Finding the right saddle...

[Miranda]

I can handle being in the drops a long time and have always ridden a saddle--the Terry Butterfly Tri Gel to be precise--with a cutout. You might try that.

That's my saddle. I love it.

I had tried many, many, saddles on my old bike. That I later learned it was not the saddles so much. It was the bike being 2 frames sizes too big for me. Which TWO shops had told me that my bike *fit* me. What a joke.

I tried a couple Terrys too for saddles. Pressure problems. The tri gel is a variant that I did not try. But, the main thing was the bike.

I knew it was the saddle for me (on the new correct fitting ride to boot) because I was riding along... and it disappeared. When I got off the bike from the test ride the shop owner wanted to know how the bike was. First thing I said was, "WHAT is this saddle?!?!". I was shocked it was a Terry. I had wrote them off.

OK... also, how aero is your bike set up? I have all the steering quill w/spacers & a riser stem... I'm still about 1.5" below saddle height. I love my drops. But alternate. Still, no pressure problems. You should really be able to ride comfortably on the hoods most of the time. THAT I could never do either on the old ride. Now, it's ok.

The short of it: it you are too stretched out/ rolled forward--weight bearing on the pubic bone, NO saddle will ever completely relieve tender parts pressure (mine never did).

Good Luck!