how long to determine that a saddle is not right?

[ilima]

Three weeks sounds like you gave it an honest try.

There have been some saddles I have rejected pretty much instantly (Fizik Arione), but others have take more time. And some didn't reveal how bad their uncomfortableness was until about 40 miles in.

The saddle that worked for me (SSM Aspide Glamour) felt a bit hard at first, but within minutes I had forgotten about it. I've never had any major discomfort, even on long (70+ mile) rides.

[TraderJane]

Update: I purchased a squishy "recreational" saddle last week and it is much better. It's a 155, same size as my original saddle. I am so happy that I can now ride my bike everyday instead of waiting four or five days for the bruised feeling to dissipate. The guy at my LBS tried to discourage me from going to a softer saddle because they are extremely uncomfortable after a couple hours of riding. I think I told him about five times, "yes, but I only ride for 30-45 mins at a time and it will be many months before I ride for more than 90 minutes, so the fact that it is uncomfortable after two hours is irrelevant." I think my point was lost on him, which was kind of disappointing. My advice to the ladies with tender tooshies like mine: buy the squishy saddle!

[Tuckervill]

But know that you'll be buying a new one when you're up to the longer rides!

The bruised feeling will go away over time. You'll have to adjust to that when you change saddles again.

Karen

[shellkay1212]

I had a fit and we moved my saddle back to get my knee position as close as possible to the correct place.

But, my saddle - oi - the bruise feeling is not on my sitbones. They are absolutely fine. It's more toward the front- the girly parts. My LBS guys are working with me. In fact, I stopped in there to get my super blinky Saturday and one of the fit guys asked if I had gotten the issue resolved.

Um, on one hand, I'm glad the guy who did my fit consulted him but uhhhh, it is sort of weird to think that they are discussing my bruised girly parts!