I prefer my saddle absolutely level. I ride a Terry Butterfly saddle with leather cover and cutout and find it exceedingly comfy. I'll never change saddles again. I can ride a metric with no pain at all; anything longer and I start to get what I call "saddle fatique", where my crotch area just feels heavy and tired, but not raw and no sore sitbones, just tired of sitting on a saddle for so long. I use Chamois Butt'r just in the crease between inner thighs and crotch for rides > 20 miles.

I think for me the biggest thing that helped was just "toughening up" my saddle area by putting in the miles ~ I rode over 4000 miles last year and am up to over 2200 this year so far. I used to have lots more saddle problems when I rode less, but the more I ride, the fewer problems I have. It's nice to be able to hop on the bike now and never worry about my saddle. Of course, having a really good bike fit (fore/aft saddle possition, saddle height, handlebar height, correct stem length, etc.) is vital too. If one piece of the puzzle is off, other parts can suffer!

Emily