Saddle cut-outs for women?

[kenyonchris]

You've given me some good ideas. Actually, I was riding the narrower Brooks saddles (Swallow and Swift), but I may try the Butterfly on one of my bikes. Do any of you have experience with the Damselfly?

I know there are a lot of people who like the Terry saddles, but for me they have been horrible. Awful, I tell you. I rode in the Brooks B17 for a while and loved it until mile 50, then hated it. So I changed to the Specialized Ruby, which I loved. When I got rid of my Specialized bike, I wandered around in saddle hell for a while and tried a LOT of the Terry saddles. For me, too soft. My husband told me it looked like a Trike saddle, I really don't care WHAT it looks like, but it was a little padded. I am small and pretty narrow and they were just too soft. I tried the Damselfly and one of the others (I can't remember which one) to no avail. I finally went back to the Ruby on my Pinarello, and can ride comfortably on that for 100 plus miles.
I don't like the weird plastic things on it, but they don't interfere with how I sit.

[zoom-zoom]

I know there are a lot of people who like the Terry saddles, but for me they have been horrible. Awful, I tell you. I rode in the Brooks B17 for a while and loved it until mile 50, then hated it. So I changed to the Specialized Ruby, which I loved.

First saddle I tried was a Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow (which I have been told is essentially the same as the Terry Butterfly...?). Miserable. Too wide and too pear-shaped for me. The cut-out ended up too far back, since I would end up too far forward on the seat because the shape was so wrong for me.

I now have a Specialized BG Jett 143...perfect. I love that saddle. T-shaped and narrower was what my rear-end needed.

[samaram]

Do any of you have experience with the Damselfly?

I've recently been trying the Damselfly on my commuter because I found it cheap on Craigslist and my road bike came with a Butterfly that I instantly loved. I measured my sitbones at around 145 and I thought I could handle a more narrow saddle. At first the Damselfly was an improvement over the crap stock saddle that came on my commuter, but I've started to notice more discomfort on my soft tissue, like I'm not really sitting on my sit bones (most of you more experienced ladies out there are shouting "Of Course!!"). So I love the Butterfly and I want to love the Damselfly, but it is not right for me.

That's my two cents. I like Terrys in general, and I like the Damselfly's construction and the more minimal padding than the stock saddle. But I put the old one back on because I've noticed a slight lessening of sensitivity to my soft tissue--not so much that I would call it numbing, but enough to make me want to look for a better option, most likely a second Butterfly or the Lady Gel Flow. (Right now I'm lusting after a yellow Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow--my bike is black with yellow accents!!!)

[buffybike]

First saddle I tried was a Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow (which I have been told is essentially the same as the Terry Butterfly...?). Miserable. Too wide and too pear-shaped for me. The cut-out ended up too far back, since I would end up too far forward on the seat because the shape was so wrong for me.

I now have a Specialized BG Jett 143...perfect. I love that saddle. T-shaped and narrower was what my rear-end needed.

++1!! Except that I have th 155mm Jett.