New rider confession: my butt hurts

I see I found a great place. You are all super helpful. Thank you.
 
I see I found a great place. You are all super helpful. Thank you.
It IS a pretty neat place. Please don't be shy. Feel free to participate!
 
It looks like a stolen BMX toy. Some eight-year-old kid is crying. It is sad. Saddle height: Rest the ball of your foot on the pedal. Heal up and your knee should be slightly bent when on the saddle. Then put your heal on the pedal. And your knee should be locked. That is how to set the seat post height. That config would be a ball buster. And it is true that over rough stuff you want to rise out of the saddle and ride it out with your knees.
 
I am 67, short and overweight (but improving by 18 lb since I started biking). My Trek Verve +3 came with a pretty good Bontrager saddle and I added a Redshift suspension post (lots of info on this forum about the benefits/disadvantages of various suspension seatposts). My riding position is pretty upright. I also added Redshift’s flexible stem, which helped reduce vibration to my hands. For sure, my butt hurt for a few weeks when I got the new bike as I hadn’t been riding in a while. I put a more padded seat on, then reverted back to the original after a few weeks as it became the more comfortable one.
I would still get a sore butt on some longer rides (I generally do 25 to 35 km daily) and last summer, I switched to a Brooks B17. It took a few hundred km to break in, but is now beautifully comfortable for me; I seldom notice any discomfort and no longer wear padded shorts.
As m@Robertson noted above, a Brooks isn’t for everyone, but for me it was the final piece. Getting close to 11,000 km on my bike now, so my butt is fully experienced :)
Still breaking in my Brooks B67. I got padded shorts and liners to assist me as my left butt sit bone really hurt. I swear I must have the weirdest anatomy for bike seats. It’s been a couple km so I’m hoping it is broken it soon!
 
Still breaking in my Brooks B67. I got padded shorts and liners to assist me as my left butt sit bone really hurt. I swear I must have the weirdest anatomy for bike seats. It’s been a couple km so I’m hoping it is broken it soon!
Do not feel bad if you eventually give up on the Brooks....I did and my only regret is that they are such handsome looking saddles. (-:
 
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I've found that a wide plush saddle combined with suspension seat post is the closest I can get to comfort and it's way better than the skinny saddle and seat post that came with the bike. I realize I could lean forward but prefer not too. 50+ years of doing carpentry work have taken a toll on my hands and I can live better with a little soreness in the backside which goes away as soon as I'm off the bike.
 
VINCIFER-folder-bike.jpg
 
Dave, That looks about right.
@Dmac, It is the underside of the Brooks that needs attention. Feel how it is rough along the underside? That means that it is absorbent. I take it off the bike and flip it upside down. Then I use glycerin from a drug store and rice bran oil. Alternating between the two as they soak in over a couple of days I may do 15 applications. Then it is ready to be put on the floor with weight applied with your heals at the sit-bone parts of the saddle. I finish with equine saddle products. Then it is ready to ride.
 
I'm new to all this, and I have logged a whopping 12 miles. :)

Having a ton of fun. Most negative aspect so far is - my butt. It hurts when I am riding.

Background - short, old guy, significantly overweight, about to cross over the threshold of 6 decades. I don't think it is my bike. My bike came with what appears to be a very nice seat.
But man, my butt does hurt, and it is keeping me from longer rides.

Will my butt break in :) , with this getting more comfortable?
Very common to have a sore touche if you are just starting back up riding. It will pass. Don't worry about buying a fancy seat-just give it 4 or 5 rides and you wont notice a thing...
 
Another vote for padded cycling shorts. I never ride without them. I also dislike Brooks saddles. After 400 miles I took it off my BMC and bought a padded road saddle on Amazon.
 
Can I buy my ischial callosities on AlieExpress.com? Are there any alternative websites that stock them?
I was butt hurt until I finally got a laugh.
 
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Interesting but 0 information to help decide which size to order.
You don't want silicone or gel padding it will make you sweat like a pig. Padded shorts are too important to buy some cheap version
https://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/pearl-izumi-mens-escape-quest-shorts?sg=1
 
You don't want silicone or gel padding it will make you sweat like a pig. Padded shorts are too important to buy some cheap version
https://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/pearl-izumi-mens-escape-quest-shorts?sg=1
Sweating in Maine along the mid coast area is usually not much of a concern. I have these in my cart at the moment.
 
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