deadprez012

The fiance is drooling over road bikes these days, and because her having a bike supports me having...um...several, I need a bit of help. For moving fast, or moving long, a reasonably firm to quite firm saddle seems to be best for men (at least me).

What's the story on lady saddles? There are lots of different shapes and levels of firmness--what has worked for you for short, but frequent riding (under 10 mi, 3-4 rides/week, the occasional long weekend ride)? Favorite brands? Important things to seek out?

Rest assured, her bike will fit her exceptionally well, because I've learned that lesson, and all the other little things will be handled--but what to do about saddles?

PS. I don't know if it's even worth mentioning, but men's saddles cause a bit of bruising on her--guessing that's the norm?

CbadRider

Saddles are personal choices. What works for one woman might be torture for another. My advice would be to get her sit bones measured so you get the proper width, then have her try out different brands.

deadprez012

Where can I get that done? Would most LBSs do that? It seems like they are the only "obvious" answer...because I can't think of anywhere else.

datlas 

Not normal for a saddle to cause bruising, male OR female.

The Terry line of saddles has a good reputation for women, but may be worth her visiting the LBS to be fitted properly.

rbart4506

My wife has had good luck with the Specialized lady's saddles....first the Jett and now the Ruby...You can get her sitbones measured by any Specialized dealer and then select the proper width saddle...I believe those versions come in a 143 and 150 width...

sparker

Bontrager has a seat that you sit on a with your body heat spec's out a color (red green, blue) and that coordinates with the saddles they make. Go check out a Bontager dealer and they should help you out. Worked for me.

karenashg

Is she *bruised* bruised, or just sore because she hasn't been riding bikes? Bike shopping left me tender in some places I didn't want to be tender, because I didn't have "bike butt" yet. Now, just a couple weeks in, I don't have any problems, even on the stock "men's" saddle on my bike.

deadprez012

Real bruises, near the pubic bones she says. Took about a half hour on a poorly fit road bike. Fit may have a lot to do but...further thoughts?

mudworm

Having heard the raves about Specialized Ruby online and from a friend, I bought one. It worked fine for shorter distance rides, but it gave me bone-bruising pain on last year's Death Ride -- from the contact pressure on the sit bones. For this year's DR, I switched to my WTB Vigo Pro (for mountain biking) saddle and had no problem on the long ride. It seemed that the cushion was really what I needed. Wonder if that's what your fiance should try. WTB has a saddle demo program through most of its dealers.

DocM

My wife has had good luck with the SSM Aspide Glamour. No pain, and she's been riding almost 200 miles a week these days.

sbxx1985 

For what it's worth, my bike obsessed wife loves her Selle Italia SLK Lady Gel Flow. I tried to convert her to Fizik and she said hell no.

Machka 

My favourite saddle is the men's standard Brooks B17 with the nose tilted slightly up, which forces me back onto my sitbones and lifts any more easily damaged bits off the saddle.

coffeecake

I aint a lady cyclist, I'm a woman cyclist! OK. Saddles are personal. Aside from recommending a seat with a cut-out (unless you're looking at Brooks), the only thing I'll recommend is getting measured and test-driving. In my experience, if you're on good terms with the LBS, they will let you order and test-drive some saddles for a couple of days or so. Doesn't matter how well the rest of the bike fits if the saddle is uncomfortable.

Erzulis Boat 

Say whaaaaat?

datlas 

Machka is a member of the Brooks cult.

It's like a religion. But we all get along.

colombo357

I see.

trigger

Make sure, sure, sure that the reach on the bike is appropriate for her. If she is reaching too far for the bars her hips / pelvis will not be able to tilt so that her weight is on her sit bones. Rather, her weight will be tipping forward to aid in accomplishing the reach. This is a big thing that a lot of guys overlook ... ladies generally have much shorter torsos than men. I'm almost 6', but I've had to have a short stem and / or shorter top tube that you'd think for my height on every bike I've had in order to accommodate my short torso. Reasonably common for ladies.

Also + a zillion on making sure that the saddle is the appropriate width. If the sit bones can't be supported, the ride is going to be uncomfortable.

Other than that, yeah, personal preference. Brooks Team Pro (ladies), Brooks Swift and Selle Italia saddles have all worked well for me.

Machka 

What's the matter? The lady's Brooks is essentially the same width as the men's but is slightly shorter than the men's, and I prefer a longer saddle. You've got to go with what works for you.


And, in response to another comment, Brooks saddles are designed to be tilted slightly nose up for both men and women. Have a look at the Century Bicycle sticky thread in the Long Distance forum https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...tury-bicycle(s) ... many of the bicycles posted there have Brooks saddles. Look at their tilt. Tilting the nose up forces the rider to sit on the sitbones and takes the pressure off the front area.


My bicycle, complete with Brooks saddle:

Erzulis Boat 

I'm only messin' with you!

dstrong 

Machka...I present you with the award for the greatest number of spacers....EVAR!

Machka 

Thank you!! I believe in comfort on a bicycle.

Some of those will be removed eventually, I'm still deciding if I like the handlebar height.

merlinextraligh

OP, as everyone has said saddles really are personal preference, and what works for one women won't for another. For example my wifed hated the Sella san Marco Aspide Glamour, but some people love it. She does like her Fizik Vitesse which does seem to work for a lot of women.

If you go to the Team Estrogen forum, there is a lot of discussion of woman's saddles, and you can get some ideas of what might work for her, and narrow some options to try.

Also, how she rides palys into this. For example, lots of people love Brooks, but as Machka's bike illustrates, a good number of Brook's users do not ride with an aggressive drop from the seat to the bars, and many people that do have an agressive position have found that Brooks do not work for them in that position.