breaking in a new saddle

[chickwhorips]

so does this mean i didn't get a good saddle? these things are so frustrating.

all i know is i needed a good saddle with a cut out. i saw a good review on this one and figured i would give it a try.

hopefully my back end will adjust to it or i'm right back to where i started and another saddle goes to ebay.

[SadieKate]

No, it just means that whoever told you it needed a break in period was probably mistaken.

[melissam]

AKA: Can this marriage (between chickwhorips and the Selle San Marco Aspide Glamour) be saved?

Could be. While it's true that this saddle won't break in like the good ol' Brooks, there are other factors:

1. Maybe this saddle hits chickwhorips in different spots than her other saddle, and these areas need to "toughen up."

2. Maybe it's a matter of positioning the seat in a slightly different way?

I dunno, chickwhorips, I'd give it a couple more tries before bailing on it.

Good luck!

-- Melissa

[emily_in_nc]

I dunno, chickwhorips, I'd give it a couple more tries before bailing on it.

I agree. I changed from a Terry Butterfly (wider and softer) to a Selle San Marco Atola on my road bike a year or so ago. The first couple of rides the Atola felt awfully hard after the cush of a B-fly, and I got a little sore in the sit bones even though I was not a new rider. However, that passed after the first few rides and I ended up loving the Atola.

It doesn't always work that way, though. A couple of years ago I had tried to change from the Butterfly to the Damselfly. No go. It felt miserable on the first ride, and the second, and the third. It pinched my girlie bits and made them raw because the cutout was too narrow, and it was just plain too hard. I couldn't get used to it and sold it.

The Atola is narrow like the Damselfly, but is a little softer and has a larger, diamond-shape cutout that is very soft around the edges, not stiff like the Damselfly, which is why I decided to give it a go a year or two later. And it worked out.

So, give it a few more rides - you'll soon know if it is never going to work or getting better all the time!

Emily