It's about time someone paid attention to us.
Hugs!!
Oh, I don't know if they'll pay attention, haha! I'm just one person.
Maybe I should write a letter to the health club CEO and flatter him that since his chain is so large and powerful (i.e. lots of buying power šµšµ) they could exert their influence on the spin bike manufacturers to come up with a more flexible saddle setup.
Another good meme! Not sure if FB has been showing it to you but I keep getting ads for jewelry that says "be kind" and then hidden either on the reverse or inside, is the rest of the phrase "of a bitch"
I have not seen those ads, but now I want one!! Because I am trying to be kinder these days, but there's definitely still an inner bitch. š
Iām always Salty, defiant and non compliant!
Iām staggered that a spin class instructor doesnāt appreciate that one size does not fit all when it comes to bike saddles ā¦ perhaps heās not a cyclist just a fitness dude. I suspect thereās plenty of men who are suffering in silence as well thinking itās all part of the no pain no gain ethos. āNumb nutsā ( and whatever the female equivalent is!) isnāt fun or necessary with the right support
He said he'd been leading spin classes for over twenty years, so it's mystifying. Maybe as you say, he never gets on a bike outside of the gym? I suppose if you're only on the bike 45-50 minutes at a time and you're standing to pedal a lot of the time, you can get away with it.
Or maybe like you say it's the no pain no gain ethos - kind of a hazing of the newcomers to see if they keep coming back even with discomfort.
Doesn't seem like a great business model, though.
@smartasswoman No, not great, but itās the old supply and demand issue ā¦ if the classes are over subscribed ā¦ why change anything. As a keen cyclist back in the day I can confirm thereās a big difference between gym culture and road cycling culture. For me if I wasnāt going anywhere I didnāt see the point ā¦ it was more about being outside and exploring the countryside with mates than fitness per se, so anything that caused unnecessary discomfort got fixed pretty quickly!
Likely not news to you, but I doubt many men need to be reminded of just how uncomfortable a bike seat can become. š
Right. I'm thinking everyone must be uncomfortable on those damn spin bike saddles!
I have to admit in a normal spin class the participants spend a lot of time pedaling standing up out of the saddle - so maybe it isn't as much of an issue. That wasn't happening in the ARORA class because the instructor was trying to accommodate for most of the people being newbies.
That was very jerky of the instructor to be that way to you. He should have covered the mic if you are calling him over to tell him something.
As for the seat, have you tried to look into seeing if any company makes a slip on jell pack that slips over the seat?
That may be a good idea for some company to create if they haven't already. Just my observation.
I do remember when I used to attend spin classes regularly before, there were a couple of women who had those. To me they didn't seem like they would solve my issue - because they didn't make the seat any wider to provide support for my hip bones; they just made it softer. They probably helped for the people who just didn't like having a firm bike saddle.
@smartasswoman I haven't ridden a bike since I was a kid, so I wouldn't know. I would think that your situation would affect others and maybe someone would create something to ease that issue. If not than someone should create it, just saying.
Hmmm, interesting, I definitely want to see a picture! What a MacGuyver you are.
Sit bones ...huh. I always thought the seat was uncomfortable because my butt was so big. I never thought of the fact that my pelvic bones are wider spaced than a man's. Thanks for the info!
Don't get me wrong - my sit bones are widely spaced but I do also have a big butt, haha! And I suspect a wider saddle just provides better support for all of that mass, yanno?
As a personal trainer, I have to give my input. Any seated cardio exercise should be abandoned, unless theres a real medical reason (like back issues for example). The treadmill, stair climber, or even hitting a punching bag (with proper form and equipment of course) are way better for you. Bikes take away any impact, which is actually good for bone and joint health.
That's a good point. I've read articles about hard-core bicyclists - the kind of people who ONLY do that - suffering bone loss. But I do think cycling is great in a mix with other kinds of activities. Especially during outdoor riding weather. At this point my knees and ankles would really yell at me if I tried to do a two hour run or even a walk of that duration. Bike ride? No problem.
@smartasswoman As you imply it is very important to listen to your body, and I should have mentioned what you pointed out that it's always good to mix things up too. Although it may not have been super helpful, I hope what I said was at least somewhat helpful haha!
Have been members of gyms. Never have taken classes. Always more of move at own pace sort. Always walked when younger ran for cardio. Have never used gym cycles so haven't noticed. Great points.
When I was younger I was into step aerobics and so forth. For quite a while Iāve been more of the āindependent workoutā type like you. But the last couple of years Iāve been doing yoga classes and enjoying it.