When do you say, "Enough!" and try a new saddle?

[gocard]

My sitbones fit perfectly on the Prologo seat which is 143 mm - it's the bits that aren't as impressed with the seat over longer distances. Good point about broadening the search - I'm going to find a store that sells the Specialized seats and see what I like from there.

[amnesiac]

Looking back, my only real saddle discomfort has been due to bike fit issues rather than saddle issues. So I'd probably start by making sure that's all good because no saddle will be comfortable otherwise.

[GLC1968]

My sitbones fit perfectly on the Prologo seat which is 143 mm - it's the bits that aren't as impressed with the seat over longer distances. Good point about broadening the search - I'm going to find a store that sells the Specialized seats and see what I like from there.

I'm the same way on some saddles and for me, soft tissue pain (in the front) is the deciding factor on saddle comfort. But I'm like you and lucky that our sit bone width is relatively small (compared to a lot of women).

One thing to keep in mind if you experience pain over distance is your body position. As the rides get longer, are you losing your form a little bit? I know that I do, which for me means that my core starts to sag a bit and the change in position is slight enough that it starts to cause soft tissue pain.

As an example, last weekend, I did a longer ride than usual (time wise...distance wasn't that long but we were out there a LONG time). By the end, I found I needed to consciously contract my abs to keep my core aligned to keep my soft tissue off the nose of my saddle because I was tired. The next day, my abs were sore but my soft tissue was fine!

Just something to keep in mind as well. Of course, I'm all about buying new bike stuff, so get the new saddle too!

[gocard]

I'm finally getting my fitting this weekend and I'll see how the seat works for me after that. I am also all about buying new bike stuff and have been holding myself in check fairly well up until now, but a new seat is worth it to me!

I do think that as my ride gets longer I start shifting more due to the discomfort in the front. I naively thought that was just something that we have to live with when we sit on bike seats for a longer period of time. However, from everyone's responses it sounds like there IS something better out there. My LBS only recommended the Butterfly to me and I might try it out, along with the Specialized seats which they don't carry. The Specialized ones look so sleek and would look great on my bike! But only if it fits well.

[amnesiac]

I have a Butterfly on both my road & MTB.

[ny biker]

I don't think this has been mentioned yet -- make sure the saddle is level. If the nose is tilting up, that could be the cause of your problems.

[gocard]

Yep, I've checked to make sure my seat is level. I'm wondering if I ought to angle it down just slightly but I'll see what happens with the fitting this weekend. Problem is, my friend really wants me to ride the 120 km Tour de Cure in about 3 weeks and I really don't see how I could survive that with my current seat. Slight discomfort is tolerable on a 30-40 mile ride, but any more than that and I am probably going to be thinking only of my seat and soft tissues! I'll try to demo this weekend as well.

[lgibster]

I had this problem espically on longer rides. I put up with it until yesterday when I knew I was going to want to ride 60 miles in prep for a 68 mile charity ride in two weeks. I lowered the nose of the saddle just slightly after 15 miles and the pain/numbness was all but gone. My form suffers the longer I ride so nosing the saddle down about a half turn really helped me.