Sorry, but another sore hoo-hoo thread.

[Scrappy]

Well, I'm sorry to add another one of these threads to the list but I am at my wits end. I finally have a bike that fits, but I cannot seem to find a saddle that does not make my hoo-hoo raw and painful. It feels like I am riding on my pubic bone as much as my sit bones, but my bars are right at or just a hair above saddle height. My stem is 80mm long and I know I am not stretched out too far. Actually it feels slightly less painful "down there and up front" the further back I shove my butt on the saddle when I ride - especially when I'm really trying to move along.

So far I've tried saddles with and without cutouts - leather and man made, both chafe in the same spots - up front near the top of the 'triangle" so to speak. The saddles with cutouts actually seem to put more pressure on the sides of my pubic bones up front where I'm having problems. The best I've tried so far is a Velo Orange racing type leather saddle with no cutout that is hard and almost flat as a board, but it is slightly too narrow in back, and I am sitting on the rails. It chafes up front but not as much as the others I've tried because I feel like I am sitting more on my sit-bones on this saddle than any others. (Padding or padded shorts make it worse)

I have a 2 day 140 mile ride in a couple of weeks and I need to get this sorted or I will not make it past mile 40. Help!

[OakLeaf]

If you have to keep shoving yourself back to get on the part of the saddle you're supposed to be sitting on, it sounds like your saddle is probably too wedge (pear) shaped for you. Brooks saddles are both wide and very T-shaped, and Wallingford Bike has a great trial policy ...

How wide do you need? How wide is the one you're riding now? From the pictures I'm pulling up online, it looks like the "race" saddle is the narrowest one VO offers...

[ny biker]

1. Measure your sit bones and make sure the saddle is wide enough for them.

2. If sliding back feels better, do you need to move your saddle forward a bit? I recently experimented with moving my saddle back a few millimeters and found a marked increase in pubic bone pain and soft tissue chafing. Even if that doesn't solve the problem completely, it might make your current saddle more bearable while you search for a better one.

3. Other t-shaped saddles:

- Selle San Marco Aspide Glamour (155 mm; very firm; no cutout, though the Arrowhead model has a cutout).

- Bontrager Affinity (designed for your riding position, based on your description of saddle height vs. bar height; comes in 3 widths and 3 levels of padding; no cut out; widest WDS Affinity is same size and shape as Aspide Glamour, if you like that shape but want more padding; Bontrager offers 30-day guarantee.)

- Specialized (Ruby, Jett, Lithia, depending on amount of padding you want; has a cutout; comes in 3 widths; Specialized website offers 30-day guarantee though local stores might not.)

[Scrappy]

Thank you for the responses. My sit bones are in the 150-155 size. The current Velo Orange saddle is 150mm at the widest. It is shaped like a lollipop. I am still fiddling with the saddle adjustment, I'll try moving it forward next. My backside loved the brooks B17 imperial, but the hammock effect caused chaffing terribly up front even after I tightened it several turns with the wrench.

I borrowed a Team PRO S (women's model) hoping that the stiffer leather would not give so much, but it also is shaped like a bowl and chaffed up front like the B17. I'm seriously considering a Brooks B15 Swallow, but the $209 price tag for the base model is putting me off.

The Bontrager Affinity does look very good. So does the Selle San Marco. Thanks for the direction! I'll see if I can find any of those in my area.

I've tried a couple of Specialized models and they feel great for the first 25 miles, but after that the cutout starts to chafe.

[OakLeaf]

I've had issues with the cut-out on Spec' saddles, too. It's early days yet, and my longest ride so far on my SI Turbomatic is only 56 miles, but so far I'm very happy with it.

It may just be that the Jett is still too padded - I never did try a Ruby. That was going to be my next try if I hadn't found such a great deal on the Turbomatic.

[GLC1968]

I also had a lot of trouble with soft-tissue chaffing. For the first 5 years of cycling, I just assumed I had to 'toughen up' up front every season. Ugh!

Relief came to me with the Bontrager inForm RL (WSD). It's similiar to the Affinity but I think it's slightly more T shaped. Comes in three widths - and it's no where near as padded as it looks in the images! The indentation in the front region turned out to be significantly more comfortable (and less chaffing) to me than any cutout I'd tried. It may be worth a shot.