quest for a saddle I will forget is there

[indri]

Per suggestion from other member, I am posting my question here even though it is a saddle-specific question. Just so ya don't think I'm lazy, I have been perusing the different threads for saddle-selection info, but hell, it's just a lot of reading to do! And I need a good one soon!

So, I am new to the board. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice.....I join those of you on the seemingly-never-ending quest for a saddle. Looked at photos of the Selle San Marco Aspide Glamour K from someone's recommendation (Kermit I think) and am considering ordering it...but what are those little stitched circle logo things on the seat? They look like you'd feel them. Do you feel them? I imagine they might not be felt under the padding of your shorts, but I'm paranoid about stuff you might feel.

Also, to try different ones, do you just order a bunch from a catalog, try them, and send back what you don't like? One of the shops near me won't even let me put one on my bike and ride it around outside the store. Lame-o. I Can't see spending a small fortune and accumulating a stash of saddles that you don't like.

I guess my seat specs, from what I know now, are:
155mm
No sure about preference for short or Long nose yet...maybe long?
Prefer pear shaped
Don't like too much padding (not squishy) but not super hard either
Narrow nose
I think I like cut outs so far...only tried one.
No preference for look -- just not one with a little pink jumping lady on it like the Terry a guy at my lbs showed me.

I'm just starting to do longer rides and after about 30 miles I really start to get squirmy. My bike came with a stock saddle...I think it's a Velo...it measures 150 mm at the widest part. The nose is too squishy foamy and pretty awful, and my sit bones are outside the edges. I'm doing a week long tour in Glacier Nat'l Park in a few weeks and I need to be able to do 90 miles on my saddle so I'm concerned about what I have.

I'm currently trying out a Specialized Sonoma from my other lbs and the 155mm width seems fine, but I think the T-shape is what I don't like. It rubs too much just at the top of my thighs and I find myself sitting more forward on the saddle to relieve that, kind of defeating the purpose of having the width for my sit-bones, cause then I'm off them. But I like the Sonoma's cut out, both the firmness and the general shape, though the nose is a tad wide. I can see it getting worse on a longer ride.

The guy in my lbs did my Specialized 'butt-o-meter' measurement and originally suggested the size down from 155 mm but I didn't feel my sitbones touching anything on that saddle, so I made him get me the 155.

If anyone could give any advice in speeding up my search, maybe making a few suggestions of what to look at, I'd sure appreciate the help.
~Indri

[motochick]

Been there, done that. Selle An-atomica. http://www.selleanatomica.com/

TE sells them.

Brenda

[VeloVT]

If you're OK with the lack of cutout on the Sonoma (sounds like you are?), you might consider the Fizik Vitesse Hp. It is also 155mm wide, and it is firm. You might still find it too T-shaped (it's kind of in between on the spectrum, more towards T I would say -- I prefer the more pear-shaped Arione, but part of that is because I like a narrower width too). The sides roll down a bit more than than the Sonoma's appear to, which you will likely find more comfortable.

Here's a picture:
http://www.bikesomewhere.com/bikesomewhere.cfm/product/42/4251/13026?g=1

It's better/sleeker looking in person than it looks in pictures (although I can't vouch for the gold snakeskin version :eek:!).

This saddle came stock on my new bike and while I did replace it with the model I had previously been riding (Arione), I thought it was quite comfortable.

Also you might look at the Terry Zero X and Falcon X, both performance saddles (so firm), but wider (Terry annoyingly insists on using imperial measurements when the entire rest of the industry uses metric, but their 6" saddle is about 153 mm). Both have cutouts and neither is pink. I have no experience with either but there are definitely a few ladies here with Falcons and Zeros, so if you search the saddle names you should pull up some reviews.

Also I think there's a women's version of the Selle Italia Flite. I have not seen the women's version except in photographs, but it has a cutout and gel... Not sure if the gel is too cushy, but the regular Flite is a shape many people like... (Boyfriend actually just ordered the Flite Gelflow, men's saddle with cutout. I will post a review when it comes. I think the Lady gel version is gell-ier though...).

[trichick]

I felt your pain. Notice that is past tense. I tried for more than a year to find a saddle that didn't make me uncomfortable after the first half hour too. I tried several saddles by buying them and using them and either returning them or just keeping them and suffering. I spent several hours in a bike shop one day trying nearly every saddle in the shop on a trainer. Still, nothing felt right. Then I joked, it's too bad they don't make a noseless saddle. The shop owner said, "They do!" The bottom line is that I tried several noseless saddles...but the one I bought and love is the Spiderflex. http://www.spiderflex.com/. There are several others I tried, but didn't care for...one looks like two pieces of pie and is adjustable, but weighs a ton. One looks like the thing you put around your neck on a plane to keep you from neck strain if you nap. And the other looked kind of like a big plastic seat on a barber stool (not the round style, the one more shaped like your buttocks). The last two were light but probably made for someone taller and a medium to wider build, would be my guess. The pie shaped thing just bugged me. I thought it was the most uncomfortable of all four I tried. The Spiderflex is great for several reasons. It's made to fit all body frames in my opinion, including small, which I happen to be. It also is adjustable to fit a mountain or road bike depending on how you mount it on the seat post (directions for each are included with your saddle). Also, it took little or no time to adjust to not having a nosed saddle. For me, my bike rode just like it did with a traditional saddle, but if you have any adjustment issues, the bike shop that fitted the saddle to my bike told me to use my top bar for cornering and turning if I missed the nose. I didn't have to do that, but I thought I'd share that with you just in case it's helpful.

The bottom line is that I can ride as long as I want now (or at least as long as my legs hold out) without any discomfort! It's fabulous. Also the new saddle has helped my performance because I can concentrate on my biking vs. being distracted by my soft tissue pain.

I highly recommend this saddle for people like us, who just can't get comfortable on a tradtional saddle.