Nirmala
Active Member
It was a perfect storm of factors that made my butt burn:
1-I have no built in padding down there, and any prolonged sitting can be a challenge for me
2-The Magnum Ui5 has a fairly upright city bike riding posture which puts more weight on my sitz bones.
3-The electric motor of course means that I am usually traveling at a higher speed and so hitting the bumps that much harder
As a result of the above, even though I was smiling during every mile because riding an ebike is so much fun, my butt was not smiling after just a few miles. But being a gadget/accessory freak, I figured there must be a solution. My first change was to buy this Bell Memory Foam saddle: http://amzn.to/1LOfDC7 It is much better than the stock saddle on the Ui5.
Then I bought a ST (short travel) Thudbuster ( and that was even better....but still not enough comfort for my skinny butt. So I upgraded to a LT Thudbuster: http://amzn.to/1iAzbzx (note this is the 27.2 diameter version that fits the Ui5, it is also the longer 450mm one that gives more seat height if needed), and the shorter ST Thudbuster went on my wife's bike. She noticed the difference even though she does not tend to get sore.
The Thudbusters really help with the bigger bumps if you do not see them coming and so do not manage to stand up over the bumps. They do add some height to your saddle, so make sure you can fit them between your frame and the seat. The ST is shorter and so easier to fit in this way, but I needed some extra seat post length anyways for the Ui5 so it was no problem for me to fit the LT version.
I still felt it after a long ride, and so I tried some of the usual other solutions, including a nice pair of padded cycling shorts: http://amzn.to/1Q8LaBS Again, these helped, but after 10 miles or more, I was still a hurting puppy.
Then I found something that seems to have made the biggest difference. For a while now I have been using the seat cushions made by Ergo21 in my car and on my office chair: http://amzn.to/1RVLkvc As I said, prolonged sitting is tough for me and these cushions really make a noticeable difference. Several friends have tried them and found them to work well.
Well it turns out that Ergo21 has just come out with a new bicycle seat cover that incorporates the liquid layer of their regular seat cushions to prevent pressure points: http://amzn.to/1k80p27 It is a fairly thick cushion that sits on top of the saddle as shown here (again adding a bit of height):
The small seat cushion is still pretty large and fits a larger cruiser saddle like the Bell saddle linked to above, which it happens to fit perfectly. The large version is gigantic and only suitable for some really big exercise bike seat or the like. Even the small would probably not work as well with a narrow racing saddle.
This cushion has really made a difference for me. I just rode 20 miles this morning and while I can still feel my butt a little, it is way better than usual. Thank you Ergo21!
One note: I discovered that the Ergo21 cushion works better without my padded shorts. It seems the liquid layer works best if there is not any additional padding on top of it.
I never know when to quit, so I am also trying some adhesive backed Sorbothane: http://amzn.to/1lmlHcH between the saddle and the Ergo21 cushion. I am not sure if I can tell anymore if there is any further improvement, but I am happy just thinking I am getting even more cush for my tush. I put two three inch circles in two layers of the 1/8 inch sorbothane on my saddle right under both of my sitz bones.
Not everyone would need all of the measures above, but maybe someone else will benefit from one or more of my solutions.
PS: I also picked up a pair of fingerless gloves with some sorbothane built in: http://bit.ly/1Qo8618
They are very thin, so I wear them under my regular cycling gloves for some added comfort up front also.
For more info about sorbothane:
1-I have no built in padding down there, and any prolonged sitting can be a challenge for me
2-The Magnum Ui5 has a fairly upright city bike riding posture which puts more weight on my sitz bones.
3-The electric motor of course means that I am usually traveling at a higher speed and so hitting the bumps that much harder
As a result of the above, even though I was smiling during every mile because riding an ebike is so much fun, my butt was not smiling after just a few miles. But being a gadget/accessory freak, I figured there must be a solution. My first change was to buy this Bell Memory Foam saddle: http://amzn.to/1LOfDC7 It is much better than the stock saddle on the Ui5.
Then I bought a ST (short travel) Thudbuster ( and that was even better....but still not enough comfort for my skinny butt. So I upgraded to a LT Thudbuster: http://amzn.to/1iAzbzx (note this is the 27.2 diameter version that fits the Ui5, it is also the longer 450mm one that gives more seat height if needed), and the shorter ST Thudbuster went on my wife's bike. She noticed the difference even though she does not tend to get sore.
The Thudbusters really help with the bigger bumps if you do not see them coming and so do not manage to stand up over the bumps. They do add some height to your saddle, so make sure you can fit them between your frame and the seat. The ST is shorter and so easier to fit in this way, but I needed some extra seat post length anyways for the Ui5 so it was no problem for me to fit the LT version.
I still felt it after a long ride, and so I tried some of the usual other solutions, including a nice pair of padded cycling shorts: http://amzn.to/1Q8LaBS Again, these helped, but after 10 miles or more, I was still a hurting puppy.
Then I found something that seems to have made the biggest difference. For a while now I have been using the seat cushions made by Ergo21 in my car and on my office chair: http://amzn.to/1RVLkvc As I said, prolonged sitting is tough for me and these cushions really make a noticeable difference. Several friends have tried them and found them to work well.
Well it turns out that Ergo21 has just come out with a new bicycle seat cover that incorporates the liquid layer of their regular seat cushions to prevent pressure points: http://amzn.to/1k80p27 It is a fairly thick cushion that sits on top of the saddle as shown here (again adding a bit of height):
The small seat cushion is still pretty large and fits a larger cruiser saddle like the Bell saddle linked to above, which it happens to fit perfectly. The large version is gigantic and only suitable for some really big exercise bike seat or the like. Even the small would probably not work as well with a narrow racing saddle.
This cushion has really made a difference for me. I just rode 20 miles this morning and while I can still feel my butt a little, it is way better than usual. Thank you Ergo21!
One note: I discovered that the Ergo21 cushion works better without my padded shorts. It seems the liquid layer works best if there is not any additional padding on top of it.
I never know when to quit, so I am also trying some adhesive backed Sorbothane: http://amzn.to/1lmlHcH between the saddle and the Ergo21 cushion. I am not sure if I can tell anymore if there is any further improvement, but I am happy just thinking I am getting even more cush for my tush. I put two three inch circles in two layers of the 1/8 inch sorbothane on my saddle right under both of my sitz bones.
Not everyone would need all of the measures above, but maybe someone else will benefit from one or more of my solutions.
PS: I also picked up a pair of fingerless gloves with some sorbothane built in: http://bit.ly/1Qo8618
They are very thin, so I wear them under my regular cycling gloves for some added comfort up front also.
For more info about sorbothane:
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