New Saddle Review

[elk]

Thanks for sharing this, Elk. I'm in the market for a new saddle and I just sent it to my husband with the request that we make a trip to Bike Gallery this weekend.

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[foothillsbass]

My girlfriend is in a very frustrating quest to find a comfortable saddle. Her sit bones are 160mm wide (measured by both Specialized and Bontrager technology), so she falls in the sit bone width purgatory between performance saddles and cush saddles. She is a fast recreational road rider with the occasional race thrown in for fun, so a firmer performance saddle is her preference. She tried the Bontrager inForm R saddle, 160mm width, and did not like it at all. For starters, it is 160mm at its widest point at the underside of the saddle; the top of the saddle at the edge is 155mm. Because of the unusual angular shape of the sides of the saddle and width of her sit bones, the sides would compress like an accordion, making for a very uncomfortable feeling. In addition, the padding was much softer than the RL (which was unavailable in her size), which causes its own set of problems over a longer ride. Because of the softness of the padding, it negated any advantage of their shape intended to support the rami. Of course, if her sit bones fit within the 130-155mm group that apparently all performance saddle makers believe that all women fall between, we're certain it would have been more comfortable. Kudos, though, to Bontrager for their fit guarantee.