Anatomically comfortable road bike seat

[jpbayarea]

I have tried and used so many seats but have never found one that prevents
any chaffing. I am currently testing a Fizik women's' saddle. It does not seem much better than my Specialized seat I've been riding for past few years. I get
chafing on the inner right side of labia. I am sure this is not that uncommon but what to do...I use tons of chamois butter, more around a lot on the seat and try and keep the nose tipped neutral or slightly down, having tried up and find that no better. Thoughts/advice much appreciated. It keeps me from being comfortable riding more than 30-40 miles.

[zoom-zoom]

I've gotten this bad in the past, too. It's a LOT better of late than before, though I need a more t-shaped saddle than what I'm on...with a subtle dip/dent, rather than a cut-out. Fizik is coming out with something like this (SM3) that they keep pushing back. Originally it was supposed to be available in April...every month they move the release date back another month.

Right now my magic combination is a Bontrager InForm Affinity saddle with Gore Oxygen shorts and Enzo's Buttonhole chamois butter (much higher in silicone-based lubricant which is slicker and lasts longer than anything else I've tried...and smells amazing).

I still sometimes manage to draw some blood, but not nearly the hamburger crotch issues I'd had in the past.

[zoom-zoom]

I should add that the Fizik Arione Donna was the worst. saddle. ever. for this issue...YMMV.

[carolp]

do you have a bike shop that will let you try out saddles? I found that it's often the combo of saddle, shorts and chamois butter. Also, I got a really good fit and that helped a lot. Turned out my right leg was a lot shorter than my left and with a new crank and shims under my right cleat I'm getting less chafing because my weight is better distributed.

[Hi Ho Silver]

As someone pointed out, your saddle may not be pointed straight ahead, hence the irritation on the right. Conversely, for some of us, a little saddle angle may be needed - I have to slightly angle my saddle to the left for comfort. Experiment...

[OakLeaf]

Then there are some of us who just aren't perfectly symmetrical, and tend to chafe on one side regardless.

A more T-shaped saddle with a generous cut-out solved most of my issues.

[zoom-zoom]

:eek:

Noted! Thought you said you liked it. :p

Ha...no...I wanted to like it, but it was not meant to be.

[zoom-zoom]

Then there are some of us who just aren't perfectly symmetrical, and tend to chafe on one side regardless.

Me. I list off to one side. I've not had any long-term problems with this, other than one leg seems to also be stronger and a hair longer than the other and I may go back to trying a shim under my left cleat to see if that helps catch my weaker leg up.

[velo]

When reading about the post above regarding symmetry, I wonder if your pedal stroke on the right side is different. If your knee is closer when you stroke on the right than on the left, that could cause more friction. I've not had this problem, so just throwing out ideas that may or may not make any sense, but maybe check your cleat position in addition to seat position?