Saddle help- ?Terry Beetle, Liberator Y

[Scarlet]

maybe I am barking up the wrong tree but I find a specialized dolce womens BG extremely comfy both for hybrid bike (upright position) and for road bike. I bought one for my hybrid as it had a massive wide seat that came with it, so uncomfy, fortunately my road bike came with the BG saddle on.
hope you find something soon, I also had to move my saddle backwards and forwards to find the right place for me (I have it marked with nail polish now where it goes , just in case I have to take it off)
good luck

Scarlet

[anakiwa]

Thanks for the suggestions. My road bike is where I seem to be the most bothered (probably because I'm on the saddle for longer periods of time)- the Liberator X seems to work okay on my touring bike/ mountain bike (though I may put a Brooks on the touring bike at some point). Because it's my lightweight roadbike I'm looking for a saddle for, I'd like to keep it from being really really heavy.

The B68 looks interesting- but could it be too wide?

I checked the Dolce online- it's width is 155 mm (6.1 in)- way too narrow for me. I'm looking for something wider than the Liberator X- 6.5 in (165 mm).

What about the Avocet women's O2 Air 40? Does anyone have any experience with this one?

[KnottedYet]

The B68 looks interesting- but could it be too wide?

I think it really depends on your sit-bones. My sits are in the 170-180mm range. The B67 is the first saddle I've ever had that truly was wide enough, in that I have a margin of seat beyond the area I am weightbearing on. The widest part of the B66-67-68 is 210mm.

www.wallbike.com has all the measurements of the various Brooks saddles, and Bill and Diane (the owners) are very cool about answering questions over the phone or email.

[Triskeliongirl]

Just curious, did you end up ordering the beetle, and if so, what did you think? Were the rails longer than on the Finesse? I LOVE my finesse on my bike with a slack seat tube angle, but I can't get her far back enough on my other bike, even with the most laid back seatpost I can find, so I am thinking to give the beetle a try.

[Thorn]

If you try it, please post a review. I've been hoping a local bike shop would stock one so that I could see it and compare it to my current saddle.

I've been riding a Selle SMP Strike Lady. It is wide enough in the back and not a tractor saddle, but still a little too soft. I'd like something a little firmer, but it will be hard to lose its generous cutout.

[anakiwa]

I wound up purchasing 2 saddles: Avocet O2 Air (women's model) and the Terry Beetle. The Avocet arrived first and was put on the road bike. The Terry is now on my old touring bike (used for commuting and dirt road rides).

First to answer the question about the rails- I haven't looked directly (and I've now sold the Finesse and can't), but I suspect the rails are longer (or something about the saddle makes it less important). Before giving up on the Finesse I had it shoved as far back as I could get it (I have a straight Thomson post so that wasn't that far, but it was at the limit of what I could do). With both of the 2 new saddles, I'm not at the the limit (either fore or aft).

Avocet: So far this seems to be the saddle for me. It's far lighter than any saddle I've ever ridden, but still wide enough in the rear for me. I've done one longer ride (70 miles) and it still felt good at the end. It definitely needs some more test rides of significant distance (I'll post another update at some point), but I'm really hopeful that this saddle is the one for me.

Beetle: Definitely has potential. I have yet to ride it for more than 11 miles at a time and therefore can't comment on how it holds up for distance rides. It seems quite comfy. I can say that I did commute to work, then to a group run, then home one day wearing tri-shorts (much less padding than my typical bike shorts) and it felt fine. The material used to cover it is a little different (not as slippery). Definitely worth a try as well if it seems like the profile is right.

[Triskeliongirl]

Thanks for the update! At this point I ordered the beetle and will post a review. I do plan to take advantage of the 30 day return if I don't like The avocet is also very interesting, since it is also quite light. If I don't like the beetle, I'll try that next. Who did you buy your avocet from? Is the 30 day guarantee from avocet or the vendor?