Why It’s Hard to Find a Good Saddle

[dianne_1234]

I thought this was quite interesting:

http://www.activebody.org/Womens_group_PDF/ploeg_saddle_v3.pdf

One of the researchers is a woman, cyclist and scientist, hooray!

So, what do you think?

[OakLeaf]

I think it's EXTREMELY hard to read.

And from a preliminary review of what I was able to figure out, I think the methodologies in some of the studies are suspect (e.g., instead of measuring pelvic tilt, why not fit the bike to the rider for a controlled angle? instead of measuring hip rock, why not fit the bike so the hips don't rock?).

[indysteel]

I found it difficult to read and interpret, too.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I actually didn't find it all that difficult to find a good saddle and have rarely had much saddle discomfort. The issues I have had were caused by my set up and fit and not the saddle itself, e.g., my saddle was too high or wasn't dead level.

[Biciclista]

wow, Dianne, you've been around for a long time!

[dianne_1234]

Hi Mimi,

Registered in 2005; I lurked before then. :)

[Biciclista]

that presentation was interesting. It showed that women's pubic arches are more open than men's even if they are smaller people, therefore, more delicate stuff is being impacted by saddles.
It said a lot of stuff we already knew; men's urethras were being squashed, etc.
What it didn't say clearly to me was which saddles were actually better.


wow, I'm impressed! thanks for posting!

[salsabike]

Thanks for posting it, Dianne---interesting stuff.

[dianne_1234]

I think it's EXTREMELY hard to read.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that it appears it's supposed to be part of a verbal presentation; it doesn't fully stand on it's own as-is.