Sit Bone Pain From Cycling: Why It Happens and How to Fix It for Good

By Luke Daugherty / December 31, 2025

Your sit bones are built to support you, but they’ll only tolerate so much. Plant them in a car for a long road trip, and you’ll be squirming for relief by the end.

The same thing happens — often much sooner — when you try to pedal the distance on your bike. You start out feeling strong and enjoying the thrill of the ride, but before long, that familiar ache or throb in your buttocks sneaks in to take the wind out of your sails.

For many experienced distance riders, sit bone pain and cycling go hand in hand. The discomfort is just the painful price you pay for putting in the miles.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

That ache in your butt isn’t an unavoidable side effect of riding; it’s a sign that your sit bones and your bike saddle aren’t getting along. And it only takes a few simple changes to get rid of cycling sit bone pain for good.

What Sit Bones Are (And Why They Hurt on a Bike)

Your sit bones — technically called the ischial tuberosities — are the two bony points at the base of your pelvis that support your weight when you sit. You feel them on a hard wooden chair or a long car ride. And when they’ve had enough, they let you know it with a familiar, low-grade ache. In more clinical contexts, irritation around this area is sometimes referred to as ischial bursitis. But for cyclists, it shows up in a much more specific way.

When you climb onto a bike, your sit bones have to carry your bodyweight on a much smaller surface than usual. Instead of spreading your weight across a wide seat as you would in a chair, you’re focusing it onto a narrow saddle.

As a result, riders complain that their sit bones hurt from cycling for all sorts of reasons:

Pressure: Your sit bones experience constant stress in the same spots.
Movement: Your pelvis rotates a little bit with each pedal stroke, creating friction or hot spots as the miles add up.
Angle: If the saddle is too high or low, or pitched too sharply, it can put more pressure on your sit bones or concentrate it unevenly between the two sides.
Adaptation: When you add more rides, pedal longer, or switch to a new saddle, your tissues need time to adjust. Discomfort that lingers or worsens usually means something is off with your setup.

Before we go further, let’s clear up a common misconception: sit bone pain and saddle sores aren’t the same thing. Sit bone pain comes from pressure on your ischial tuberosities. Saddle sores are skin-related issues resulting from friction, moisture, or blocked follicles. If that’s what you’re dealing with, you’ll want to take a different approach.

For this guide, we’re focusing on sit bone pain from cycling specifically — what causes it, how to fix it, and how the right saddle can change the equation entirely.

Common Causes of Sit Bone Pain in Cyclists

While your sit bones are built to handle pressure, certain on-bike factors can make that pressure uneven, excessive, or simply unsustainable. Most riders who struggle with sit bone pain can trace the issue back to a handful of predictable causes.

A Saddle That Doesn’t Properly Support Your Sit Bones

A lot of riders assume sit bone pain means their bike saddle is the wrong width, but that’s really only a starting point. What usually causes discomfort is how the saddle handles pressure, not the raw measurement of sit bone width.

If the saddle is too rigid or doesn’t move with you, your sit bones press into the same fixed points with every pedal stroke. The result is predictable — as with any repeated, concentrated force, it soon leads to a bruised or aching sensation.

Endurance saddles that flex freely are made for more natural weight distribution. Instead of forcing your sit bones to adapt to the saddle, they adjust to you, minimizing pressure on your sit bones. If your sit bones hurt even on moderate rides, there’s a good chance the problem isn’t saddle width, but a lack of supportive flex.

Excessive Padding That Eventually Collapses

More padding sounds more comfortable, but that often doesn’t prove true on a bike. Soft, heavily padded saddles tend to feel good at the outset, but they eventually compress under your weight and create pressure points around your sit bones. As the padding collapses, your weight sinks in unevenly, worsening pressure instead of relieving it.

Tensioned leather saddles use a completely different design. Rather than squashing under load, they provide firm support with controlled flex, allowing your sit bones to settle naturally. You’re not sitting on a hard platform, but resting on a natural hammock of firm but forgiving leather. Over long rides, that distinction matters more to your sit bones than initial softness.

