Saddle Test!
My Selle Anatomica didn't do so well on a 1200k this past summer, so I signed up with a local bike shop's saddle library. Cost to sign up is $30, which goes toward the purchase of a saddle if I find one I like. Each test saddle can be checked out for just a week. For the next few months I'll be riding one 200k per month, so it's a good time to experiment. I'm going to take my time with this. I want to record impressions of each saddle (no pun intended), so I figured I'd do that here.
Complaints on the Selle, aside from general pain, included numb dangly bits for some time after the ride. Saddles with center cutout were advised, so we started there.
First up: Specialized Romin at 155mm. About width. The saddle librarian, as it were, offered to either let me browse the library and pick based on my own thinking, or to hear some advise. I chose the latter. We discussed my rides - brevets up to and including 1200k, and my past issues - pain and numbness. I asked about sit bone width, and she pulled out the sit-bone measuring device whilst generally poo-pooing the value of that particular measurement. Her advice: try different widths and see what feels good. Which is, after all, the whole point of the saddle library. She suggested starting with the Romin due to its generous center cutout, and I opted for the middle width as a starting point. This was on a Saturday. Sunday I put in a 30 mile ride, which turned out to be the only ride on this particular saddle. Between post time-change evening darkness, rain, general laziness, and my schedule, I returned in on Wednesday. I did not find it particularly comfortable, and if anything it felt narrow. I decided to try the same model, but wider.
2nd: Unfortunately the Romin at 168mm was loaned out, so I decided to go with a radically different saddle - Specialized Power 168mm. That's a short-nosed saddle with significant center cutout. Tonight I managed 18 miles, and it actually felt decent. The short nose didn't seem to have any ill effects. From what I read this saddle is designed to make super aggressive riding (i.e. pelvis rotated far forward) more comfortable. That's definitely not my form. I also read a criticism that isn't not good for long climbs, for reasons I don't really understand. I'll try to get in a 30 miler tomorrow evening, with some climbing. That is, if I can muster up the willpower to go out in the rainy darkness.