HELP!! Struggles with saddles...

[OakLeaf]

I don't know, it sounds to me like your sitbones just haven't toughened up enough yet. If the only pain you were having on the 155 Lithia was in the sitbones - where all the other narrower saddles chafed your girly parts - then it really sounds like it's probably a good saddle for you. Some sitbone pain is to be expected for a new or returning rider.

How many miles did you put on the Lithia before it got painful? Did it just feel like bruising? How long before the pain went away?

When you say it's your first new road bike in 15 years, have you been riding another type of bike all along? If so, what kind of saddle is on your other bike(s)? Or have you not been riding at all up until now? Was that 7-10 miles a very short ride for you, or a long one, or average?


ETA: you may still need to tweak saddle tilt even after a very good professional fitting. For one thing, a tilt difference of just one degree can make a huge difference in comfort. (And if you don't have a micro-adjustable seatpost, you can shim it with a little piece of metal cut from a beer can.) For another thing... well, they don't measure you THERE.

[mayanorange]

If the lithia is bothering your sitbones I would not go to the Ruby or SSM Aspide- they're both very firm. I can't contribute another recommendation tho- the Lithia was fine for my tush, but the cutout was a nightmare. I have a Selle SMP TRK on order to try- I'm still searching too.

[Norse]

I am still in search of the just right saddle as well. I currently have a Selle San Marco Glamour Aspide Arrowhead on order. I need a cutout and the Arrowhead model has one.

On my bike now is the Specialized Jett 155, which replaced a Terry Race Liberator which was ok for the first 6 months of use but it apparently softened up and started giving me horrid chafing after the first 50 miles. I really want the Jett to work - it looks awesome on my bike! But, I have about 500 miles on it now and I get a bit of chafing past day 2 of a several day event ride AND, it just seems too darned hard on the sit bones after about mile 40. One of the guys I sometimes ride with has the male version of the Jett and he said he has sit bone issues with it as well. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the SSM. If that does not work, I may try the Selle An-Atomica.

[Grog]

I would also say that if you have sitbone pain you're headed in the right direction. It means that you are actually sitting on them. It is largely a matter of toughening them up. I don't know how much you had been riding previously, though. If you had been going for hours without sitbone pain on your previous bike/saddle, it's a different story. But it's normal to feel some discomfort at first if you are not accustomed to cycling long-distance...

Even my office chair gets uncomfortable after a few hours!

[postiechic]

nightmare. I have a Selle SMP TRK on order to try

I have 2 of these saddles. First I put the men's one on my road bike and found it to be the most comfy saddle I've tried. So after quite a few months I put the women's one on my hybrid. Thoroughly recommeded and didn't cost an arm and a leg.

[Rosie road]

Thanks for that recommendation. I think I will try one. Do you notice a big difference between the men's and women's?

I'm jealous of your location as I know you are just coming in to your good riding season and we are bundling up and racing the daylight to continue ours. I also just order the best headlights from DiNotte Lighting. Very expensive but super small, light and powerful. Small company and very customer friendly.

[postiechic]

Now that I'm used to riding on both the men's and the women's, I don't notice any difference. If I were to swap em around maybe I would. The reason I got the men's for the roadie is that the women's was wider than anything I've had before and I didn't think it would work on a road bike. Even the men's one is quite wide for a bloke's saddle. The reason I went for the women's one for the hybrid is that the extra width in the more upright postion is pretty ok - for me anyway. I like the large cutout and the way the nose angles downwards.

The seasons seem to come and go so fast for all of us. Before long I'll be reading about you guys in the northern hemisphere getting ready for summer again. Ahhh....summer......daylight savings......mmmm

[arim]

I don't know, it sounds to me like your sitbones just haven't toughened up enough yet. If the only pain you were having on the 155 Lithia was in the sitbones - where all the other narrower saddles chafed your girly parts - then it really sounds like it's probably a good saddle for you. Some sitbone pain is to be expected for a new or returning rider.

How many miles did you put on the Lithia before it got painful? Did it just feel like bruising? How long before the pain went away?

When you say it's your first new road bike in 15 years, have you been riding another type of bike all along? If so, what kind of saddle is on your other bike(s)? Or have you not been riding at all up until now? Was that 7-10 miles a very short ride for you, or a long one, or average?


ETA: you may still need to tweak saddle tilt even after a very good professional fitting. For one thing, a tilt difference of just one degree can make a huge difference in comfort. (And if you don't have a micro-adjustable seatpost, you can shim it with a little piece of metal cut from a beer can.) For another thing... well, they don't measure you THERE.

I've been riding for a while now. The BIKE is new, but I'm not . Been riding for 6 years (to get back into shape after my 3 children), and spinning in the winter. My 15-year old entry level Trek road bike never fit me right, which is why I bought the new one. The old bike had a stock Serfas seat (don't ask me which--I have no idea), which worked fine--never an issue, but it was getting old. The new bike came with a stock Bontrager seat (a Trek also), which was cushy on the sit bones, but pinched in the front after a while. I NEVER had sit bone pain on any of my bike seats, which is why I was so surprised when I tried the new ones.

The Lithia 155 gave me sit bone pain after about 7-10 miles, which is a short ride for me. I tried riding it 3 times, for total milage of about 60 miles before I gave up on it. Pain went away as soon as I stopped riding.

Thanks for the tip on the tilt! The seat fitting put a level on the seat to make sure it was straight, but maybe just a little tilt down would have helped?

I'm so bummed about the Jett--I really wanted it to work. Just rode it in a triathlon this weekend, hammering the whole way (the bike is by far my best event), and hated the darn thing as soon as I hit around 7 miles. I move around on the bike, in the drops, out of the saddle, so it wasn't about me being lazy and just SITTING there!