Selle San Marco Mantra - I think it is the one

After trying lots of saddles - men's, women's, with a cutout, without a cutout, wide, narrow, Brooks, Selle Anatomica - I think I have found the one: Selle San Marco Mantra. http://www.velonews.com/article/82172

I have about 200 miles on the saddle and am really happy. The cutout is sufficient to fit my, ahem how do I say this, ample girly bits. :o (No more soft tissue wounds!) However, the cutout is not as dramatic as the SMP models, which caused me excruciating pain on my inner sitbones. It is marketed to men so the saddle is as long as a man's saddle (290 mm). I dislike the short length of so many women's saddles. Also, because the wings of the seat are curved, there is little thigh rubbing.

I always said I would trade sit bone pain for soft tissue problems any day. After the first couple rides, my sit bones hurt but I had no chafing or open wounds up front. I actually found myself riding without thinking about my saddle.

To get the proper fit, the saddle should be level at the back. Therefore one can avoid the problems that often come with having to tilt the saddle up or down.

It is expensive, but I thought I might have to give up road biking if my saddle woes continued. I probably should buy some more before they are discontinued. :)

Yay! That's cause for a celebration!

We should start throwing showers for when we find the right saddle.

Tab123-

I'll have to keep that one in mind. I just had the Selle lady SLR put on this morning. I did have the Jett and it's been the best of the bunch so far. I loved the cutout on the SMP saddles(girl bits sigh happily) but the front of sit bone pain was more than I could bear. And for the most part, they are all too wide.

My basket where I keep all thinks bikey is starting to look like a saddle graveyard, Fizik Vitesse, San Marco Aspide Glamour, Specalized Ruby..

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Originally Posted by spindizzy

Tab123-

I'll have to keep that one in mind. I just had the Selle lady SLR put on this morning. I did have the Jett and it's been the best of the bunch so far. I loved the cutout on the SMP saddles(girl bits sigh happily) but the front of sit bone pain was more than I could bear. And for the most part, they are all too wide.

My basket where I keep all thinks bikey is starting to look like a saddle graveyard, Fizik Vitesse, San Marco Aspide Glamour, Specalized Ruby..

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if the front of your sit bone hurts, it just means that you have to tilt the front of your saddle just a teeny weeny bit downwards...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spindizzy

My basket where I keep all thinks bikey is starting to look like a saddle graveyard, Fizik Vitesse, San Marco Aspide Glamour, Specalized Ruby..

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What width is your Ruby? If it's a 155, I might be interested...

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Originally Posted by spindizzy

...Fizik Vitesse...

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If you liked the shape of the Vitesse, but, like me, the lack of soft tissue relief was unbearable, then you can always try making your own channel in them:

Photo album of someone who peeled/sanded solid saddles (there was a photo of a vitesse on there, but I don't see it now): http://good-times.webshots.com/album/568256786cjPbmj

or

My blog post about cutting foam out to make a channel: http://blog.brickhouseracing.com/archives/421

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Originally Posted by spindizzy

Tab123-San Marco Aspide Glamour..

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That's my saddle and it now has 1,000 painless miles on it. It's funny how one persons dream saddle is another's nightmare. Go figure.

Good news - this saddle is still the one for me. I can take bone discomfort over soft tissue problems any day.

Wonderful that you found a saddle that works for you.:cool::D

Sorry Oak - it's a 143.

Trainer ride tonight with my favourite tri shorts - looks like this SLR is going back..I'll give it one more go on hills tomorrow with a different pair of shorts.

Andrea - that looks interesting - perhaps I may give it a go since I'm not planning on doing anything with that saddle.

I'm reviving this post. :) Are you still liking the saddle, tab123? Though you obviously like the saddle, it sounds like you were having some bone discomfort. Are you still having that?

Your post kind of cracked me up, because I could relate to much of it, and so can my Dh. I've been riding on a Terry Damselfly for two years, dealt with squished parts, which I thought might just be part of life as a cyclist, but wasn't sure. I developed a sore under the labia that would come and go, but was almost always there to some degree. I finally decided it was time to research different saddles when I learned that "men's saddles" aren't really "men's". They are unisex. Dh suggested I try an SMP Evolution he had, basically liked for a while, but finally decided it cut into his inner sit bones too much. But maybe it would work for me. So I tried it and was ELATED that it immediately cured my squished girlie bits problem. No pain whatsoever there. However, at the end of my 3rd ride on it, I too was feeling major pain on the inner sit bones and decided if I had to choose between that and my Damselfly tissue squishing saddle, I'd rather go back to that. (I laughed when I read you felt the same! Squished bits over sore sit bones.)

However, as it turns out, Dh currently has a San Marcos Mantra on his bike. After he had tried it for a while, the LBS guy asked how he liked it. Dh had to think about it and realized he doesn't really think about the saddle, so it must be good! So, now I'm probably going to try his saddle next and I was just wondering if you are still happy with yours.

Also, I'm curious what color you got. He has white and the red M on the nose has smeared red above and below it from his thigh rubbing it. I'm debating between the black and white, but leaning toward white ... if I choose this saddle at all.