Padded saddle life

I had some chafing on my ride this weekend and there are several potential culprits, but I'm wondering if my Specialized Lithia saddle is breaking down after only 2,000 miles. Is that possible? I have a friend who puts like 7,000 per year on her much softer Dolce saddle. I was planning to go to a harder saddle next time anyhow, but I'd have thought this one would last longer than this.

Like I said, there are other potential culprits, but I'm not sure how to tell a saddle is breaking down (before it gets visibly squashed).

I had a terry that did the same thing. Just wore out really fast. What were your riding conditions like? Did you hammer harder than usual/sweat more? I have really grown used to always having something, numbness, chafing, a saddle sore. I think they will all do that. I just ordered a lithia after my current saddle, SI SLR, hurts. We'll see. It could be your shorts wearing out as well.

I'm with Kermit- the 3 terry saddles I've tried didn't start hurting me until about 3 months (approx 1500 miles at that time) after I put them on my bike. I attribute it to the padding getting softer.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

I had some chafing on my ride this weekend and there are several potential culprits, but I'm wondering if my Specialized Lithia saddle is breaking down after only 2,000 miles. Is that possible? I have a friend who puts like 7,000 per year on her much softer Dolce saddle. I was planning to go to a harder saddle next time anyhow, but I'd have thought this one would last longer than this.

Like I said, there are other potential culprits, but I'm not sure how to tell a saddle is breaking down (before it gets visibly squashed).

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I seriously looked at that saddle too. It's beautiful to look at, nice cut out, but yep, pretty padded.

I think I figured out I need to hide my sitz bones resting on my saddle uneven. I have scoliosis of the spine, and I think when just one sitz bone hurts, it the spine curve and how I hold myself (I'm pretty skilled at adjusting and mounting saddles now with all that I've tried I think--not a great thing really). On a saddle with more padding, my sitz bones can sink in unevenly without me knowing it as there's room for error.

I imagine, just like your Lithia, it will rear it's ugly head as the saddle breaks down. I'm still looking for "the one" for me.

OK... Oakleaf, did you get it at a lbs, or is there one near that you can go in and check a new stock floor model out of the Lithia? You could squish the new one and compare to yours now and tell how much difference there is?

Or, if you bought it from the shop, could you take the bike/saddle in to get inspected? I tried riding both a Ruby and Jett. The Ruby would have almost worked for me but ONE sitz bone hurt... aka, not a cushy saddle, same problem as above. When I did call the specialized people from the on-line store (where I bought it) they were very helpful.

Maybe they could give you an idea of how long the saddle lasts before breakdown? Or... maybe either specialized, or lbs, could give you a new one to mount for comparison? Just my humble thoughts, fwiw.

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Originally Posted by kermit

I had a terry that did the same thing. Just wore out really fast. What were your riding conditions like? Did you hammer harder than usual/sweat more? I have really grown used to always having something, numbness, chafing, a saddle sore. I think they will all do that. I just ordered a lithia after my current saddle, SI SLR, hurts. We'll see. It could be your shorts wearing out as well.

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Kermit... I have that SI slr in my pile at home now. I love the saddle, but not how the cut out is. It is the first saddle of oh... about 20, I've tried that my sitz bones felt squared, but didn't hurt. My pain is where the pubic bone rest on the outsides (like labia meets crease of leg). That is right where the cut out is like a lightly padded rail. I think if the nose of the saddle was closed there, it would be perfect for me. The Diva is it's fatter padded sister. That cut out didn't hurt, but was too wide and bumped on the down pedal stroke. I think tonight I am going to order the SI mens max flites... about the same width, one with a cut out, one with a channel. The "max" are 150, the regular flites are 130 I think.

Oakleaf... besides those above, my other shape perfect, but not padding perfect, is the Selle San Marco Aspide Glamour FX size 225 (if you say you would like to try a bit firmer next time). It has a small channel dip, but enough padding on the lady bits that did not hurt at all (or pinch like some total cut outs can do). I just wish wish wish it had a touch more padding, with the same shape, on the back platform. Just the ONE sitz bone hurt again. It's firm, but softer than the regular SSM aspide glamour size 235... it has more of a dip channel, but is harder. That one I sent back... it's more common to find to order (the fx size 225 is not). Just some ideas on ones I thought were along the specialized shape lines. All of above between size 150cm to 160cm, btw... my specializeds were 155s. I was 140cm and "in-between" on sizes they suggested... I went wider. I have one narrow SI, the slk, 145 width, that's coming too. I would expect the padding to be the same as the SI slr.

