I got measured at City Bikes, where I bought my bike (the Chevy Chase location). After sitting on the thing several times, I was on the cusp for 143-155. I find that the 155 is good because I can get my sit bones more squarely on the saddle, more weight over them, and less weight on the front. (too bad they don't carry many 155s in the store). I had assumed that the 143 was fine given my measurements since I had no sit bone pain, but perhaps not.
To answer the questions posed, I do wear padded shorts, though I wear a fairly minimal chamois (thicker touring ones are chafing), and as I've haven't had any sit bone issues since my first week of spinning, I feel most comfortable in low padding. My old saddle and the Jett have cutouts. I only tried ones of that type in the store yesterday. I looked for ones that narrowed more dramatically towards the nose, since the one seat recommended by the woman helping me just rubbed on my inner thigh from being too wide (I also have chafing issues on spin bikes from the width after a while).
I focused on more squish factor and narrowness around the cutout. I can handle a little hardness under the sit bones b/c my sit bones are pretty tough. Anything to help with the other pain. I suppose that with my equestrian saddles, you've got better weight distribution, and you're usually sitting back over the sit bones (when you lean forward on your pelvis, you're typically standing out of the saddle versus on a road bike).
I like the concept of the cutout, since I have no pain on the girl parts, but perhaps that just increases the weight on the sides of that area?
I've just got to find something that won't kill me in 20 miles. I'll never improve if I can't spend more time on the bike.



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