rustmyrtle

So my husband and I just finished the Allegheny and C&O Canal trails--Pittsburgh to Washington DC. It was our first time doing a multi-day distance trip.

By the time I got to DC, I had an advanced case of what I think is called vulvitis (men, cover your ears).

Women out there, any suggestions about what seat to get that's not too weird that won't cause this?

Thanks so much,
Kristin

jaxgtr

Welcome to BF, hey, I asked some of the female mods to chime in and to let the women's forum know about this post. If you want access to the women's forum, contact Donnamb via pm.

East Hill

Hello Kristin, my stock answer is to try to find the Specialized Dolce saddle. It has a cut out, and it's been the most comfortable saddle I have ever used (until I got the Brooks Imperial, but that's not yet available to the public). My Dolce Elite came equiped with that particular saddle, and I have bought several more through eBay because I love it so.

East Hill

Machka 

1. Make sure your bicycle fits.

2. Buy a hard saddle, like a Brooks.

3. Work on your core ... do crunches, build up your ab and back muscles.

4. Perch on the saddle ... in other words, tuck your pelvis under and suck your abs in when you ride. You need a strong core to do this properly and comfortably.

Do all that and the area you're referring to will barely come in contact with the saddle.

d2create

Why is there a secret woman's only forum???
Are bikeforum member THAT immature that they can't handle questions like this?
Or are the female bikeforum members to girly and sensitive to handle comments from the aforementioned immature males?

My wife couldn't give a crap about internet forums, she's much too busy with real life for that. But I sure wouldn't mind being able to find answers to stuff like this for her sake.

Grow up, people.

Machka 

Sadly ....... yes.


Keep in mind that a large percentage of the male members here are high school and college kids.

JusticeZero

I'm sure if saddles had more tendency to abuse the toolbag and lumber in various ways, the guys would have a good reason to have a restricted forum for it. Reasonable enough?

Boudicca

Back to the topic, and I'd suggest Terry Fly saddles. Just the right degree of firmness, and a nice cutout to avoid pressure on those sensitive bits that could really do without pressure. But every backside is different. Most bike shops will have a return policy of some sort that allows you to try out a saddle for a bit, and if you don't like it you can change it for something else.

tulip

Everyone is different, so a saddle that works for me might be horrible for you. You just have to try them out. Machka's suggestions are imperative to comfort, too. I have a Terry Butterfly, which I find very comfortable. I have one on each of my three bikes. I've also had each of my bikes professionally fit to me, and I'm a big fan of Pilates.

d2create

huh??? I see posts about numb twigs and berries all the time.
Why would that need a restricted forum?
So is that all that's in the women's forum... posts about abused v-jay's?
Maybe there should be a special 'private parts' forum moderate by howard stern.

Siu Blue Wind

How does this help the poster with her saddle issue?

I'm another one that give props to the Brooks Imperial. I'm hoping the women's version will be available soon. I'm betting that it would be wonderful since the men's version really doesn't fail to prove itself.

mark9950

Dont get a hard saddle.

Siu Blue Wind

Why not? It's has helped me tremendously. I have to sit positioned differently because of my bulging disks.

Machka 

Yes, DO get a hard saddle.

Don't get one of those soft gel saddles ... OUCH!!

Machka 

Incidentally ... how are your padded cycle shorts? Are they getting a little bit loose and baggy after using them on your tour?

The one and only incident I had, similar to yours, I was wearing lycra shorts which were a bit old and had become a bit baggy .... I was using a gel saddle .... and I was riding in pouring rain. BAD combination!

d2create

Anything I would have suggested has already been said, and since I don't have women parts it would be a guess on my part which is not helpful at all. Plus, if the uber hush hush secret ladies forum was available to everyone, she might have been able to find the answer to her question much easier.

Machka 

1) If you didn't have anything helpful to say, or anything to say about the topic at hand, why did you respond?


2) She got the answer ... quite easily. Now we'll just wait and see if my suggestions improve her situation.

Rowan

Go cry in a corner somewhere else. You've been a member of this forum since April 2003 before the Women's Forum was restricted, and it was restricted largely because of the behaviour of immature, college/gutter males who haven't passed puberty and probably haven't had a meaningful relationship with a woman yet. Most everyone who's been here since then couldn't care less now.

desederada

So where is this women's forum?

Allen

Send Donna a pm. She has the keys.

donnamb 

Unfortunately, enough members are such that there has been a need for a restricted forum for the last 4 years.

I agree! I wish they would.

I am leaving this thread here for a little while longer because it's generated a lot of messages from women I didn't know existed. If you sent me a message and did not get a reply this afternoon, please message me again. We just experienced a power surge, and I'm pretty sure at least one message got deleted before I had a chance to change user permissions.

d2create

Because I can. Woohoo!

d2create

That's too bad. I say we weed them all out. Thin out bikeforums a little bit... some spring cleaning if you will.

d2create

2 months before you! ha! Kneel before me, newb!

rustmyrtle

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions. And I was surprised at the women's only forum ....

I actually had a real problem finding bike shorts--I'm tiny (wear a size 0 - 2) and couldn't find any xs sizes in the stores. I ordered some online but they were still a little big.

The full cut out seats look great. Right now on my regular commuter bike (a raleigh mixte frame single speed) I have one of the cut out seats from Dick's Sports. It's better, but doesn't have the full cut out. I just put one of those on my road bike (a 1980s Gitane--yes, I have really classy bikes. I did the 184.5 mile C&O canal trail on a 20 year old pink and purple roadmaster) because was in so much pain from the recent tour that even a 35 mile weekend ride was terrible. Is there really big difference between the full cut out and the little hole in the seat from Dick Sports?

And about the strong core/hard seat thing ..... I used to be a professional dancer and still take ballet class / modern class a couple times a week so have a pretty strong core and generally prefer the hard seats. Maybe that was my problem on this recent tour--the pink/purple roadmaster has a bell gel seat of some sort.