Terry Saddles- Performance, Endurance, Sport

[Tanya]

I'm thinking that I might have mis-measured. I know sit bones and weight are not related because your weight can change but your bones don't (I'm 5'7, 150ish lbs), but I think in general, I have a medium-sized bones. My wrists aren't tiny, but they're not particularly wide. But, who knows-- maybe I measured correctly and I just have narrowly shaped sit bones? I honestly never gave this much thought to the bones in my butt before.

I tried to lessen the pressure on my sit bones by adding a gel saddle cover, but I think it's actually worse. I slide around on the neoprene going up and down any bit of incline. I assumed that the gel would provide an amazing level of added comfort, but I wasn't wowed.

If my measurements are right and I can get a narrower saddle, that would be great, since there seem to be plenty of options. I ordered the Terry Damselfly and am crossing my fingers. If it doesn't work out, I'll swap it for another model. Do you have any input on what makes the Performance/Endurance/Sport models different, other than the sizes of the saddles? If the Damselfly doesn't pan out, would you recommend something from the Endurance series?

[KnottedYet]

The size of the pelvic outlet (essentially your sitbone span) has almost nothing to do with bone structure or height or weight.

I've seen tiny women with ginormous pelvic outlets like mine, and I've seen big women like me with itty-bitty ones.

As far as the styles of Terry saddles, I know there are a few folks on here who really know them well. If you have a question about a particular saddle you can start a thread about it, and plenty of knowledgable people will chime in!

[ny biker]

I'm not an expert on Terry saddles, but I think a big difference is in the amount of padding the saddle has. Performance has the least, then endurance, then sport.

I would forget about those categories, and choose one based on your sit bone measurements as well as the amount of padding you think you want.

I know the saddle width information is on the Terry website.

edit: Okay, looking at their website, I could be wrong about the padding, though I'm pretty sure performance saddles are the firmest.

Weight and the materials used for the rails seem to vary quite a bit by saddle.

http://www.terrybicycles.com/2011-Terry-Womens-Saddles

[emily_in_nc]

You should try searching the forum for "Damselfly" too. There have been posts over the years about this saddle. My particular post is in the "Most Hated Saddles" sub-forum. OUCH! That little skinny cutout pinched, the saddle was as hard as a 2 by 4, and it was so skinny I had no place to move around and ended up with an hellacious saddle sore.

YMMV. I know some women love it.

[Tanya]

Ouch, Emily! I hope that doesn't happen to me. I do feel reassured that if I hate the Damselfly, I can exchange it for another model, or get a full refund. I just hope if it doesn't work out, it's not too painful of a discovery process.

[Koronin]

Thanks for the explanation on how to measure sit bones. I've attempted to do this and had them measured at a store a year ago, but couldn't remember what they told me. Now at least I have a better idea. I figured mine at 4 inches which is about 10cm. It may not be exact, exact, but I think it's close enough to get an idea of a good saddle, esp for my mountain bike. (I'm pretty happy with my road bike saddle right now.)

[ny biker]

Ouch, Emily! I hope that doesn't happen to me. I do feel reassured that if I hate the Damselfly, I can exchange it for another model, or get a full refund. I just hope if it doesn't work out, it's not too painful of a discovery process.

FWIW, some people think the Terry Butterfly is a torture device, but others love it. So you might love the Damselfly. And if not, your experience with it could help you figure out what to try next.

[RubyTuesday]

Total newbie here. I am trying to understand what "center to center" measurement means. Knotted's description on how to measure was excellent and I get it. But is the measurement you are getting the distance between to two inside sit bones? Or outside? A little lost. Can someone give me an idea?

Love this site.