SI Turbomatic, SSM Aspide Glamour, Ruby...T-shaped Saddle Chat HERE!

[Kathi]

This is the 3rd season for my Ruby. I bought it because my bike fitter recommended it to me, my old saddle was too wide and we were trying to solve my back issues. I was skeptical of it because of the cutout. I hated the 1 cutout saddle I had tried and ended up selling it. In retrospect the bike I had it on didn't fit and that could have been my issue with that particular saddle.

My bike fitter told me to be patient with the Ruby, that after it was broken in I would love it. Unfortunately, I went on a week long bike tour the next week and didn't get time to break it in. On the tour I was pretty miserable, especially my sit bones. I realized my sitbones had never really touched my previous saddles. I noticed that my shorts made a difference. My beloved Shebeest Triple S shorts weren't comfortable as I also sat sideways on the saddle and got chafing on the right side, but the Shebeest Century shorts felt much better. The difference between the 2 shorts was the chamois, the Triple S had a liner on the wings of the chamois while the Century short had foam padding.

Halfway through the tour I was determined to take the saddle back when I got home, it was the worst saddle I ever had. I thought as good as my fitter is he was wrong about that saddle. I wore the Century shorts for the rest of the tour and by the end of the week things were calming down and I was beginning to appreciate it Now the Ruby is the most comfortable saddle I've ever had.

When I buy new shorts I make sure they have padding on the wings and I've had no chafing since. My fitter recommended putting chamois cream on the chamois. I don't remember if I did that on the tour but I do now for rides over an hour.

My fitter was right on, as usual, give the saddle time to break in and it will be perfect. I just tried to break it in to fast. Later that summer I put the Ariel on my mtn bike and like it as much as I do the Ruby.

A comment about the sideways sitting. I did that for years no matter what saddle I used. I never understood why until I started having issues with my SI joint. I was also sitting sideways in chairs, the car, etc. Now that I have that issue straightened out, for now, I no longer sit sideways on my saddle.

Hope this helps with your saddle decisions.