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saddle woes

chatlowchatlow Posts: 843
edited October 2020 in Road general
Decided my saddle is rubbish and want a new one. Measured my sit bone width using the foil method and although it wasnt too clear, it seems I have a narrow censored at 110-115mm. On paper I should be going for 130-135mm widths.

Some of the saddles I'm keen on (for weight saving reasons as well) are the Selle Italia SLR, pro logo dimension and Fizik argo tempo. The latter 2 are 145mm & 150mm in width, which should be too big on paper.

The SLR comes in S (131-136) and L (145-150). Just read that the width of the large is around 145 itself, so I'm wondering how that works as your sit bones would be on the very edge each side.

Want to go for the small, but sounds like it might be too narrow?

Current saddle is a selle royal suez, quite heavy with good padding, so and hard saddles will prob come as a shock!

Posts

  • photonic69photonic69 Posts: 2,232
    You'd be best going to a local cycle shop that sells saddles. They will have a selection of saddles that you can use for a week or so after you leave a deposit. You can be sure to get the right one after trial and error. You will not be disappointed this way (and you'll save money in the long run)
  • chatlowchatlow Posts: 843
    edited October 2020
    Thanks, will try Tredz when I can. If anyone knows about widths etc in the mean time, I could use the advise
  • lettingthedaysgobylettingthedaysgoby Posts: 1,732
    You can do all the measuring in the world, looking at the different widths... but you'll only really know what works for you when you sit on one and do some miles.
  • chatlowchatlow Posts: 843
    appreciate that, thanks, it's just when I found out that the large SLR width is 145 and designed for the same sit bone size, that didn't add up

    will get testing
  • pippi_langsamer-2pippi_langsamer-2 Posts: 1,470
    Not sure I agree with that censored (!)umption anyway that you have narrow sit-bones. I don't think 110-115 is particularly narrow, and you still might be best served with a 143/145?

    I've tried SLR Superflow , PRO Stealth and Prologo Dimension- all 143 or 145. Stealth was too wide on the nose now I no longer race, SLR Superflow was good, but I've finally settled on the Dimensions, which are similar to Stealths, but narrower nose and a bit more padding....
  • chatlowchatlow Posts: 843
    oops, I meant 100-105 width, poss 100 at a push. It's hard to tell exactly, plus my bones seem to be at an angle which doesn't help either!

    LBS closed so have bought a couple to try. One that i tested yesterday is the prologo 143 which seemed very promising and felt good for the first 20 mins, but then my sit bones were getting sore towards the end of an hour ride.

    I've also got the fizik tempo 150mm and that selle italia SLR flow to test out. SLR is a bit firmer but at 130ish width will be interesting
  • pippi_langsamer-2pippi_langsamer-2 Posts: 1,470
    chatlow said:

    oops, I meant 100-105 width, poss 100 at a push. It's hard to tell exactly, plus my bones seem to be at an angle which doesn't help either!

    LBS closed so have bought a couple to try. One that i tested yesterday is the prologo 143 which seemed very promising and felt good for the first 20 mins, but then my sit bones were getting sore towards the end of an hour ride.

    I've also got the fizik tempo 150mm and that selle italia SLR flow to test out. SLR is a bit firmer but at 130ish width will be interesting

    It's probably worth noting that it's likely a good thing that your sit bones were getting sore. If you've been riding the wrong saddle with largely unsupported sit bones for a long time, actually riding a saddle that puts your sit bones in the right place can be uncomfortable for the first few rides.

    I remember years ago when the Toupe first came out, and I decided to try one over my usual Arione. The Toupe left me with very tender sit bones for the first maybe half-dozen rides, until they finally got used to it, and I found great comfort in the saddle. The Arione probably wasn't supporting me on my sit bones much at all which is why I was probably getting numbness in the perineum and what led me to start looking at different saddles....

    In summary, I'd persevere with it...
  • amrushtonamrushton Posts: 1,245
    If you can afford it find someone who does pressure mapping. Have a look what Bikefit James says on YouTube or Phil Burt. James is v.honest about why he sells certain ones
  • mattitheowlmattitheowl Posts: 72
    A few shops will loan out (usually fluorescent yellow) tester saddles for you to try out for a period of time. Have a look and see if you can find one locally.
  • chatlowchatlow Posts: 843
    Thanks for the comments here, really appreciate it. Got me thinking that yeah, maybe i should keep going with sit bone tenderness and see if they get used to it

    That said, im finding it's only the left sit bone that gets sore, the right doesn't really complain. Also when j checked the with foil, the left is more forward that the right, which cant be good

    Returned the slr flow wide for a narrow to see how that is, given its closer width to what i should be going for.

    Will be testing the spec power this weekend and will try the prologo 143 again
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