chafing and saddle width

After many saddle woes and five saddles later, I now I have Specialized women specific Jett saddle. It is a dream compared to all the others with no soft tissue pain, but after a century today, I am chafed beyond anything I could have imagined. It's mostly in the crease between my butt and rear thigh, and I think it might be that the saddle is too wide. Specialized sells their saddles in three widths, but the bike store only had the widest one. Could this be my problem?

I'm wearing pretty good shorts and using chamois butt'r. Any other general chafing prevention/management tips?

Did they measure your sit bones? Your specialized dealer should have a simple device that they use to determine which width of saddle to recommend. It's memeory foam - you sit on it, the width between then indentations from your bones are measured and then a saddle size it determined. The actual size of your butt has nothing to do with the width of the saddle you need.

How many miles do you have on the bike & saddle? How did you build up to the century ride? If I don't build up slowly, I have problems even on the most comfortable saddle.

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Originally Posted by Irulan

Did they measure your sit bones? Your specialized dealer should have a simple device that they use to determine which width of saddle to recommend. It's memeory foam - you sit on it, the width between then indentations from your bones are measured and then a saddle size it determined. The actual size of your butt has nothing to do with the width of the saddle you need.

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Actually, that was why I ended up with a specialized saddle, but apparently specialized doesn't offer the butt measurement device anymore. Two local specialized dealers said specialized had them send them back last month. So no butt measurement for me. :mad:

I have about 1800 miles on the bike since I got it in March. I've been riding long rides every weekend, and before this my longest ride was 85 miles. However, the saddle is brand new. I realize riding a century on a brand new saddle is somewhat ill advised, but my other one was causing me so much soft tissue pain, I figured it probably wouldn't be any worse.

I'm hoping maybe the chafing problems will decrease as I use the saddle more, but I suspect that I may need the middle size saddle, and the bike store I bought this one from only has a 7 day exchange policy. I'm going to call around to the other local specialized dealers and see if anyone has the 143mm Jett in stock so I can try it out. I also hate to find it somewhere else and return this one to the LBS, because they spent so much time with me test riding and setting my bike up correctly when I bought this saddle. I'm going to call them tomorrow and see if they can order one for me.

You can also measure your own width by using a curb and a piece of paper. Just set the paper on the curb and sit down on your sit bones. It should leave marks on the paper which you can then measure.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...=measure+bones

this should help you some - not to mention great from some grins and giggles!

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Originally Posted by CorsairMac

You can also measure your own width by using a curb and a piece of paper. Just set the paper on the curb and sit down on your sit bones. It should leave marks on the paper which you can then measure.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...=measure+bones

this should help you some - not to mention great from some grins and giggles!

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Thanks, that was pretty funny! It seems my sit bones are about 6 inches apart, so I guess the 165mm width is probably right. I guess my next ride just calls for a whole lot of chamois butt'r.

Also, this saddle is less padded than previous ones, so it might take a little while for my sit bones to adjust. I have a little sit bone pain today, but the chafing got much better after a liberal application of aquaphor. And even with those problems, this saddle is SO much better than previous ones.

6" must be common for a woman. I measured 145 mm with my specialized dealer so not all of them have returned the foam.

Renee, I was in Mad town last week Monday and Tuesday and stopped at the Yellow Jersey (I couldn't remember the shop you used). He put a new more curved handle bar on and raised it quite a bit for me. Of course, he said my seat looks too narrow (it is now that I've been measured), and the sitting more upright puts more pressure on the sit bones. I took it for a whopping 13 mile ride yesterday and find the more upright position, well, weird feeling. My tail bones not as sore but I need to rider over 15 miles to see if I get rubbed raw at all. Then it's time for another new saddle....

Dar

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Originally Posted by SimpleCycle

After many saddle woes and five saddles later, I now I have Specialized women specific Jett saddle. It is a dream compared to all the others with no soft tissue pain, but after a century today, I am chafed beyond anything I could have imagined. It's mostly in the crease between my butt and rear thigh, and I think it might be that the saddle is too wide. Specialized sells their saddles in three widths, but the bike store only had the widest one. Could this be my problem?

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A too-wide saddle could definitely be causing chafing in just those spots you mention. I had been using Terry Butterfly saddles for years and recommending them to everyone, but I had the same problem with them. I figured they were still great for me because my sit bones and tender bits didn't hurt, but I finally decided to try a narrower saddle (still WSD and with a cutout) and found that the chafing is GONE! I now use saddles with a rear width of 140-145 mm, and they are perfect for me. The saddles I use are the Selle San Marco Atola Gelaround on my go-fast road bike, and Performance Contour Womens on my Bike Friday (touring/utility bike) and mountain bike. My Terry Butterflies measure at 160 mm wide in the back.

Hope this helps!

Emily

Dar-

Cronometro is my bike shop of choice, but I also frequent Willy, Eriks, Budget and sometimes the overpriced Trek store. Eriks carries Specialized bikes, which I'm partial to....but I'd never let them work on my bike or fit me.

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Originally Posted by mtbdarby

6" must be common for a woman. I measured 145 mm with my specialized dealer so not all of them have returned the foam.

Renee, I was in Mad town last week Monday and Tuesday and stopped at the Yellow Jersey (I couldn't remember the shop you used). He put a new more curved handle bar on and raised it quite a bit for me. Of course, he said my seat looks too narrow (it is now that I've been measured), and the sitting more upright puts more pressure on the sit bones. I took it for a whopping 13 mile ride yesterday and find the more upright position, well, weird feeling. My tail bones not as sore but I need to rider over 15 miles to see if I get rubbed raw at all. Then it's time for another new saddle....

Dar

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I loved the butterfly for pressure relief but it turned my thigh crease to hamburger.
I am now using the men's version, but the cut-out isn't in the right spot.
I am thinking about one of those Fizik Arione which is supposed to flex on the thighs.
Saddle hell continues.....

We should set up a saddle swap program here on the site. So many of us have saddles that just aren't right. Maybe swap little used saddles of equal or comparable price to each other. Each would have to pay for shipping. Maybe everyone could list saddles they have that they might like to swap.
Any thoughts?

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Originally Posted by Surlygirl

We should set up a saddle swap program here on the site. So many of us have saddles that just aren't right. Maybe swap little used saddles of equal or comparable price to each other. Each would have to pay for shipping. Maybe everyone could list saddles they have that they might like to swap.
Any thoughts?

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Sounds like a great idea. :)

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Originally Posted by Surlygirl

We should set up a saddle swap program here on the site. So many of us have saddles that just aren't right. Maybe swap little used saddles of equal or comparable price to each other. Each would have to pay for shipping. Maybe everyone could list saddles they have that they might like to swap.
Any thoughts?

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awesome idea - 1 womans trash is another womans treasure

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We should set up a saddle swap program here on the site. So many of us have saddles that just aren't right. Maybe swap little used saddles of equal or comparable price to each other. Each would have to pay for shipping. Maybe everyone could list saddles they have that they might like to swap.
Any thoughts?

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Love the idea - I have a growing pile of "not quite right" saddles here at home :( . Just got my new Selle San Marco Aero today, but might not get a chance to try it out before next week.

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Originally Posted by bikerz

Love the idea - I have a growing pile of "not quite right" saddles here at home :( . Just got my new Selle San Marco Aero today, but might not get a chance to try it out before next week.

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bikerz - dont forget to let us know how that one works out for you. Im interested to know how it rates against the Atola. :)