What kind of seat to buy? What do you have?

[hansbrea]

I am wanting to buy a new bike seat sometime. Mine is 16 years old and the plain flat style that is very uncomfortable. I did buy a gel seat cover that helps a bunch but I don't like how it moves around and I still got hot and sweaty.

What kind of seats do you ladies like? How much do they cost? I've seen the prices and know I will have to save up for this for a bit if I want a good one but don't know what to go with. I think I'd like a full cut out but are those uncomfortable? Add in any other ideas or things to look for that you can think of, too.

[Rebekah H]

(I've only been riding for a little over a week.)

I started on my husband's saddle that was super hard and super narrow. It hurt the lady bidness in ways I never though possible so I ordered the Terry Butterfly and rode 22 miles on it yesterday. My two cents:

1. I'm a big ole tub 'o lard and (two hundred mumbly pounds) and it seems a little wide for me. It seemed to be too wide for the area between my legs where my thighs would never let the light of day shine through. This was a little odd and offputtin'. I mean really, I don't need my thigh fat to get stuck on my seat. It's bad enough that I'm this rotund, but cycling kind of makes me forget that I am gigantor and I don't need a saddle to remind me by trying to make sweet, sweet love with my thigh jiggle. Bad saddle! Bad!

2. The rest is really great. It's softish, much softer than riding on the razor thin strip of torture that I was riding before and never got uncomfortable on my sit bones. My lady bidness had plenty of relief and I only had what I would imagine was normal, minimal discomfort when I got off after being on the bike for almost two hours straight.

I'm giving it another week to see if the thigh dilemma works itself out. For now, I think I love it. It was $75 from Performance.

I hope you find the right saddle!

[Velocivixen]

I just bought my first ever road bike in 27 years on Saturday (I've had my aluminum hubrid for 10 months or so). The new bike has a WTB SST saddle, which apparently is loved by many. I rode about 3 miles on it and decided to take up the bike shop on their offer to give me $18 trade in on it for a new Brooks B17 standard saddle. It's on my bike this second and I'm waiting to ride it. I'll post back later today with my appraisal on it.

[Owlie]

It's all very individual, but I'd tell you straight off to avoid something that's very cushy. They're not bad for very short distances, but as you sit on them, the padding compresses in some places and not in others and starts putting pressure on soft tissue. Ouch!

Measure your sitbones. Lots of threads over in the saddle section telling you how to do it.

[Rebekah H]

It's all very individual, but I'd tell you straight off to avoid something that's very cushy. They're not bad for very short distances, but as you sit on them, the padding compresses in some places and not in others and starts putting pressure on soft tissue. Ouch!

Measure your sitbones. Lots of threads over in the saddle section telling you how to do it.

What do you think of the Butterfly? Will I be wanting to change it in a few months when I'm less, um, large?

[ny biker]

What do you think of the Butterfly? Will I be wanting to change it in a few months when I'm less, um, large?

Not necessarily. Your sit bone width does not vary with your overall butt size. And though some women find that the Butterfly has too much padding in the nose, plenty of others are very comfortable on it.

[Owlie]

The width you need won't change--it has to support your sitbones with a little wiggle room on each side. Since your sitbones are, well, bone, they don't change with weight. You may find that you sit differently on the saddle as your fitness improves, though.

The Butterfly is pretty much the same as my old saddle--they're made by the same company, just with a different cover and markings. Lots of people on here ride both of them, and love them. It didn't work for me, but that shouldn't discourage you from trying it. Just get it from somewhere with a good return policy!

[ny biker]

Take some time to read some of the saddle threads here. You'll want to measure your sit bones to see what width saddle you need. Also you can do the smush test to see if a cutout is likely to be helpful for you.

What kind of bike do you have?