my saddle search

An 05 or 06 Specialized Avatar (143) that came with my Roubaix sucks. Very short beginner rides have been leaving me more and more uncomfortable each time. Not a sit bone pain issue but it's like I didn't have enough weight over my sit bones so instead I was mashing my pubic bone region (not so much girly bits pain.. more on the sides), and that gets very sore. Padding I guess is sort of an issue, though I'm used to a pretty hard equestrian saddle in that area and have never had any problems.

I heard that the 07 is lightyears above my saddle, so I tried it out. Better but still too much pressure there. There wasn't a 155 to try out. I sat on the Alias, which was a bit better..seemed narrower in the trouble zone. I also sat on a cushy women's saddle (blanking on the name..starts with a C, not Specialized) that felt comfy but was too wide toward the nose--rubbing my inner thigh against the sides.

I have so far settled for a 155 Jett, because much more pressure was over my sit bones (which may turn out to be uncomfortable, but since I had no pain whatsoever there before, I'd take some lack of sit bone cushiness over my current problem). Not 100% better on the sore area (my 25mile hilly ride on Sunday has left me sore still) but might be enough. So long as I don't take a roll in the mud or something I can bring the saddle back if it turns out I hate it too. I'm not so sure it's worth $100. But it's the best of the worst. It'd be nice to find a more women's specific version of the 07 Avatar...and to have tried a wider one. Those are cushy but it wasn't good enough on the problem area to make me want to order one just yet.

By the way, when I got measured on the foamy thing, I was pretty much right on the cusp between the 143 and 155. Seems that 155 is best, but it can't be too wide towards the nose.

Thoughts?

Can't help you out too much but to offer a couple of considerations.

1. Are you wearing padded bike shorts? Makes a HUGE difference.
2. Does your seat have a cutout? For me, no cut out is bad, with cut out is good. That differs dramatically from person to person tho.
3. More "squish" factor in the sit bone area actually proved to be detremental in the pain area for me, altho initally I was convinced it had to be good.
4. A more dramatic narrowing of the nose of the saddle eliminated all discomfort issues in that area. When the narrowing was gradual, I experienced more pain.

I realize this really doesn't help your situation, but I was thinking perhaps it offers a different perspective you might find informative. Many people search for the perfect saddle (or even one that is just "good") for years. I got lucky on the 5th one. Good luck finding yours.

Where in DC did you get fitted for the bike seat? Specialized has a gel pad that you can buy and measure yourself. Was thinking of doing that.

You can do it with a tape measure.

Someone did it with silly putty between two sheet of plastic.

Several folks have done it with a sheet of paper.

There's a thread somewhere full of ways to measure your sit bones.

I got measured at City Bikes, where I bought my bike (the Chevy Chase location). After sitting on the thing several times, I was on the cusp for 143-155. I find that the 155 is good because I can get my sit bones more squarely on the saddle, more weight over them, and less weight on the front. (too bad they don't carry many 155s in the store). I had assumed that the 143 was fine given my measurements since I had no sit bone pain, but perhaps not.

To answer the questions posed, I do wear padded shorts, though I wear a fairly minimal chamois (thicker touring ones are chafing), and as I've haven't had any sit bone issues since my first week of spinning, I feel most comfortable in low padding. My old saddle and the Jett have cutouts. I only tried ones of that type in the store yesterday. I looked for ones that narrowed more dramatically towards the nose, since the one seat recommended by the woman helping me just rubbed on my inner thigh from being too wide (I also have chafing issues on spin bikes from the width after a while).

I focused on more squish factor and narrowness around the cutout. I can handle a little hardness under the sit bones b/c my sit bones are pretty tough. Anything to help with the other pain. I suppose that with my equestrian saddles, you've got better weight distribution, and you're usually sitting back over the sit bones (when you lean forward on your pelvis, you're typically standing out of the saddle versus on a road bike).

I like the concept of the cutout, since I have no pain on the girl parts, but perhaps that just increases the weight on the sides of that area?

I've just got to find something that won't kill me in 20 miles. I'll never improve if I can't spend more time on the bike.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aicabsolut

I got measured at City Bikes, where I bought my bike (the Chevy Chase location). After sitting on the thing several times, I was on the cusp for 143-155. I find that the 155 is good because I can get my sit bones more squarely on the saddle, more weight over them, and less weight on the front. (too bad they don't carry many 155s in the store). I had assumed that the 143 was fine given my measurements since I had no sit bone pain, but perhaps not.


I've just got to find something that won't kill me in 20 miles. I'll never improve if I can't spend more time on the bike.

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So why, since this woman here has absolutely average sit bones, can't we find more saddles that are 155 mm across and don't look like garbage can lids?

Aicabsolut:
Have you tried Brooks saddles?

Heh. Exactly. And who wants to have to order a bunch of saddles just for kicks?

I haven't tried Brooks. Not sure this shop carries them.. But there are plenty of other shops in the area I can try (was already at this one getting handlebars swapped out and a free 20hr tuneup).