saddle, saddle who has a good saddle

[OakLeaf]

With a short nosed saddle, there's that much less available for steering.

I'm guessing the stoker on a tandem doesn't do much if any body steering, so the nose wouldn't be missed... but having never ridden a tandem, I wonder if the captain does much body steering either, outside of racing situations?

[Dannielle]

Thanks for explaining. That makes sense. I'd like a road bike someday and I can see how it could make a difference for steering in a less upright position. My current bike has me sitting fairly upright so steering with the saddle isn't really an option.

[bikerHen]

Have you tried a Selle An-Atomica? I put one on my road bike a few years back and have been very happy. Since losing weight this year, I've had all kinds of comfort issues with the Brooks saddle on my Surly so I have sadly replaced it with an An-Atomica as well. So far so good. The real test comes in a week when I'm off to Canada for a two week, 500 mile tour. I'm REALLY hoping it works. My little three day tour over the fourth of July weekend was a little painful with the Brooks. No way would I have make it for two weeks. bikerHen

. . . I put the Brooks on the back of a Schwinn Twinn tandem vintage cruiser I just bought. We're taking it out for a flat 30 mile family ride our bike club is doing tomorrow. I'm hoping it will be more comfortable than the monster Schwinn Approved saddle that came with the bike. I get to be stoker while my husband and daughter share captain duty. Hopefully we'll all make it back alive and still talking to one another.

[tiva]

Measure your sit bones!
(they are made of rami and tuberosities. For now, don't worry, just measure!)

Weight has absolutely NOTHING to do with width of bones or saddle size. It's all about the skeleton!

Measure your bones, tell us your feelings about the stock saddle and what saddle it is, and I guarantee you there will be at LEAST five women with saddle suggestions!

OK, I'll take you up on this! I'd love some suggestions. Here are my stats:
1. sit bones: 145 mm, center to center
2. cut out: YES--from both the "sitting forward test" and personal experience, I absolutely need cut-outs, the bigger the better
3. riding position: I ride a Cannondale Synapse 5, so a road bike but in a moderately upright position. I've got a short torso. I do go down into the drops fairly often
4. saddles tried so far: I'm using a Serfas Carma road saddle (based on the team estrogen website), which isn't ideal, but by twitching the saddle slightly to one side, I'm not in pain at least (one leg is shorter than the other). The stock Cannondale synapse saddle hurt (no cutout). On my hybrid, I have some cheap squishy serfas with a big cutout that I quite like for that bike
5. price: well, it sure would be nice to stay under $100, and to keep the weight as low as possible--the carmas is 270 grams, and I'd like not to go over that. But the carmas, at 150 mm width, isn't wide enough for me.
6. question: once you have your sit bone measurement, how exactly do you use the printed specs for a given saddle, since they don't tell you how much distance the saddle gives you for your sit bones. Should I add 10 mm (5 mm each side) to a given saddle width? It seems to depend a lot on the shape of the back of the saddle, since the Carma is tapered on the sides, and so while it seems to be 6 inches across, it really isn't on top.

Thanks!

[OakLeaf]

Sounds like you're talking about what we refer to as T-shaped saddles vs. pear or wedge-shaped ones.

If the sides of the saddle are forcing you forward so that you're not sitting on the widest part, you need one that's more T-shaped (i.e. has a sharper transition).

Specialized saddles are some of the most T-shaped moderately priced saddles out there. Their Lithia, Jett and Ruby (listed from squishiest to firmest) come as wide as 155 mm, which might be wide enough for you.

I have an old 155 Lithia I could send you to try... the gel padding is completely worn out and I can almost guarantee that because of that, the cut-out won't work for you, but at least you might be able to figure out whether the width and shape are close enough to try a new one?

[tiva]

Sounds like you're talking about what we refer to as T-shaped saddles vs. pear or wedge-shaped ones.

If the sides of the saddle are forcing you forward so that you're not sitting on the widest part, you need one that's more T-shaped (i.e. has a sharper transition).

I wasn't actually being very clear--I meant that the taper is when you're viewing the saddle from the backside (so the width given by the manufacturer isn't for the very top of the saddle where I sit, but for a bit below the top) rather than when you're viewing the saddle from above (pear vs. t-shape).

Thanks for the generous offer to let me try your old saddle. I might take you up on the offer, but first I'll try to find a similar shape with a larger cutout.

[sundial]

I do mostly long distance rides of 20 to 75 miles and most of those are on an "improved" bike path of cinders and limestone grating.

I have ridden gravel roads with a Brooks sprung and unsprung saddle on my touring bike and I went with a sprung saddle--the Champion Flyer 'S'. It cut down on lower back fatigue considerably on the gravel grinder rides. As for whether to choose a women's saddle vs. a men's saddle, I think part of your decision should be based on your bike geometry. I personally like the women's saddles on the commuter/touring type bikes and the men's saddles on the road/mtb bikes. I do like the long ride comfort of the women's saddles as I have not felt like I'm sitting on the hardware. I personally haven't noticed that my steering is affected by the shorter nose but as others have indicated it could be an issue.

