women saddle recommendations

popette

Hi,

I currently use this saddle
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 279m007433
it's better than anything I've had so far but I'm still getting really sore. I have to constantly readjust and make sure that it's my sit bones that I'm resting on. The "soft tissues" are currently in a bit of a state. I have had a professional bike fitting so I'm quite confident that the bike is all set up right but I still end up in pain.
I want a saddle that I can go 100 miles on in relative comfort but which allows me to motor along a bit.
Anyone got any recommendations? I've been looking at selle italia and terry saddles - does anyone have good comments about these?
money is no object when it comes to the saddle - I'd much rather shell out a bit more for this and limit the pain.
In the meantime, I'll start ploughing through the stack of C+ magazines to see if there are any comparison tests of saddles.

thanks
popette

overmars

Well you've been bike fitted and seem to have a pretty good saddle so...

...what shorts do you wear?
Yes the saddle is important but I could cycle 100miles in my Assos with a crappy saddle.
But if the saddle was brilliant and the shorts rubbish... I'd suffer!

popette

hiya
thanks for your reply
I usually wear these
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=22386
no pants as I heard that can make matters worse
:oops:

overmars

Oh my God! :shock:

Just kidding, just kidding!!

If money is no object. Take a look at these...
http://www.assos.com/en/womens/

Here is possibly the cheapest place to buy Assos...
http://www.primera-bournemouth.co.uk/Ma ... px?manID=7

Assos is simply the best you can buy (ruddy expensive though!)

Ebay has some really great bargains at times but you never know when!

Bagonabike

I don't get on with Specialized saddles...and it didn't matter which shorts I used, they just don't suit the shape of my undercarriage.

I use a Terry Butterfly tri gel which had been great from the first time I used it - have used it for rides of 10 hours+ in the saddle and have no complaints at all.

baudman

This sounds like I'm being "oooh-errr" but I'm not...

Sit on your couch and put your hands under your butt. Feel your butt for your 'seat bones' - the two lower edges of your pelvis. The key thing is the measurement between these two bones. Your saddle should be at least as wise as these bones - and with the best of its support around these bones. Some saddle manufacturers (such as Specialized) make different widths of key saddles for precisely this reason. Otherwise, you've just gotta take along your ruler. So it could possibly be right saddle, wrong width for you?

My partner has a specialized saddle on her WS Avanti Vitale, but she's out on it so I can't get the detail.

popette

baudman wrote:

This sounds like I'm being "oooh-errr" but I'm not...

Sit on your couch and put your hands under your butt. Feel your butt for your 'seat bones' - the two lower edges of your pelvis. The key thing is the measurement between these two bones. Your saddle should be at least as wise as these bones - and with the best of its support around these bones. Some saddle manufacturers (such as Specialized) make different widths of key saddles for precisely this reason. Otherwise, you've just gotta take along your ruler. So it could possibly be right saddle, wrong width for you?

My partner has a specialized saddle on her WS Avanti Vitale, but she's out on it so I can't get the detail.

I sat on the specialized measuring device and so have have the right size - LARGE! I feel that i have to keep readjusting to make sure my sit bones are supporting me, otherwise, it feels like a roll forwards and all the wrong bits are in contact with the saddle.

popette

Bagonabike wrote:

I don't get on with Specialized saddles...and it didn't matter which shorts I used, they just don't suit the shape of my undercarriage.

I use a Terry Butterfly tri gel which had been great from the first time I used it - have used it for rides of 10 hours+ in the saddle and have no complaints at all.

thanks for your reply. Terry saddles were mentioned in a long distance cycling book I have. I think I may attack it from both sides and get the assos shorts and the saddle.
Expensive but it surely must be worth it to cycle without pain.

Thanks again

Kléber

For men, saddles are often level but many women say their saddles should have the front pointing down. My partner tried several different saddles and in the end it was the inclination that helped. Give this a try but ultimately saddle choice is a very personal matter, what works for someone might be no good for another...

knedlicky

As baudmann mentions, it’s important when choosing a saddle to get one the right supporting width. This means a saddle with at least the same ‘effective width’ as (or better, a slightly wider ‘effective width’ than) the space between your pelvic bones (i.e. + 5mm). Some manufacturers will state the ‘effective width’ of their saddle models (I’m not sure this is what is given on the link you gave - they look like overall widths to me). Occasionally cycling magazines will test and determine the width in their technical reviews, but I don’t remember C+ having done so. For a racing saddle, this ‘effective width’ typically varies from 8.5 cm to 12.5 cm.

It might sound a bit nerdy and odd, but you can measure the space between your pelvic bones by sitting bare-bummed on a hard surface on which you've placed two sheets of paper with a piece of carbon paper between. I suppose you could also try sitting bare-bummed on the Xerox machine in the office, but eitherway if you show your copy to the guy in your LBS, you’ll either have a laugh together or enjoy giving him a fright.