Incorrect Saddle Height or Tilt

Saddle height and tilt won’t usually cause sit bone pain on their own, but they can make it worse. A saddle set too high often leads to subtle pelvic rocking as you pedal, which shifts pressure from side to side and increases friction at the contact points — a recipe for bruised sit bones when cycling.

Tilt can have a similar effect. Even a small downward or upward angle can push pressure away from your sit bones and onto softer tissue, or concentrate it unevenly between the two sides.

Not Enough Time for Your Body to Adapt

Even with a good saddle and solid setup, your body still needs time to adapt. When you ride more frequently, extend your miles, or switch to a new saddle, the tissues around your sit bones have to adjust. Some initial soreness is normal during this phase.

That said, adaptation-related soreness should fade as your body adjusts. If your sit bones feel worse with each ride — or never seem to improve — it’s usually a sign that something in your setup isn’t right, not that you just need to “toughen up.”

Poor Riding Posture or Core Fatigue

As rides get longer, posture tends to slip. When your core fatigues, you’re more likely to slump or shift your weight backwards onto the saddle. And — yep, you guessed it — that just increases the pressure on your sit bones. Posture changes can also put more load on one side, creating uneven pressure that gradually turns into discomfort.

This is especially common on long endurance rides, indoor training sessions, or late in the season when fatigue accumulates. Maintaining a stable, supported position helps balance the pressure and take the strain off your sit bones.

How to Relieve Sit Bone Pain From Cycling

We’ve established that most cases of sit bone pain stem from a mismatch between your body and your bike. Addressing that discrepancy is the key to lasting comfort, and it usually takes a few targeted adjustments, not a complete overhaul.

Here’s how to relieve sit bone pain from cycling with a more supportive setup.

Step 1: Choose a Saddle That Supports Your Sit Bones Correctly

If sore sit bones are holding you back, saddle choice matters more than anything else. And again, the goal isn’t to add cushion, but to support your sit bones without increasing pressure.

When evaluating a saddle, focus on features that promote long-term support:

Controlled flex, so the saddle moves with your pedal stroke.
Independent side-to-side movement, which helps spread pressure out evenly.
Firm, supportive surfaces that don’t collapse under your weight.
Minimal padding, which often causes pressure in the long run rather than relieving it.

Step 2: Fine-Tune Your Saddle Position

While saddle choice is a key first step to relieving painful or bruised sit bones from cycling, it’s not an automatic fix. You still have to set your saddle up for you. Even if you don’t get a full bike fit, attention to a few saddle positioning details will set you up for maximum comfort.

Adjust saddle height: A saddle that’s too high can increase side-to-side movement, while one that’s too low can put more of your weight on the saddle and concentrate pressure in one spot. Set your saddle for smooth pedaling without rocking.
Adjust saddle setback: Moving the saddle slightly forward or back changes how your weight is balanced between the saddle, pedals, and handlebars. It only takes a minor shift to reduce sit bone pressure.
Adjust tilt by 1–2 degrees: A subtle tilt can relieve pressure without forcing you to slide forward or brace with your arms. For most stiff-framed saddles, you’ll want a slight downward tilt. However, Selle Anatomica saddles should be tilted upward by just 2-3 degrees.
Check handlebar reach: Reach affects how your weight is balanced on the saddle. Too long can shift pressure forward; too upright can overload the sit bones. A balanced handlebar position helps keep pressure evenly distributed between the seat, pedals, and hands. Note, this should always be your final adjustment — never move your saddle to adjust handlebar reach!

While it’s possible to tackle all of these issues at once in a bike fit, you can also make one adjustment at a time and test it over a few rides.

Step 3: Allow for a Break-In Period (and Manage Early Discomfort)

Some saddles — especially traditional tensioned leather designs — require a true break-in period before they begin to feel comfortable. During that time, the saddle slowly stretches and conforms to your body. The end result is pleasant, but it may take weeks of inconsistent support and lingering sit bone soreness to get there.

If you’re riding a saddle that requires break-in, keep early rides shorter and avoid back-to-back long days. Lasting or worsening pain is a sign the saddle may never fully match your anatomy.

