Backbone Skin Chafing/Irritation

[Dano]

I put on a lot of miles this past weekend and have noticed that my middle back area over the spine is really red and irritated from hours on the seat. My guess is that it is somehow being rubbed by the channel in the seat back that serves as a storage area. Is my body geometry unique or has anyone else experienced this? Are there solutions other than adding more padding in the channel area or smoothing out the channel edges?
Thanks!
Dano

 

[Mark B]

My frame is the older variety without the seat back cut-out, so I cannot comment on your particular issue. I will say that I occasionally get chafed in my lower back, as in right above my butt crack (TMI, I know). This happens after time off the bike, or on longer rides than usual. It goes away with time on the bike but will still flare up on occasion. It’s not unbearable, or anything that puts me off. It’s just a thing.

Tom Roberts has done some centuries on a Silvio with the cut-out like yours. Maybe he will chime in with his experience.

Mark

 

[John Zabriskie]

I've got the seatback cutout, but haven't experienced any chafing. However, I've stuffed a spare inner tube & patch kit in this region. The longest of my rides has been just under 85 miles.

You might try a 1/16" sheet of aluminum wide enough to span the cutout in the affected region, held in place with duct tape (as an experiment) or stick-on velcro for a more permanent solution.

 

[WhiteSilvio]

John Zabriskie wrote: I've got the seatback cutout, but haven't experienced any chafing. However, I've stuffed a spare inner tube & patch kit in this region. The longest of my rides has been just under 85 miles.

You might try a 1/16" sheet of aluminum wide enough to span the cutout in the affected region, held in place with duct tape (as an experiment) or stick-on velcro for a more permanent solution.

Hi John and Dano,
Having one of the original baker's dozen of Silvios, the seat back is solid. I am curious to see the newer seatbacks. Any chance of a picture?

I have a bit of a problem with my back, because of some medical reasons, and have a point on my back fairly low, T12/L1 region or 200mm up from the seat joint, that gets irritated, but not chaffed. I have put extra padding in to the seat, even enlarged the cover to do so. So now I have some medium density foam about 20mm thick and some light foam about 20 thick as well. Kept the base board but don't use the other mesh foam.

I have had a slot cut in the medium density foam up the middle, so that my spine is supported either side of the vertebrae, but I have to say after 240km over the Easter weekend, including a 120km ride, I am toying with increasing the thickness and density type of foam, as the trouble spot did get a bit sore.

John.

 

[Tom Roberts]

I have never had any problems with the cutout in the seat back while riding. This is not an issue for me. As for the seat pan, I do experience some numbness/pain in my tail bone after about 50 miles. What I have done as a kind of solution is to use a thicker piece of foam than comes with the bike and cut a "U" shape where the seat pan meets the seat back to alleviate some of the pressure. This helps some, but is not the total solution. I'm still looking for that. Maybe it will be a Vendetta.

 

[Dano]

As a temporary attempt at a fix, I used a couple of layers of duct-tape over the opening. I didn't notice any discomfort on my 10 mile one-way commute to work this morning, but that may not be enough miles for me to notice.

 

[Dano]

John wrote:
Hi John and Dano,
Having one of the original baker's dozen of Silvios, the seat back is solid. I am curious to see the newer seatbacks. Any chance of a picture?

Here you go - I found it on Nanda's site. It's long, narrow and not too deep, but continues on down out of site partially underneath the seat pan. If you put something down inside, you will likely have to turn the bike upside down to get it out! I have a spare tube in there now.

 

[WhiteSilvio]

Hi Dano,
Thanks for the picture of the seat back.
Wasn't quite what I had pictured, so it is interesting to see the layout.
John R.