Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
I had some chafing on my ride this weekend and there are several potential culprits, but I'm wondering if my Specialized Lithia saddle is breaking down after only 2,000 miles. Is that possible? I have a friend who puts like 7,000 per year on her much softer Dolce saddle. I was planning to go to a harder saddle next time anyhow, but I'd have thought this one would last longer than this.

Like I said, there are other potential culprits, but I'm not sure how to tell a saddle is breaking down (before it gets visibly squashed).

I seriously looked at that saddle too. It's beautiful to look at, nice cut out, but yep, pretty padded.

I think I figured out I need to hide my sitz bones resting on my saddle uneven. I have scoliosis of the spine, and I think when just one sitz bone hurts, it the spine curve and how I hold myself (I'm pretty skilled at adjusting and mounting saddles now with all that I've tried I think--not a great thing really). On a saddle with more padding, my sitz bones can sink in unevenly without me knowing it as there's room for error.

I imagine, just like your Lithia, it will rear it's ugly head as the saddle breaks down. I'm still looking for "the one" for me.

OK... Oakleaf, did you get it at a lbs, or is there one near that you can go in and check a new stock floor model out of the Lithia? You could squish the new one and compare to yours now and tell how much difference there is?

Or, if you bought it from the shop, could you take the bike/saddle in to get inspected? I tried riding both a Ruby and Jett. The Ruby would have almost worked for me but ONE sitz bone hurt... aka, not a cushy saddle, same problem as above. When I did call the specialized people from the on-line store (where I bought it) they were very helpful.

Maybe they could give you an idea of how long the saddle lasts before breakdown? Or... maybe either specialized, or lbs, could give you a new one to mount for comparison? Just my humble thoughts, fwiw.