Saddles - Narrow sit bones

teebs_123

Hi All,

I completely understand that saddles are very subjective and that asking for advice is a bit stupid, but hell, i'm going to ask..

I'm not that small in stature, 5'11" and around 76kg but I have a very small rear end (very little natural padding). I thought i had found the perfect saddle with the Selle Italia SLR Boost (the one with a huge cut out), but whilst it's ok for shorter rides, anything over 2 hours is leaving me in agony - I get the feeling (quite literally), that my narrow bones aren't supported by the saddle and that the cut-out is just too big..

I've always used saddles with a cut-out, some of the new Prologo saddles look interesting..

Has anyone with a similar stature had a similar issue and found a solution?

Ta.

pippi_langsamer-2

Have you actually measured your bones?

elbowloh

A few LBSs ( in know Cadence do for example in Upper Norwood/Crystal Palace) have trial saddles that you can take home and try on your own bike to see what suits you. Maybe talk to your LBS?

grenw

pippi_langsamer-2 said:

Have you actually measured your bones?

Definitely worth doing. I'm about 2 stone lighter than you and small built. I was until recently riding an SLR which came with my mtb. It felt comfortable .... for a while. After a few hours my bones felt a bit hammered.

Measured my sit bones (tin foil on the stairs - high tech!) and it turned out I needed a wider saddle. Moved on to a Flite and now have the on all my mtb/road bikes and have ridden 10k miles or so since.

Cargobike

Weirdly, for a big boy (no bragging intended) I can get on with any saddle. I'll probably get shot down by the illuminati here, but a lot of it comes down to spending enough time sat on a bike, the rest of it is just marketing b*llshit.

mnbaldwin

Hi , I am 67 and about 5'9" and 75 kilos and a small/medium backside . Over the years I have tried many saddles.
Late in 2019 and knowing that I planned to ride Land's End to John O'Groats in 2020 I did lots of research into saddles. In the end I went for a Fabric Line 142mm Shallow Race saddle. Since I bought it in November 2019 I have ridden almost 4,000 miles on it & in September this year rode LEJOG. I can honestly say that since buying this saddle I have had no discomfort "down under" whether on short/hard rides or long and multi day rides (including LEJOG). For me the Fabric saddle is the "Holy Grail" of saddles and I hope it lasts many years. You are totally correct that a saddle is a very individual thing and what suits one person will be agony for another. However suggest you have a good look at the Fabric website at https://fabric.cc/products/saddles/ - There is guidance about which saddle to go for depending on your build and riding style. Good Luck!

elbowloh

mnbaldwin said:

Hi , I am 67 and about 5'9" and 75 kilos and a small/medium backside . Over the years I have tried many saddles.
Late in 2019 and knowing that I planned to ride Land's End to John O'Groats in 2020 I did lots of research into saddles. In the end I went for a Fabric Line 142mm Shallow Race saddle. Since I bought it in November 2019 I have ridden almost 4,000 miles on it & in September this year rode LEJOG. I can honestly say that since buying this saddle I have had no discomfort "down under" whether on short/hard rides or long and multi day rides (including LEJOG). For me the Fabric saddle is the "Holy Grail" of saddles and I hope it lasts many years. You are totally correct that a saddle is a very individual thing and what suits one person will be agony for another. However suggest you have a good look at the Fabric website at https://fabric.cc/products/saddles/ - There is guidance about which saddle to go for depending on your build and riding style. Good Luck!

Yeah, there was a trend a few years back where seemingly everyone had a Fizik Arione Saddle. I tried one for a bit and ended up with saddle sores like 2 golf balls in my backside.

I switched to a Pro Logo NagEvo plus on a bit of a whim and its been so comfortable for me.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/prologo-nago-evo-pas-saddle-with-tirox-rails

teebs_123

Thanks all, I used the Tin Foil high-tech method and measured them at around 12cm. I have used 130mm saddles in the past so these may have been too narrow.

I don't have a local LBS that lends out saddles, but there is a Selle Italia dealer near me that does the "ID Match" so I may call over there in the near future.

Thanks all.

ibr17xvii

If you've got on with the SLR why not try another Selle Italia, Flite Boost maybe?

They come in 2 widths.

Okachimachi

teebs_123 said:

Hi All,

I completely understand that saddles are very subjective and that asking for advice is a bit stupid, but hell, i'm going to ask..

I'm not that small in stature, 5'11" and around 76kg but I have a very small rear end (very little natural padding). I thought i had found the perfect saddle with the Selle Italia SLR Boost (the one with a huge cut out), but whilst it's ok for shorter rides, anything over 2 hours is leaving me in agony - I get the feeling (quite literally), that my narrow bones aren't supported by the saddle and that the cut-out is just too big..

I've always used saddles with a cut-out, some of the new Prologo saddles look interesting..

Has anyone with a similar stature had a similar issue and found a solution?

Ta.

If you haven't already got this sorted, I have/had exactly the same issue (and also thought the SLR was my saddle for a while). Finally got a SMP Composit after a bike fit and it's been outstanding, literally vanishes underneath me and no problems even for very long days out (e.g. 8hrs+). Been on them for over 5yrs no, feel absolutely no need to look for a new saddle. The Composit is unpadded; Evolution is same shell with light padding. If you try one, you need to give it a few rides to "break-in" your sitbones (you get "bone soreness" initially, as Steve Hogg describes), also you need to play around with the angle a bit, but once dialled in, you're set.

https://www.sellesmp.com/en/saddleapp
https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/09/all-about-smps/

g00se

I had EXACTLY the same issue when I moved from a Specialized Power to a SLR Boost (the narrow S version). The narrowest Power saddle was too wide.

Great to start with but after a couple of hours it was agony. However, I found moving the saddle forward about 10mm fixed it. It wasn't that the sit bones were 'in' the cutout, but just off the sides. It may be worth pushing it forward to see if it helps.

Ideally, it could do with a smidge more padding - and there's an 'endurance' versions that does this. But to be honest, I happy with it at the moment.

teebs_123

Thanks for the recent comments, will look into them all. Currently on a Bontrager Paradigm that I had which seems ok but only doing shorter turbo rides currently..