BigBlueToe

I love my Brooks saddles. I've tried many other brands, but a Brooks B17 seems to work the best for me. My wife has had some complaints about a sore bottom with her saddle. I'd consider getting her a Brooks, but I don't know how they translate to a female's anatomy. Do they have a different model that's more suited to a woman? Any info, anecdotes, advice, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks.

fietsbob

Some people don't like leather saddles, and go for gel saddles, for comfort,instead.

talk it all over with Her, not Us ..

There is a Womans's B17s which is a shorter version,
of what seems already a short saddle.
there are wider too, more upright riding posture,
suggests a wider saddle, maybe with springs?

ive even adopted a non brooks as my favorite, though i have 20 and 30 year old brooks pros that saw a lot of touring miles

Long tours in 80's on a san marco Concor Max, and now using
a Brompton-Fizik Vitesse.

A wet climate adaptation on the daily rig.

Machka 

Have a look at the measurements of the women's B17 vs the mens. They are both about the same width (although the women's is just a tiny bit wider) but the women's is shorter.

I'm a woman and I ride a men's standard B17. I'm not sure I'd like a shorter saddle.

wahoonc

It depends on the anatomy. My wife has a Brooks B-66 on her Raleigh Colt, she had a Brooks B-18 Lady and did not like it at all. The B-66 is okay, her favorite saddle for upright riding is a cheap Huffy/Bell cruiser saddle that I bought at WM as a stop gap on a bike I bought that didn't have a saddle, go figure. FWIW the Brooks short nose saddles are aimed at women, but supposedly the design is to keep from catching a skirt more than anything else.

Aaron

mikhalit

Try to figure what's causing the soreness at first place.

In our family Brooks B17 is my favorite saddle but my wife only laughs if I ask whether she wants one too. She tried it but it was painful. We figured later that the reason for the pain was not really the saddle, but the inappropriate fit, she was sitting too low and shifting herself backwards, sitting over the saddle frame (which is painful!). She got Specialized Jett saddle and likes it. We managed to fix the overall fit and she loves the Jett even more now but refuses to try the Brooks again.

My understanding is that Brooks saddles have less room for adjustments, that "sweet spot" is rather small. Good fit is critical then. Also I find that common suggestion on the saddle width like "sitbones width + 2 cm" doesn't work well with Brooks (but does so with modern saddles though). For me in case of Brooks it's the sitbones width + 5 cm (using B17 now, tried narrower and wider Brooks saddles).

My favorite method to measure the sitbones width is to sit on a ziploc bag with dow inside. There will be two depression points, that correspond to the sitbones. If there will be a secondary depression in the middle then she's a good candidate to try a cutout saddle. Some people have their soft tissues lower than others then cutouts help. Not sure how much does the Brooks cutout helps women. AFAIK, some people find cutouts edges disturbing. Here is a nice note on what you might expect from it. The author had to modify the cutout a bit to make it work for her:



If your wife decides to try Brooks then make sure her fit is Ok, measure the sitbones widths, consider cutouts saddles. You may even butcher the regular seat and make the cutout of her preference if needed. Hope this helps. But a bit more information on how and what she rides would be helpful.

professorbob

I got my wife the women's version of the B17 and it's the only saddle she'll use now. She loves it.

martianone

my partner has a regular b-17 on her touring bike, as previously mentioned fit is really important. we spent a lot of time tweaking her bike to get the optimal fit - she can ride comfortably for hrs. she got a carbon wonder road bike last fall and wanted a brooks saddle because the b-17 is so comfortable. a brooks finesse seemed like the appropriate saddle,
due to some unanticipated events and less than cooperative weather - she hasn't ridden as much as anticipated - still getting the finesse settled in.

pdlamb

My daughter stole "my" Champion Flyer and rode across the country on it. (Same top as the B-17, but adds springs.) I haven't got it back...

MassiveD

Brooks works for women, but the issue with Brooks if often whether people will give it a serious enough try to get to the point where they are happy with it:

1) They may perceive it as a hard saddle that isn't comfortable, since it can be best for the second 40 miles or more of the day, rather than the first. If a person isn't hard core enough they may not arrive at the advantages, and this has nothing to do with their sex.

2) Breaking in a Brooks can be harder the lighter you are. With shoes and saddles you can apply insufficient force to the break-in, and it can stay un-broken-in for a very long time. The key is to find the sit bones location on the saddle, and depress those with a golf ball, or the rounded end of a ball peen hammer to get them going in the correct directions. Otherwise, there can be a long and uncomfortable break in period. I don't personally prefer to soften leather, or buy pre-softened saddles. I find the structure of the leather is what makes the saddles comfortable, except right where the sit bones rest.

djb

hi there Mr Blue, what did you end up doing?
I must share this with you--my wife and I will be doing a 7 day supported trip soon, and I changed a bunch of parts on her bike in the last week or two. She has been saying that she would like to try a new seat, so I got two diff types, a Terry Butterfly, which she found not really any different than her original one (the stock seat that came with her lightish hybrid) and a Selle somethingorother that she didnt like from the get go.
I have two B17s and have go on about them since I got the first one, so today, I reluctantly took one off my mtn bike commuter/tourer and put it on her bike. Right from the get go she said how it was comfy and we just did a nice two hour ride in fairly hot weather and she was perfectly comfortable, only needing a slight nose up adjustment as she felt she was sliding forward a bit at first.
She remarked on how the slippyness is a real bonus, with no friction, and all in all, this B17 standard fit her wonderfully. It probably helps that she is narrow hipped, so we probably have similar sitbone width and such, and it is nicely broken in (I think this is its third season now).....so yes, a lady can be very very happy on a mens regular B17, but of course, everyone has a diff shape and such, so your wife's mileage may vary.

do take heart though that my wife who never ever could imagine how my Brooks could be comfortable, really took to it like a duck to water. Im sure being broken in well and her not being really wide hipped made a big difference and made it work out so well. I must say, I was very very pleasantly surprised, although I now have a dilema...I dont really want her to keep it, as my mtn bike misses it already, but I dont want to put her off by breaking in a new one...and I don't want to break in a new one myself, not right now.

I'll probably let her use it for our trip, and then figure out something, maybe get a new one in the winter and break it in during the winter on my bike trainer while watching movies.....

wahoonc

If you REALLY love your wife you will break her saddle in for her

Aaron

Burton

One thing that keeps me amazed is that just about every model of bicycle frpm every bicycle company has a different seat on it. Which probably falls in line with the idea that everyone is a bit different and there's o one perfect seat. Some are better than orhers quality wise, but comfort seems to be much more random and unpredictable. I'd go so far as to suggest ignoring labels that suggest a product is male or female specific and just go for what fits. Do the shoe thing - try 'em on!

djb

should mention also that one comment that my wife said that stood out is that she mentioned that the length of the B17 seemed right to her, so this echoes Machkas view of not liking a shorter one, which is the case with the ladies B17. I think the Terry Butterfly is shorter, and my wife specifically said that the she didnt like the shorter length of that seat.

and yes Aaron, I am considering doing it for her....although for regular riding, her stock seat might be better for not having to be careful with it, rain, leaning against rough stuff, bike falling over, less of a theft issue (this is Montreal after all) etc etc, so it will probably go back on as its fine for the short commuting rides that she does sometimes and general toodling around to places.

mikhalit

I'd say if riders body proportions, bike geometry and riding style are known than the saddle selection can be narrowed down significantly. Riders comfort is much less of a black box than what common opinion tells us.