Pro tip for immediate comfort: Even some of the most popular leather saddles still have a lengthy break-in period before they’re fully comfortable. Selle Anatomica’s saddles are engineered to deliver immediate comfort with no break-in required.

Step 4: Use Short-Term Sit-Bone-Pain-Relief Techniques

The adjustments we’ve discussed are the best ways to get long-term relief when your sit bones hurt from cycling. Still, if you’ve irritated or bruised your underside, you may want to try some additional measures to speed up the healing process:

Space out longer rides: Give irritated tissue time to recover instead of stacking long days back to back.
Limit time in one saddle position: Adjusting your posture can help you avoid hot spots before they build into pain.
Change position regularly: Standing briefly on climbs or when you get uncomfortable can relieve sustained pressure and give your butt a break.
Take time out of the saddle: Persistent soreness is a signal to ease off the miles, not simply press on.

When to See a Doctor

Sit bone pain from cycling doesn’t typically represent a serious health concern, and it will usually resolve fairly quickly when you take the necessary steps. Consider checking in with a medical professional if:

Pain persists even when you’re off the bike.
Discomfort is sharp, sudden, or worsening rather than improving.
You experience swelling, numbness, or tingling that doesn’t fade after riding.
Your skin has significant cuts or splits.
Pain affects everyday activities such as walking or sitting.

If symptoms don’t improve with rest and setup changes, your healthcare provider can help rule out other issues.

How the Selle Anatomica Saddle Helps Relieve Sit Bone Pain

Given how much time serious cyclists spend in the saddle, manufacturers have gone to great lengths to design bike seats that balance support and comfort. But in our experience, the mechanics of pain-free riding are fairly simple: You need a saddle that supports your sit bones without fighting the way your body moves.

That’s the basic idea behind every Selle Anatomica saddle. No thick padding. No rigid shells. Just a tensioned leather top that forms a natural, supportive hammock to spread out the pressure evenly while you ride. Our unique leather process eliminates the break-in period, and our patented flex-fly slot design helps the saddle freely respond to every pedal stroke.

We didn’t just build the best bike saddle for sit bone pain — we set out to help riders forget about saddle discomfort entirely. Over two decades, riders have relied on this approach to stay comfortable over long miles.

Learn more about the many benefits of our proven design.

Cycling Doesn't Have to Be a Pain in the Butt

Sore sit bones may be a common malady for cyclists, but they don’t have to be inevitable. In most cases, discomfort is a clue that something is wrong with your setup — not a sign that you simply need to ride through the pain.

With the right saddle, a dialed-in position, and a setup that prioritizes support over softness, sit bone pain often fades away. When your saddle works with your anatomy instead of against it, the only thing that feels inevitable is pedaling another mile.

Don’t believe it’s possible? Try one of our saddles risk-free for 30 days.

FAQs About Sit Bone Pain From Cycling

Why do my sit bones hurt when cycling?

Sit bone pain usually comes from repeated pressure in the same spots. If your saddle doesn’t support your sit bones properly, pressure worsens with every pedal stroke, leading to soreness or a bruised feeling.

How long should sit bone pain last after cycling?

Mild soreness should fade within a day or two. If pain lingers, worsens, or shows up earlier on each ride, it’s usually a sign that your saddle or positioning isn’t working for your body.

Do padded shorts fix sit bone pain?

Not usually. Padded shorts can cut down on friction, but they don’t fix pressure problems. If the saddle underneath isn’t supporting your sit bones correctly, more padding often makes sit bone pain worse, not better.

What is the best saddle for sit bone pain?

The best saddle supports your sit bones without excessive padding and flexes with your movement. Saddles with suspended leather and flex will more evenly distribute pressure and stay comfortable for longer rides.

How do I relieve bruised sit bones from cycling?

Pressure is likely the issue. Try shortening your rides temporarily, adjusting your saddle, and avoiding back-to-back long days. If bruising keeps returning, switching to a saddle that better supports your sit bones is usually the best fix.

Photo by Angel Santos on Unsplash