Winky

Any women's touring saddle recommendations? Thanks!

HGuthertz

Try a Fizik saddle. I have either a tri vitesse or an HP model on all of my bikes. No problems at all even with 65-mile days carrying 40 pounds of gear. I think Fizik has a loaner program that allows you to try different models and keep mailing samples back for another model. The saddles are quite expensive. However, if you find a model you like you can likely find a slightly used model on EBay for a a good price.

Also when considering saddles, you might also consider other fit issues as well - seat height, reach, handlebar height - fore and aft adjustment. Each of these factors can also impact how you sit on the bike.
Hope this helps.

fietsbob

B 17 ... buy it a year ahead , or more, before the tour. starts ,.. to become an old friend
Broken in, use tested, with lots of day rides..

I had 10 years on my Brooks before my long tours ...


(In Bike shop on a touring route) , we sold a padded saddle to someone
who appeared to have started the ride on a brand new B17 ..





...

schoolboy2 

Terry Liberator X. My wife swears by hers.

Machka 

Men's Brooks B17.

Works for me!

Rob_E

My wife uses a Terry Butterfly. She has not tried many saddles, but we did a little research at the time, that saddle kept showing up, so we got it, and she likes it.

cyccommute 

+1. My wife has Butterflies on all of her bikes. But be careful about the different saddles. She had a Terry Liberator but didn't like it at all.

djb

I bought a Terry model for the ladies in my household a bunch of years ago, and they have been happy with it. It might be a liberator or it might be a butterfly, cant tell, probably more a liberator.
A few years ago I gave my wife one of my leather Brooks mens B17 and she loves it, but the Terry seat was good also, and my daughter rides that Terry seat for years now and is fine with it.

*standard caveat*--there are lots of factors that come into play--bike shorts with padding, how well they fit you, not wearing underwear under padded bike shorts, basic seat positioning combined with overall bike fitting and position, tiny seat position changes that can make all the difference......in other words, as Im sure you are aware, not easy to have a black and white clear answer here.....

don't know about Toronto, but sometimes a bike store will have demo models of seats, so that you can try diff seats for a few days and actually see how they compare while riding--cuz lets face it, holding a seat in your hand and looking at it in a store just doesnt really let you know how it is.

good luck. Generally, a well made seat that is not too soft is always better than wide, cushy ones. Despite the differences between lady and man parts, the general rule is the same, a good seat supports our sit bones area properly, but stops the softer parts from sinking down into a seat too much and causing pressure. That said, seats designed for women are the way to go, and like anything, reasonably priced are a better bet than cheap.

Im sure there still a womans bike forum around, "team estrogen" or something like that, I remember going on one years ago to get better info for bike sizes from women about the height of my wife.

Aubergine 

djb

as my sister who lives in the UK sometimes reminds me when I say the word "fanny pack" (like for cross country skiing or whatever, that waist pouch thingee)---that in England , "fanny" means "lady parts", and not your "keester"......


just so you know ;-)

Aubergine 

djb

makes me think of a spanish word that I learned in Costa Rica a long time ago, that means kinda like a bratty pesky kid/ but also for an annoying insect.
When biking through Nicaragua two years back, we stopped to buy some ice cream, and a young girl was minding the store,she was maybe 10 or something. Her pesky brother was bumming around being a pesky brother, so at one point I said to her, "oh, he is a ____, " but in a way that was bascially saying with humour that he was being a pest. She looked at me kinda funny, so I repeated the word, and she still looked at me funny, I didnt know why, and off we went.
Later, when in CR and talking with a friend, he recounted a story (without knowing the ice cream kid story) where he told me of calling someone a _____ and some guys came up to him and were about to punch him.....and then after some confusion, he realized that the Costa Rican word in Nicaragua means "lady parts", and probably a vulgar one....

and so thats when I realized why that little girl was looking at me strangely.......so there you go, this stuff happens in other languages also!

Tandem Tom

I am going to take issue with the poster that suggested Fikik saddles. The saddles may be a good choice but your suggestion of using the company's generous trade policy to find a saddle then buy it used on eBay is a bit unhanded.

geoffs

Go and see someone that knows what he's talking about.
You're in Ontario so go and see https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com...rs/mark-dwyre/
Mark's a great guy and will be able to give you proper advice and he will have saddles that you can test ride.

Carbonfiberboy 

Selle Italia DIVA.

cyccommute 

Well a saddle does have an impact on the sensitive bits. The keister is way tougher than the other bits.

djb

you can see how "fanny pack" can create some mirth.

Remember one of the Winter Olympics and the Canadian athletes uniforms were sponsored by the clothing company "Roots" , and had the name prominently on the front--which caused no end of giggles to the Aussies, because "roots" downunder means the colloquial "fornicates", so all the good looking Canucks were prancing around the opening ceremonies with a big funny word on their jackets, proudly waving the flag.