You say you had a ‘professional bike fitting’ but from your description (‘I feel that i have to keep readjusting to make sure my sit bones are supporting me, otherwise, it feels like a roll forwards and all the wrong bits are in contact with the saddle), it sounds to me like the problem might have to do with the saddle to handlebar distance.
There are ‘rules’ about where you saddle should sit relative to the crank axle, and where your saddle should sit relative to your handlebars. Both depend on your body geometry, and I imagine it’s possible that your LBS hasn’t addressed these ‘rules’ in the fitting. In fact, as I’m rather sceptical of service, I’d be surprised if they had.
If you feel this may be the solution, I’ll gladly let you know the rules-of-thumb (too late in the evening now!).

As for Selle Italia saddles for women, as far as I know they produce about 4 racing models for females, but just be aware that, though I think them great saddles, their sizing appears (for both males and females) to be more orientated to the Italian market, i.e. smaller body frames, or in the case of saddles, smaller ‘effective widths’.

popette

Hiya,
Thanks for your reply. The measuring thing that Specialized do is like a pad which you sit on and can then measure the distance between your sit bones. The distance between mine is slighty bigger than any saddle they offer (I'm 6ft tall, size 12 feet and huge frame!).
I had my fitting done at Paul Hewitt cycles. One thing I would say is that when I now try to pedal with my heel touching the pedal (which is one method of measureing that I have read about), I can't do it. My fitting measurements were done with feet clipped in and I guess because my feet are so huge, I can reach pedals easily when clipped in without necessarily being able to reach with my heel.
I'm going to try a very slight tilt downwards on the saddle tonight and see if that makes any difference.
Have you heard anything about Terry Saddles? they're american design so without wanting to fall into any stereotypes, perhaps they would suit my larger frame?

John Stevenson

Most of the 'static' nostrums for fitting a bike, like being able to touch your heel to the pedal, are at best starting points for further adjustment and at worse nonsense.

You don't sit still on a bike, you pedal, and you should adjust things so that you're comfortable when pedalling. That means that even after being fitted you should be prepared to make small tweaks to saddle height and angle, reach to the bar and so on.

That said, it's just possible your saddle is too high, and that's a sure-fire way to end up sore as you rock from side to side to reach the pedals. Get someone to watch you from behind as you pedal on a trainer, or even down the road. Your hips shouldn't rock at all.

As for saddles, lots of women swear by the Terry seats. The Selle Italia TransAm Ldy is my wife's favourite, to the point where she's stockpiling them in case Selle Italia succumbs to the bike industry 'design of the month club' mentality and stops making them. She also likes the fizik Vitesse which is a shade narrower and therefore gives a bit more room to move for mountain biking.

popette

I did Etape Caledonia, had a rush of blood on the morning of the event and made the really silly mistake of making some changes to my bike setup. Why???????
Since then I've had a pain behind my left knee which caused me to go and get the fitting at Paul Hewitt. The pain is much reduced but not completely gone. I've since lowered the saddle by 3mm, as Paul suggested I may need to. Perhaps I need to reduce by a couple more mm - I'll get my husband to have a look at me on the bike tonight to make sure i'm not rocking. It doesn't feel like I am but best to make sure.

Do you have a link to the Selle Italia saddle that you mention plse? I've looked on the usual bike internet shops that I look at but can't find it.

Many thanks

knedlicky

Hi Popette, when I mentioned ‘rules’ about where your saddle should sit relative to the crank axle, and to your handlebars, I didn't mean the sloped distance from pedal to saddle to which you refer, instead two other basic guide 'rules'. They are only starting rules, to set the bike up initially. Afterwards, you can experiment and fine-adjust.

The nose of the saddle is normally set back at least 3 cm behind an imaginary vertical line up through the crank axle. To get a more exact correct position, sit on the bike and put the pedals horizontal. Wearing cycling shoes and clipped in the pedals, the knee cap of your forward leg should be vertically above the forward pedal spindle. If not, move the saddle back or forward as appropriate.
When you've got the position about right, you should be able to take your hands of the handlebars without feeling any strain in your upper body, i.e. no feeling that you're going to fall forward without support from your arms on the bars. If you do feel the need for support, the saddle is too far back, so bring it slightly forward.
If you've knee pain after your recent meddling, it might be that the saddle is too forward at the moment.

If when doing this adjustment, you've moved the saddle appreciably, you may have to also alter its height based on the leg length rule you already know.

The other empirical 'rule' has to do with the distance from saddle nose to handlebar stem, and there are different ways of deciding what's best, the two simplest being (a) with your hands just above the brake levers on drop bars, your arm should be angled at 90 degrees at the elbow, and (b) the distance from saddle nose to middle of handlebar stem should be about the same as the distance from your elbow to farthest fingertip.
If this isn't the case and it's only a matter of 1 cm or so, adjust the saddle back or forward as appropriate. If it's more than 1 cm, consider getting a different length handlebar stem.

It is possible your stem is too long, more suited to a male of your height, because typically a bike shop knows how to size for a man but often forgets a woman of the same height usually prefers a shorter reach. Your description of your initial problem (rolling forward) suggests to me that this could be the case.


I can't say anything about Terry saddles but I understand your logic.

John Stevenson

popette wrote:

Do you have a link to the Selle Italia saddle that you mention plse? I've looked on the usual bike internet shops that I look at but can't find it.

Many thanks

Naming consistency seems to be an issue, but it's this one:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 5360028958