I had a lithia that got sent back, too deep and curvy in the cutout and it felt like razors on the sides of my crotch. I ordered two more to try, a specialized ruby, very flat but gelled and wider than the slr, my husband loves his mens version the toupe. I also ordered a SI prolink light gel flow, it looks like the slr but a little wider but still flat. I want to ride a long ride without squirming, is that too much to ask? I will tell you that if you need a little more padding for evenness, the terry zero x is nice. It was a little too much for me, but I never had chafing, just a little numbness. I sent it back but may get another one for bad days. I have decided that flat is what I need, just need the right width and padding. A huge cutout is not even as much an issue as before. The search continues.

Miranda - I sent you a PM about your SLR saddle. Did you see my thread about Pronetcycling.com? They will send you women's SI demo saddles to try out. That's how I picked out the Lady SLR. There are other companies that also have demo saddle programs for men's saddles, since you are trying them. I can't remember if it is Competitive Cyclist or Colorado Cyclist. Tokie

I'm new to TE, but I thought I should start joining some of the chat boards. Since I found the TE forums from saddle searching, I'll start here!

I had other problems with my uber-padded dolce saddle that came on my bike. I think the thickness of the padding made the saddle too tall, and I started to get bruise-like soreness on the tops of my legs. This didn't happen until this year, even though I have had the bike for a couple of years, but I attribute that to more intense and regular riding this year. So the saddle search began.

These are the ones I tried. If anyone has a suggestion, I'm open to ideas! I might not have given them all a fair try at times when I was sore...

Jett 143--the first I tried. I measured between the 143 and 155, but the 155 seemed to irritate the sore spot from my old saddle, so I went with the 143. After adjusting to the saddle firmness, I got terrible saddle sores on both sides, which seemed to indicate that I was sitting inside of my sits bones. I did have contact with the sits bones b/c they got very sore on a longer ride I did, but maybe they just weren't fully supported?

Glamour Aspide--Loved the width and the firmness. Did not love the soft tissue numbness.
Glamour Aspide Arrowhead--Cutout didn't help the soft tissue pressure, which was a bummer, because I thought this saddle would work and be the one.

WTB Diva--Again, lack of cut-out was a problem. Also seemed narrow.

Terry Falcon X--Only rode on it for a couple of rides, but it really irritated the saddle sores I had, so then I sat out for a month and returned it because my 30 days were up and I didn't want to get stuck with it. This was the only non-flat saddle I tried, and it seemed like the curve made it actually narrower than a similar width flat one. But I could be making that up.

Terry Butterfly Ti--Have this one currently and only rode on it 2xs, but I don't think I like it because a)it is very tall, albeit a bit less so than the dolce b)it causes soft tissue soreness unless I tilt the saddle down, putting too much pressure on my wrists.

Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow--I didn't give this one much of a chance b/c it was much narrower than the 155mm it is listed as (I guess that measures around the curvature rather than the flat surface). It also caused soft tissue pain. I wanted to make sure the saddle was in new, returnable condition, so I just repackaged it to return.

Something has to work eventually, right? I'm thinking of trying the Jett 155 again, although I'm worried it will cause the same problem with my legs hitting the seat as the dolce did.

Try the Specialized Ruby in a 155. I've had a bad time finding a saddle for reasons similar to yours & it's been the best so far.

Ditto on the Ruby. I will be sending the SI prolink back, cutout is too small and too far back. The ruby is nice, perfect cutout and the gel seat gives enough cushion, but not too much. I have not had any saddle sores or chafing without butter. So far so good. Check on ebay there are some on there for a good price.

Kermit and Andrea--Thanks for the info! I'll give that one a try.

In the meantime, I've started to run again (my original love anyway). I think I have to be more patient with the saddles.

Just did another ride with the Ruby, I am out of town in Georgia. HILLS! I gotta say 30 miles and no soreness/chafing. Really like the Ruby. Good Luck.