saddle, saddle who has a good saddle

[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.

[Holland]

Thank you ladies. I ordered the Brooks B 67 and now I'm afraid it may be too hard cuz everyone warned me about it taking too long to break in. My 2000 mile trip leaves in a week. Am looking at Terry Liberator cuz saw it at a shop today. Also saw Selle Lady Flo but this looks harder than Terry Lib. Don't know.
Any further input? Thanks.

[Biciclista]

holland, you'll be fine. The B67 is hard like a wooden chair. any saddle is going to tire out your butt if you are not used to riding all day!
a very big proportion of long distance riders are on Brooks saddles for a reason!

[Sky King]

holland, you'll be fine. The B67 is hard like a wooden chair. any saddle is going to tire out your butt if you are not used to riding all day!
a very big proportion of long distance riders are on Brooks saddles for a reason!

I agree, in a perfect world you would get some miles in before the big tour but over all I think you will be happy - fingers crossed the shape works well for you! Can't wait to hear the results.

[ridingfiend]

Thank you ladies. I ordered the Brooks B 67 and now I'm afraid it may be too hard cuz everyone warned me about it taking too long to break in. My 2000 mile trip leaves in a week. Am looking at Terry Liberator cuz saw it at a shop today. Also saw Selle Lady Flo but this looks harder than Terry Lib. Don't know.
Any further input? Thanks.

I predict it will take about 200 miles to break in. After that, the break-in process continues, but it just gets better.

The first 200 miles could be uncomfortable, true. But I tried many painful saddles that didn't work. Had no chance of ever working. 5, to be exact, and I found a good saddle quickly compared to many. I needed a race saddle though, and didn't want Brooks for speed.

The majority of people who don't like Brooks give up too soon. Cush saddles may work at first; for a couple hundred miles. But it they don't happen to be right for you, then things progressively worsen. And chances are, you are not going to happen to choose the right one.

Ask yourself: do you want to be uncomfortable for the first 200 (during which time you are getting used to riding anyway, it does take conditioning), or uncomfortable for the last 1800?

I think this is accurate:

http://www.touringcyclist.com/gear/model_16877.html

[Biciclista]

Ask yourself: do you want to be uncomfortable for the first 200 (during which time you are getting used to riding anyway, it does take conditioning), or uncomfortable for the last 1800?

I think this is accurate:

http://www.touringcyclist.com/gear/model_16877.html

well said, Ridingfiend; and welcome to TE!!

[Holland]

Thank you ladies for your input. I like the article, thanks Ridingfiend. Ok, I decided to stay with Brooks. Haha, I'm willing to handle 200m discomfort and getting 1800m+ joy. My next question is: B67 or B17? I just ordered a Surly Cross Check. It's shipping to my LBS and may get there by Friday. Then, I get to try it out for 2 days before having them disassemble and put back in the box to be brought on a plane. So I won't get a fair chance at testing out the B67, that got delivered today. Yikes...I'm super stressed. Still waiting for racks and panniers, etc to be delivered, too. Thanks.

[Holland]

Thanks Muirenn! I really appreciate your time to respond to me lengthly. I will print out your suggestions and take it with me.