crazyskillz07

I purchased a Cannondale synapse for my girlfriend in the beginning of the summer. We have ridden a few times but have stopped since she has too much discomfort with her saddle. Does anyone have saddle suggestions that I can get for her to try?

noise boy

Go to the local specialized dealer, have her get her sit bones measured on their butt-o-meter and get one of the Specialized Women's Saddles for her. My wife had the same issues with the stock saddle on her Felt Z85, the Specialized Saddle (A Ruby I believe) has been great.

tagaproject6

First determine the cause of the pain. Is it fit, positioning, shorts, actual saddle time??? Rule those out first, then see if a saddle change is warranted.

Velo Gator

I like my Adamo, and the Selle Italia women's version.

dtrain

terry butterfly

canam73

My wife went through a series of saddles and also settled on a Terry model.

But I think you should first follow Tagaprojects advice and then ask around at some LBSs to find one with some demo or take-off saddles to try out. Getting suggestions for a saddle that fits somebody else is still a shot in the dark, even if they are both girls.

NWS Alpine

Terry saddles are great if your shop has them. If not she should go to a specialized BG fitter and look at the womens BG saddles which are great as well. Similar to the Terry models.

Shimagnolo

I just *love* the title of this thread!

tagaproject6

Juan Foote

I would make a suggestion, dependent, of course, on your sense of humor....

rdtompki

If ever a question begged for additional information this is it. It sounds like your gf is new to cycling. What was done initially to get a functional fit before she began to ride? What's saddle came with the bike? How far (in time) into the ride did she really begin to feel discomfort? Is she a fit individual without cycling experience or relatively sedentary?

Basic positioning including tilt of the saddle can really make a different and getting used to even the perfect saddle may take a bit of riding.

Myosmith

Go to a reputable LBS and get a bike fitting. Once the bike is set up properly have her ride it and carefully document when and how any remaining symptoms occur. Then go back to the LBS with details of the problem and get a saddle recommendation. Random recommendations off the internet, though well intended, are based on the individual experiences of people other than your girlfriend. It doesn't matter if a saddle comes with 100 good reviews. The bottom line (no pun intended) is if it works for her.

Good bike fit + mediocre saddle = tolerable
Top of the line saddle + poor bike fit = miserable
Good bike fit + the right saddle for you = priceless

noise boy

Also I will add that if her bike has the same San Marco Ponza saddle my cannondale came with, it is awful changing the saddle was probably the best move I have made.

rollin

Sounds like a fair swap.

rollin

Depends on where her discomfort was. She may need a sit bone fit or a different cut out. No different to any saddle choice, very personal. Find a good fitter / shop that knows what they are doing and try a few.

Having been through several specialized and a brooks my wife settled on a lowest end bontrager.

pdedes

crazyskillz07

Thank you all for the replies.

rdtompki,
Yes my girlfriend is new to cycling. I have yet to get her fit for the bicycle but I will do that very soon. The saddle on the bike is a Cannondale Women's Raven. We rode for 3 miles before she started to feel the discomfort. She is fit. I have been more worried that she is positioning herself to far back on the saddle as you can see in the image below.

I decided to wait on getting her fit for the bike because I was planning on buying her clip in pedals and shoes. I have already purchased them and we went for two rides with the new pedals. My plan was to get her fit before we even rode with them but time has not allowed. At this point I am worried that she has lost interest in cycling due to a bad experience after I bought all of this stuff.

The reason I am asking for saddle advice is so that I can get something for her that has good reviews and then get her fit. I figure this will be my best bet as to once again spark her interest in riding.

Note: She also complained that is was too easy and she would rather run because she wants a better workout... I cannot wait until she is done learning how to shift and I take her for a tough ride with some nice hills to climb.

Bunnicula

Lol, my daughter, a former gymnast, is extremely fit and has done some triathlons. Riding a few hills gives her a workout unlike any other.

Cannondale's stock saddle do suck. I second the idea of getting her sit bones measured, and then it's trial and error to find one she's comfortable on. The Specialized saddle I used all last year is now causing me pain, even the new one on my new bike.

Fitting is critical, get that done asap. It could make all the difference in the world between her riding in comfort and being miserable.

NWS Alpine

Fitting is huge and more important that shoes/pedals. That being said that is the initial basic fit because you need to slightly adjust when adding clipless pedals.

Are her shorts cycling shorts with a womens chamois? If she is riding in just normal spandex booty shorts that will not feel good. My GF rode without her nice $200 LG bibs I bought her and was *****ing. At least she knows why I buy all my stuff now

Also we need some rear pictures of your girlfriend's butt... I mean sitbones so we can properly suggest a saddle based on shape...

Myosmith

As mentioned above: there are two errors in this line. You should have your initial bike fit before it ever leaves the shop. If it is used and you don't know how to do a basic fitting yourself, it should be done ASAP after purchase. As far as saddles, forget reviews. It doesn't matter if it gets 4 1/2 out of 5 stars or if every pro on the tour thinks its the best saddle ever made, if it isn't comfortable for her, it is the wrong saddle.

From the picture, I suspect a couple of fit problems, but hate to make suggestions based on a single 1/4ing shot. I would suggest that she find some different shorts to ride in. Bare skin rubbing the saddle is never a good thing.

crazyskillz07

I purchased the bike from my LBS in NY after moving to MA so the only fitting was from me adjusting the saddle height. I have a fitting scheduled so hopefully things turn around.

noise boy

Definitely do the fitting, and I agree with the posters above, make sure she has a good set of shorts/bibs (the wife is partial to the Hincapie & Craft bibs). Also agree with everybody about having her try different saddles, most shops have loaners to take home and try.

I am sure it will be great, the wife went from noob to kicking my but once we got her fit/saddle issues sorted.

merlinextraligh

Saddles are really a personal preference issue, and women's saddles even more so.

Mostly, she'll just have to try until she finds one she likes. Anything you read will at best steer her to possibilities to try.

For example some women like Sella San Mrco Aspide Glamour; my wife hated hers. My wife does like her Fizik Vitesse.

Terry is a big maker of women's saddles; Some women swear by Terry saddles, others swear at them.

The Team Estrogen forum will give you way more female input than here:

https://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=39475

Elduderino2412

I prefer to ride my GF bareback

rbrsddn

Bareback is where it's at...