saddle and shorts

[kgorrell]

Thank you all for your input. This is my first time on the discussion board and I'm finding it very helpful. I didn't expect to receive so much feedback and really appreciate everyone's thoughts.

As far as the saddle pain, my pain is from the pressure on my sits bones (at least that's what it feels like). It seems like the friction on a saddle that does not have much padding really bothers me. It feels like my bones are being bruised if that makes any sense.

Has anyone tried Terry Butterfly or san marco?

And are the sugio RS shorts true to size? It says a small is a 27 and an extra small is 25.5, but I'm a 26 so I'm wondering if I be better off with a small or extra small?

[VeloVT]

Hey motochick: Castelli does make a women's bib with Kiss chamois:

http://www.bicyclinghub.com/20cazenduewo2.html

It is from this season too, since it's on Castelli's website:
http://www.castelli-us.com/pc-985-5-...bshort-18.aspx

I have the half-short version of these, they're pretty comfortable.

To the original poster: I think the Sugoi shorts run pretty true to size. I wear a small in the RS Flex shorts, a small in PI, a small in Shebeest, etc. I can't say which size you should order based on your waist measurement -- my hips are a little bigger than most of the hip measurements given for smalls, for instance, but I have a huge difference between my waist and hips (wide hips -- waist is much smaller), and if I order to fit exact hip measurement the shorts will be too big all over (including chamois -- yuck!) -- it all depends on how you're built. But I think with these shorts you're probably safe ordering the size you wear in most other shorts...

ETA: funny that Koala and I should post at the same time. Just goes to show we're all built differently. I think it DOES make more intuitive sense to order by hips instead of waist, but IN FACT I get a better fit by ordering by waist size... go figure...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Make sure you look at some of the bazillion threads all about various saddles and experiences with them:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/forumdisplay.php?f=72

[VeloVT]

Now don't you go letting those Brooks people initiate you into the cult .

I admit Brooks saddle have certain vintage chic but they are H-E-A-V-Y and only look right on steel. IMHO .

Then, I love my Arione and only mourn its chubby 230g, and if I had the $$$ right now I'd definitely replace it with one of the new light 150g carbon rail Arione CXs. Every now and then I flirt with going to an SLR for weight but the Arione is SOOOOO comfy to me...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Now don't you go letting those Brooks people initiate you into the cult .

I admit Brooks saddle have certain vintage chic but they are H-E-A-V-Y and only look right on steel. IMHO .

They're not as heavy as those huge hematomas I got on my butt from riding one time on a soft squishy padded saddle!

and.....everything looks right on steel....especially ME!

[VeloVT]

They're not as heavy as those huge hematomas I got from riding on a soft squishy padded saddle!

and.....everything looks right on steel....especially ME!

Well, I have to admit that your new Luna is MUY BONITA and looks GUAPA with her Brooks.


But still...

[OakLeaf]

Bleecker, hematomas, OW! How long was it before you could ride again???

+1 on trying the Specialized Lithia. It's T-shaped, but with a lot more padding than the Jett or Ruby. Terry saddles tend to be much more pear-shaped.

I like the idea of a saddle exchange. It wouldn't work for people who are hung up about the price, because there's just no way to equalize it (e.g. is an unused Fizik Vitesse Sport worth more or less than a high-dollar SSM with 1000 miles on it?) - it would have to be one-for-one regardless of the retail price, I think. Except there probably would have to be some consideration for the storeroom winding up with a whole pile of OEM saddles - maybe someone submitting an OEM would have to kick in $5 toward the cost of storage, or something.

But it had occurred to me before, and I think it's a good idea. Not everyone lives within range of a LBS that carries a large stock of saddles, not all LBS's are willing to let a customer try out saddles for an extended period of time, and even I don't like the idea of having to deal with, say, four or five mail order companies that I'd never heard of before, each of which only carries one of the saddles I'm curious about.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Bleecker, hematomas, OW! How long was it before you could ride again???

Oh gosh I was just KIDDING! I meant that I had incredible pain and subsequent numbness once from riding only 2 hours on a lightweight foam padded "comfort" saddle, whereas riding on my 'hard' unpadded 'heavy' Brooks is totally dreamy-comfortable. I doubt if a Brooks is more than a couple onces or so heavier than most other saddles anyway.

[motochick]

Wow! Thanks Liza. I saw the ones from the Castelli website, but it did not say which chamois it used. I searched hi and low, but somehow missed them. I will have to give the women's version a try!

To kgorrell, I have a Lady gel flow with very low miles if you would like to try it. It worked well for me on shorter rides.

Brenda

[VeloVT]

Wow! Thanks Liza. I saw the ones from the Castelli website, but it did not say which chamois it used. I searched hi and low, but somehow missed them. I will have to give the women's version a try!

To kgorrell, I have a Lady gel flow with very low miles if you would like to try it. It worked well for me on shorter rides.

Brenda

Google, because you can find them in a number of places, but I think they're significantly cheaper here:
http://www.glorycycles.com/cazenwobi18.html

These might be older though, different bib strap color. (I've ordered a few things from this shop though & they are legit and will answer your emails promptly).