saddle and shorts

[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.

[redrhodie]

My Zero has a new home!

[kgorrell]

Here is more specific information if anyone has had similar problems or has additional suggestions on a saddle that might work:

The specialized ariel seems to be the most comfortable so far and it feels like if it were a little wider in the back, a little narrower in the nose, and a little firmer it would be perfect (is that too much to ask?). The lithia does look like a possibility and I will try to give it a try before giving up on Specialized saddles. As far as the pain on my sits bones, it seems to be on the inside where I'm having trouble. It feels like something wider in the back would solve that problem. All the saddles I've been trying have been cutouts which I'm not sure I necessarily need in a saddle. I feel like the ruby and the alias were way too hard and something with firm padding would be ideal (the ariel is a little too cushy).

Anyway, I'm going to try to test out the Lithia and if that doesn't work then I'm not really sure what I'll do next.

Thanks to all those who have offered suggestions and input.

[VeloVT]

Don't know what your reaction to the Arione was, but if you sort of liked some things about it, you might think about trying the Fizik Vitesse. It is wider in back (150 mm or 155, I forget), has much more of a "t" shape than the Arione (narrower nose, more abrupt flare at the back), but is nice and firm. My bf has a 2007 Specialized Alias that neither of us like, it has "corners" that you run into at the rear -- although the Vitesse has a "t" shape, the transition is smooth and comfortable.

The Vitesse is a women's saddle -- it came stock on my new bike -- after riding it for a while I have decided I actually prefer the Arione, but not because the Vitesse is uncomfortable for any reason, I just like how easy it is to "slide around" and ride in different spots comfortably on the Arione -- the Vitesse is more of a traditional "find the sweet spot and stay there" shape.

Good luck!

Edit: here is a link to the Vitesse on Fizik's website -- if you look for the little, teeny-tiny numbers beneath the picture, there are three different views, so you can get a better idea of the overall shape:
http://www.fizik.it/catalog.aspx?sub...HP_winglex_top