If you can't decide what Brooks saddle is right for you, I would contact Bill at Wallbike and ask for his suggestions. He is quite helpful and will patiently answer all of your questions. Good luck!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Reasons why some folks don't like short noses:

*less control of bike if you like to steer with weight shift

*shorter rails (harder to adjust saddle placement)

*nose shackle under leather is closer to body, soft tissue can land on metal instead of suspended leather.

Don't forget a very important issue of this:
Because of the shorter rails, you cannot shove your saddle nearly as far back as on the regular saddle model, which has rails more than an inch longer. This was a HUGE issue for me, because i needed desperately to get my center of gravity further back.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Don't be shy about posting your sit bone measurements. Heck, I've got the widest span of all, and I'm not shy.

SEVEN AND A QUARTER INCHES, EVERYONE!!! LOOK HERE, MINE ARE 185 MM OUTSIDE-TO-OUTSIDE!

I'm exactly the same. We are sitbone sisters... the widest of them all! lol!
That's why only the Brooks B67 or B68 models fit me.

[KnottedYet]

I'm exactly the same. We are sitbone sisters... the widest of them all! lol!
That's why only the Brooks B67 or B68 models fit me.

Yeah, baby! <virtual high-five>

"We are the champions..."

[Holland]

Hi!

The fact that I dug up this thread from a year ago, oughtta show how desperate I am. After reading for hours, I'm still not finding the answer that applies to me. Pardon me for bringing up this topic again. I need help in choosing a saddle. I don't have a bike yet, I have to find one upon reaching my touring country, Holland. (Long story, I won't get into now.) I figured at least I could bring my own saddle.

I'll be touring around 8 hrs a day, 6x a week, for 2 months. On this site, I've seen a lot of recomendations for Brooks, and bike shop folks have said it generally takes a few weeks to break-in. I only have 2 weeks before I take off, so I don't know if Brooks is ideal for me. What are other saddle suggestions. This is all new for me, please be specific.

Sit bone center-to-center is 14cm or 15cm, hard to tell. I think that translates to 140mm or 150mm. Don't know what else to measure or consider.

Thank you for reading and replying.

[Holland]

Hi Muirenn, thank you!

I will phone wallbike tomorrow and talk to the folks. Q: If your sitbones measure 125, and your B-17 is 170 across, how does it borderline too narrow?

I did the chair, elbows on knees test, suggested here by KnottedYet (I think) and based on the result, I don't believe I need cut-out. I looked at the Stella Diva and Lady Gel online and both seem to be cut-outs, also they look hard. Umm, why are cushy saddles not good for long riding? Thanks!

[Holland]

Muirenn, thank you for your suggestions. I just ordered my Brooks B-67, yay! I got the regular one, 260 mm length, instead of the S version, 240 mm length. The shop didn't have the regular size, so I need to wait for their delivery. I'm contemplating if I should just get the S version and not have to wait.

Q1: How does that 20 mm length (shorter on S) and 12 mm height (taller on S) make a difference?

Q2: I read somewhere that says the S version is anatomically cut for women. Any truth to that?

Q3: The B-67 has single rail, as opposed to dbl or triple rails. If I don't have a bike yet, how would I know to choose a single rail or otherwise?

BTW: Bill from Wallbike was very helpful and patient with all my novice questions. I did forget to ask the above ones, and am now too embarrassed to call him again.

Thank you!

[Owlie]

Yeah, the Lady Gel Flow is pretty squishy, even in comparison with the Jett, which is not a very hard saddle. It's fine for my sitbones, but the nose and cutout padding were not terribly kind. (The shape was all wrong too, but that's a different thread.)

[Miranda]

I didn't read all of this thread word for word, so sorry if this is not in the ball park for you.... but... I ride this a Terry Butterfly, the Tri Gel version, with the leather cover, not lesser priced version, it's noted to be for long-distances and bad backs... which I fit both. It's this... http://www.rei.com/product/752407/te...-saddle-womens
which I don't see on TE or the Terry website... thus discontinued, so ooooooooohhhh no ...BUT, if you can find it somewhere on the net, it's great imo/e.

You mentioned something about bike adjustments... FWIW I had tried this exact same saddle before and it gave me pain... that was on my ill fit old road bike... on my new road bike that fits like a glove... the same saddle disappeared underneath me... as it should.

Good Luck.

EDIT ADD: Btw, I'm a peri-menopausal middle aged broad whose had a couple near ten pound kids the natural way (minus the stitches and scar tissue part)... so I know what you saying in a way... sometimes our tissues change with hormones and there are threads on TE about that... fortunately my ob-gyn doc is also a cyclists, so is his peds doc wife... we had some discussions about hormones, tissues and how it affects riding. Just more food for thought besides the saddle.