Brooks saddles - comfort

[Julie]

I have bought about five saddles of varying kinds and now a Brooks one for women. It is very comfortablefor my backside, but incredibly painfull for my "feminine" bits- can anyone help? I must have it set wrongly, but don't know enough to change it.

[moonfroggy]

did you measure your sit bones? which saddle did you get? i think getting the right one is important and having it on the bike the right way too. lots of threads here on brooks.

[nscrbug]

Julie...I had the same exact issue with my Brooks Team Pro. My sit bones felt fine, but my girly bits were in excruciating pain. I tried different adjustments and whatnot, but to no avail. As much as I wanted the Brooks to work for me, I came to the conclusion that it just wasn't meant to be. I truly believe that I am one of those gals that absolutely require a cut-out in my saddle...something in which my Brooks lacked. The nose of that saddle just pressed, smashed, and smothered my girly parts. I took the Brooks off, sent it back to Wallbike for a refund, and promptly put on a Specialized Toupe 155 and problem solved. I have ZERO lady bits pain with the Toupe and its generous cut-out.

If you are unable to get the painful bits resolved with saddle adjustment...then perhaps you might want to look into getting one of the Brooks "Imperial" saddles, which has a cut-out.

Linda

[KnottedYet]

Lots of things can make the nose painful on a new Brooks.

* nose set too high (the cantle should be slightly above the nose, level the nose only)
* nose too short (the "S" models) and you are landing on the metal nose shackle
* leather is tough. Work on it with your hands, soften it up.

[sundial]

It is very comfortablefor my backside, but incredibly painfull for my "feminine" bits...

Congratulations on your Brooks and hopefully the suggestions here will help you find the perfect position.

A couple of things came to mind. Have you tried lowering the seatpost just a little? Think of the saddle as a see saw. When you are up high, you have more pressure on your sitbones and girlie parts. When your feet touch the ground, the pressure is relieved.

Is the pressure from the hammock area? Sometimes relief can occur when tilting the nose ever so slightly downward and adjusting it upward as you break in the saddle.

Adjusting Brooks saddles come with trial and error for the first hundred miles. Always keep tools handy to do the micro-adjusting until you have broken in the saddle, which varies for each rider. On average it's 100-200 miles or so.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Brooks saddles can be a little difficult when you have a bike that has the handlebars way low as in a racing position. That racing position will roll your weight forward off your sitbones and onto your front girl parts no matter what saddle you have, and it can be a problem to get comfortable in that instance.
How low are your handlebars in relation to your seat?

[Julie]

Thank you all for your good advice. I will try all of them. I am not too sure how to measure my sit bones though?

I have seen Brooks have now brought out a cut out design and wondered if I could just make a cut out myself? :)