My wife is really struggling to find a saddle that doesnt cause her pain. Its got so bad that its putting her off going out on the bike.

She was fitted for the saddle but she reckons she needs to have a proper chat and fitting session with a female rider.

We’re in Hampshire, but to get what she needs we are willing to travel. We’re planning (subject Covid restrictions) on road tripping to Leeds then Glasgow to see relatives in early August, so anywhere en-route would be fine too.

She’ll be following this thread from afar!

TIA!!!!

Vankru in Upham are a bike fitting specialist if you want to go down that route – ie body position, saddle angle etc, not just the type of saddle.

Failing that – my wife went through a few saddles before settling on a fizik vitesse.

Mrs TJ similarly went thru a number of saddles to find one that was comfy. Its really too individual. Other things are IME women need the saddle slightly nose down not level or nose up and the saddle further forward

Not sure where you are in Hampshire, but Stonehenge in Salisbury have excellent fitting skillz and great female staff, too!

I’ve been in to Vankru myself (its 3 miles away!) but my wife feels she’d be more comfortable talking through the issues with a female.

We’ve played around with the saddle. Nose down, slide back and forward on the rails etc. Still not really worked though the nose down did for a few rides. Salisbury is 45 min flashie so thats a good shout.

How big is her arse? No, wait, come back…

Get something like memory foam or corrugated cardboard, put it on a hard surface like a coffee table and sit on it. Her sit-bones should leave two dents in it. Measure the distance centre-to-centre between the two, that gives you your desired width of saddle.

Having gone through any number of ever more extra-padded ultra-gel armchair seats with my ex I can state with some confidence that this is the single most important factor in getting a comfy situpon.

IANAL but saddle tilt makes the world of difference for me, otherwise I feel like I’m sitting on a razorblade within 60mins.

This morning I set my turbo up in the lounge, the the turbo has a thick rug under the turbo mat, while the front wheel has a thin mat under the mat (that has a hardback sandwiched between two bits of cardboard on top of it… As a high-tech wheel riser!).

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.saddl&hl=en_GB on my mobile said this put the angle at approx -1.5 degrees, so I grabbed my ~1cm Liverpool treble softback from ~30 years ago and added that to the riser stack, changed angle to approx +0.2 degrees.

That’s approx 0.3 degrees lower than I’ve tried of late, but it felt fine through my sessions so far today.

Please see links to 2 articles I read, one recent and one a while ago. First is from STW a couple of months ago be Hannah:

Are You Sitting Comfortably? A Guide To Saddle Comfort

The other is by Helen Pidd who know a fair bit and had written a lot about bikes (and is Northern Editor for the Guardian):
https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2015/aug/05/in-search-of-the-perfect-saddle-aka-when-bigger-isnt-better
Hope they give your wife some helpful info.

We’ve measured properly for the sit bones using the foam method so we’ve got the proper width.

Thanks for all the info. I’ve sent her the link so she’ll be able to follow up on everything.

Good padded shorts made a world of difference for my wife so have a look at that as well if you have not already.

If it helps, miss4real and two of her regular riding friends all swear by the Selle Italia Diva (gel flow).

My wife has also changed to the Selle Italia Diva and says it is much, much better than any other saddle she has had.

Imo both the saddle and the padded item/shorts/tights need to work together in harmony. I think women can often believe that a super-padded saddle along with super-padded shorts/tights would mean maximum comfort which, imo, isn’t at all true. Also believe that women shouldn’t become fixated on this, it’s also important to check that their bike is a good fit for them and, contentiously, not what their partner decided was right for them. In this regard it may well make sense to have a proper bike fit by a suitably experienced person. Would also add that their riding style needs investigation ie whether they don’t get out of the saddle at all, whether they actually move around on the bike, is the saddle at the right height.

Having tried a number of different combinations over the years I eventually realised that what was best for me was a minimalist saddle (Selle Italia leather that had a little flex which relieved any pressure) along with minimally padded bikini style pants/briefs or minimally padded (for want of a better word) trunk style ones. Craft made some good ones.

+3 for a Selle Italia Diva from my girlfriend too.

I can’t really add much, as all of the above is good advice.

Good padded shorts, chamois cream, good cutouts on the saddle and a saddle that isn’t padded like a big fat bulging thing, that one finds on certain cheap bike models. Saddle pointing ever so slightly down was the best thing I ever did.

Trying out as many as possible, borrow or demo some.

+1 for padded not necessarily best, nor wide. I’ve been quite happy on a Charge Spoon. I guess it’s all a bit trial and error.

My wife has also been through this. After getting her new bike, she did about 15 two hour rides before going for a bike fit. During this time we didn’t adjust anything on the bike so she really got used to the position and sitting on a saddle for a couple of hours. She wasn’t very good at changing her position so we made her garmin beep every 15 minutes to encourage her to stand up on the pedals for 30 seconds. The bike fit changed her position significantly ( shows how little I know ) and again she had to go through the learning curve of getting used to the new fit. Now she never mentions bike comfort and looks great on the bike. The bike fitter was very approachable and has fitted many women. She has a specialized power saddle, she sat on their arse measuring device and specialized recommended we set it up level. Her only issue is changing the front dérailleur with small hands but even that is significantly better than before the bike fit and I think the only answer there is di2. The bike fitter is in Folkestone, good luck.

I’ve been in to Vankru myself (its 3 miles away!) but my wife feels she’d be more comfortable talking through the issues with a female.

Ah, would have been ideal otherwise then. Mrs Yak thought he was very good fwiw.

If you are in Leeds you won’t be too far from the Harrogate Specialized Concept store. My wife got her saddle there on the basis if she didn’t like it they would allow her to swap for another. They also do the width measurement thing, and then suggest different styles of saddle depending on activity. Of course it may be a pain to go back though they did to a warranty replacement by post once. FWIW she rides without padded shorts and is happy on all day rides though as a mountain biker she does get out of the saddle more.

If she’s read my article and watched my video she’ll know it’s quite an intimate affair finding the right saddle! Happy for her to DM me if she’d like to discuss pain/discomfort of specific areas away from a public forum!

Selle Italia Diva

fairly sure this what MrsP uses too

Great point from CG about shorts/pads – OP, you haven’t mentioned what shorts she’s on/in

Vankru in Upham

At the end of Sciviers Lane?

Seen some cycling establishment sign as I pass through there fairly often on way out to the hills, but without stopping, it wasn’t obvious to me what they did.

Mrs Bee has been to VanKru 3 times, for fit on her road and mtb and also for some work on cleat position.
She was so impressed after her first trip there that I booked myself in. Can’t recommend them enough.

+4 for Selle Italia Diva +padded shorts + chamois butt’her creme according to my other.

At the end of Sciviers Lane?

Yes. Sorry should have said Lower Upham.

I honestly can’t remember what padded shorts she has at the moment, might be fox.

Hannah, I think that’s whats shes after more than anything, a discussion with someone who understands. I’m not qualified!

I feel bad, I’d been into Vankru for discussions about a training plan for a sdw double attempt (im in BW) but never followed through on it due to house moves etc.

Have to say folks, thanks for the advice! Im in work but hopefully she’s reading at home.