Pinchy Bits

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So far the Bontrager is pretty good, did 1 TT on it with a little discomfort, which seems to be relieved by using chamois lube -something to think about, pinching could be aggravated by friction. I've only ever really needed lube down there for aggressive position rides.

I'm a lube girl, but wished I'd used Brave Soldier up front, in addition to my usual That Butt Stuff everywhere. I use the Brave Soldier for particularly long rides...TBS on the chamois, BS on the trouble spots. But the BS is VERY cooling and the last thing I wanted to use was a cooling product on a 31º day!

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I've got to say this; I always had problems with this when I was time trialing. I don't care what saddle I used, I'm a tilted way far forward in the time trial position and I just dealt with a sore crotch after I time trialed; but was never a real time trialist. I only did them occasionally. Road race, cycle crossed, and mountain biked more. These types of racing never caused me as much problem.

I have a feeling this will be the ultimate solution--just deal with some temporary ouchies after TTs/races. I love my Jett for most of my mileage.

[Artista]

boy, be careful with Bontragers. Of all the brands - i have heard more complaints about them than any others. I have a cutout in my Brooks Imperial and it's great.

Bontrager used to make pretty awful saddles but their new Inform technology is superb for many of us. Don't rule out Bontrager based on outdated information.

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Yesterday I did just an easy 12 miles with a pair of tri shorts under my tights. I still had some issues, but I think they were due more irritation from riding on already irritated parts. I think doing these shorter, in-the-drops races will definitely have me in my tri shorts in the future.

Only new issue I really noticed...my crotch got cold! It was still in the 30s yesterday and I swear ALL the cold air went up the cut-out in my saddle!

[GLC1968]

I have always had a bit of a soreness problem in the soft-tissue area on all but my MTB due to the agresssive position and my own anatomy. I was convinced that a TT bike would be pure torture. It was on the stock saddle and just about every saddle I tried - until I got to the Bontrager Inform RL WSD. It was instantly comfy on the TT bike during my fitting but what really surprized me was how comfy it also was when sitting up. I immediately tried it on my road bike and WOW, it works there too!

When I'm sitting up, it's T-shapped enough, narrow and firm enough to work perfectly for my sit bones. When I rotate my pelvis into aero position on my TT bike, the indent and the narrow nose work together to support me comfortably on my perenium without crushing the soft tissue or pinching like my Terry Ti Fly did (cutout). I am frankly stunned that the same saddle works for both positions and on all three of my road riding bikes!

Since we are so similiar in so many other dimensions, you need to try this saddle! It may not work for you, but it's worth a shot, right? In fact, if you order directly from Bontrager, last year's model is on sale for $69.99.

http://store.trekbikes.com/jump.jsp?...&bShopOnline=1

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Hmmm...my only query is what size. I think I recall that when I did a quick-and-dirty sit-bone measurement that I came up with 125-130mm. My Jett is a 143 and feels about perfect.

So what size would that equate to for the Bontrager? 140...150...? What is the firmness of the Inform RL like compared to the Jett? I definitely don't want to go softer.

[ny biker]

Hmmm...my only query is what size. I think I recall that when I did a quick-and-dirty sit-bone measurement that I came up with 125-130mm. My Jett is a 143 and feels about perfect.

So what size would that equate to for the Bontrager? 140...150...? What is the firmness of the Inform RL like compared to the Jett? I definitely don't want to go softer.

FWIW, Bontrager has a 30-day comfort guarantee, so there's little downside to giving one a try. If there's an LBS near you that carries Trek/Bontrager, they could measure you on the gel thingy.

[GLC1968]

I test rode a Specialized saddle in a 143 and it worked great, so I would guess you'd need the 140 in the Bontrager as well. I don't know how much padding a Jett has, but the InForm RL doesn't have much. The photo is deceiving as it looks all puffy in the back, but it's not at all. It's more padding than a Brooks, but less than a Terry Butterfly. Does that help?

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I test rode a Specialized saddle in a 143 and it worked great, so I would guess you'd need the 140 in the Bontrager as well. I don't know how much padding a Jett has, but the InForm RL doesn't have much. The photo is deceiving as it looks all puffy in the back, but it's not at all. It's more padding than a Brooks, but less than a Terry Butterfly. Does that help?

Very much! That's about how I would describe my Jett, too.

Tomorrow DH and I are going to go ride for 2 hours, or so...gonna see if tilting the nose of my Jett down a hair helps. If not, I'll be ordering an InForm RL to see how it compares. In theory it looks like it would be a better solution for riding in the drops.

My only concern is that it looks a hair more "pear-shaped" than the t-shape footprint of my Jett. I had a SI Lady Gel Flow (same as the Butterfly) at one point and that caused all sorts of chafing where my butt meets my inner thigh. Part of that could have been that it was just too wide, too.

[HillSlugger]

Hmmm...my only query is what size. I think I recall that when I did a quick-and-dirty sit-bone measurement that I came up with 125-130mm. My Jett is a 143 and feels about perfect.

So what size would that equate to for the Bontrager? 140...150...? What is the firmness of the Inform RL like compared to the Jett? I definitely don't want to go softer.

Their size would be the 144

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Their size would be the 144

Not in that saddle...it comes in 140, 150, 160.

[GLC1968]

Very much! That's about how I would describe my Jett, too.

Tomorrow DH and I are going to go ride for 2 hours, or so...gonna see if tilting the nose of my Jett down a hair helps. If not, I'll be ordering an InForm RL to see how it compares. In theory it looks like it would be a better solution for riding in the drops.

My only concern is that it looks a hair more "pear-shaped" than the t-shape footprint of my Jett. I had a SI Lady Gel Flow (same as the Butterfly) at one point and that caused all sorts of chafing where my butt meets my inner thigh. Part of that could have been that it was just too wide, too.

I had the same problem with the Butterfly. That's why I switched to the Fly (narrower). It still gave me some issues up front, but I learned to deal with it with enough lube. Over time, the padding got to be too much for me which is why I was so happy to find the inForm.

I really hope it works as well for you! It's SO perfect for me that I've actually ridden my coached cycling class (I take my saddle to my class!) without a chamois at all. Even though class is only an hour, there is no way in a trillion-billion years I could have done that on the Fly.

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Interesting...it's hard to tell from the photo, but it looks pretty narrow in the rear. I wonder if that cut-out would be better or worse than the Jett. It looks like it goes further forward, but it also looks narrower...which makes me sorta cringe, just thinking about it.

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Ok, found a site that said it's 135...which would probably be a hair narrow when I'm on the hoods. Hmmm...something to add to the list of possibilities, though.

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Just trying to make it more difficult

Ha, I did that to myself when I got a new bike!