Hamstring tendinopathy saddle recommendations

Hello,

I've been experiencing hamstring tendinopathy for about a year, 6 months of which I thought the problem was saddle position, bike fit etc. before realising it was an injury.

Currently in the slow process of recovering from it but want to give myself the best chance of riding a lot without a recurrence once it's healed and just wondering if anyone has had the same problem and whether they have any saddle recommendations.

Many thanks!

I don't think saddle is the issue. Its an overuse injury really.

How did you get the diagnosis?
Are you doing exercises for rehab?

Really any saddle that works should be fine, id suggest a bike fit with pressure mapping.

Hey - thanks for getting in touch.

Have had an ultrasound through the NHS for diagnosis but they’re obviously overloaded so mri unlikely any time soon.

Am now doing hamstring loading exercises; loading with straight leg then bent hip etc. Feel like I’m on the right track now after a while or not knowing what to do.

In the process of booking pressure mapping once things open up.

Sounds like I’m along the right lines if nothing else; thanks for the input. Really helpful.

Ultrasound is a good diagnosis method. As long as operator is good.

I had it. Just did exercises and avoided excessive loading (steep hills, hard efforts) for bit and no issues, kept cycling whole time.

If its hurting, I find the exercises can help to remove the pain. So try that. And just do them religiously. If you messed the tendon up it needs them to heal.

I'd expect months for it to be perfect. But should be good to go riding once you can sit.

Sorry for bumping an old thread but I’ve had hamstring niggles for the last year on and off, which have gotten a bit worse recently. Prior to that I’ve never had any issues with hamstrings at all. I’d put the pain at about a 3/10 but there is a dull ache with occasional sharpness on both hamstrings that moves around but tends towards the upper part of the hamstrings. I feel it both on and off the bike but it is intermittent rather than constant.

I didn’t think it was bike fit related as I’d previously had a bike fit with bike whisperer back in 2019 and was all good, though seeing a recent Cyclefit trained physio and fitter about my hamstrings they took a look at me on the bike and using dart fish cameras etc said I was “way too high” and dropped my saddle height by 2cm… from 80.2 to 78cm. They were confident that would lead to improvement but that was about seven weeks ago and I’ve still not noticed much improvement, I don’t know how long adaptation should or could take. I’m far from London nowadays and struggling to find somewhere down in the southwest to get ultrasound imaging done, but am at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. I don’t want to do anything that exacerbates anything but would also like to keep riding, something in line with the advice of various physios I’ve spoken to.

I’ve been doing some single leg bridges and some hamstring extensions on a Swiss ball, I was stretching but have read mixed things about how this can actually exacerbate hamstring pain.

I am still able to ride - for example I recently did a 240km ride with 4000m of climbing and was alright. I’m currently knocking back a bit on climbing and trying to take it easy with riding more on Zwift than out in the relentless hills of Cornwall. For context I typically ride 250km a week with 4000m of climbing, though I’ve been doing much less climbing recently, more like 500-1500m. I’d value any advice or experiences from anyone who’s suffered similar, I found the above posts really helpful.

TLDR: Injuries suck.

Thanks in advance

How do you describe "hamstring" niggles? Tight and prone to cramping? Possibly sciatica?

I had what I thought was hamstring issues after my back surgery. It too me a few years but I worked out that is was not muscle tightness but a continuation of nerve issues. I do neural flossing and it made a 1000000% difference. Quite a few explanations on YT for how to do it.

Yeah hamstrings are tight whilst hips are very flexible. I don’t ever have cramp. I was having some lower back pain though that has gone since dropping the saddle. In general I’m pretty flexible; I’m 6’2 and ~65kg so lanky and lean.

I saw the bike fitter again today who dropped my saddle a month or so ago and he was at a bit of a loss as to why there was no real improvement. In the spirit of trying to eliminate factors we went back from my unpadded SMP Composit to a padded SMP Evolution to see if that might make a difference as I rode with the evo fine for a long time before the hamstring issues, the hamstring issues came on when I started chucking a Composit into the mix on a second bike; this could obviously not be of any significance, though there was a wonder if there might be compression from the lack of padding in the Composit saddle. He pressure mapped me on the Composit when I first saw him and it looked good pressure-wise and I’ve always found I’m able to ride any saddle without issue but who knows, maybe this might lead to an improvement.

Ive had similar issues as you for about a year now. Came on soon after seeing a bike fitter, who raised my saddle a massive amount (from memory around 5cm) without thoroughly checking my flexibility. I promptly dropped it down again and the pain lessened, but I haven't been able to do any hard efforts for a long time now.

As @Aroogah suggests, I think it's a nerve issue and have been 'flossing' for a couple of months now:
https://youtu.be/VuKQezeo3X4

I'd be happy reaching the Before photo these days.