So let me just say from the outset, I have absolutely no doubts as to where this thread could end up! But in amongst the innuendo I’m hoping there may be some nuggets of wisdom from some of the few ladies on STW…

So basically my girlfriend suffers from a nasty rubbing from the saddle in a rather delicate place 😯 She wears decent padded shorts, the saddle is dropped so the front is lower than normal to try and get the weight onto her sitting bones, but she still seems to get a lot of pressure here. I know nowt about womens bikes or womens setup – is there something obvious I’m missing or is it time to mess around with different saddles (it’s the stock saddle that came on the women’s specific Cube)? Thoughts / humour welcome 😆

My missus used to suffer until I got her a Selle Italia female specific saddle. I would suggest using Chamois Cream on the pad as well to try and help.

Saddle level or tilted up a tiny bit is more comfortable generally. With the saddle tilted down more pressure is put onto delicate places (so I find!) Also chamois cream may help!

Maybe some help,
flapjackie

A similar question was asked a while ago.
Not surprisingly, the thread went rapidly down hill, but there is some useful information there.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/women-specific-saddle-for-big-ladybits-recommendations

My Mrs has a Terrys Liberator saddle with a huge hole in it to relieve rubbing. She likes it.

I tried an ISM Adamo on 14 day trial.
It’s not sold as either a men’s or women’s specific saddle, it’s a bit of an odd looking thing and it takes a few rides to get used to, but I ended up buying three of them.

With a 14 day free trial, you’ve got nothing to lose.

http://www.trybikestore.co.uk/

bookwyse – Member

My missus used to suffer until I got her a Selle Italia female specific saddle. I would suggest using Chamois Cream on the pad as well to try and help.

Yea chamois cream makes a big difference, for the twig and giggleberries, so I assume it’s good for the lady garden also. I recommend ‘Udderly Smooth’. It’s great stuff!

On the subject of saddles, Specialized dealers can measure your arsebones and recommend a saddle that should work.

Awesome – thanks for swift replies 🙂

Having the saddle nose down is probably not helping. Flat or slightly nose up would help with the squishy bits.
The selle Italia x1 flow lady saddle is cheap at 18.00 and quite light at 270 grams. This really helped my wife when going from a 5 miles ride to doing 30-40 miles rides without discomfort.

I can’t get on with the Selle Italia saddles at all – Spesh are better for me, currently have a Lithia. I used to use a Jett, but find the Lithia has just that wee bit more “give” which suits me.
Edit: and don’t forget the Hoo Ha Ride Glide 🙂

I use a Selle Italia women specific saddle on my mtb and find it super comfortable.
When I transferred it to my cx bike though it was no good at all. Because the body is less upright on the cx bike obviously, I found the Selle saddle had too much padding on the front which made it uncomfortable.
So now I use a lower profile Spesh women specific saddle and find that about right. I’d go for one of those for a road bike. Wouldn’t recommend the Jett though unless you’re only going to do super short rides. It’s great for about half an hour but is as hard as nails and soon becomes painfully uncomfortable, for me at least. Hope that helps.

Missnotax is the girl to ask about this 😉

Running Specialized Jett gel 143 on all my bikes for years, all day epics, with no problems.

Abigale and Katie use WTB ones again with no problems

Where are you based, might be able to sort one out to try

Don’t just focus on the saddle as being the specific problem. Bike fit is as important if not more so…..if the bars are too low or reach too far it could cause a rotating your hips forward causing pressure and discomfort too.

missus swears by the sella italia diva – but it’s same for the men, the right saddle fits the wrong one doesn’t.

For me what works is minimalist padding together with a minimalist saddle. This is what I have on all my bikes, it actually flexes:

Mrs ton uses a spesh bg saddle, with a sus seatpost. good for 40 odd miles, with no ill effects.

I use Charge ladle on my road and mtb. Every saddle takes a while to bed in (saddle to arse, or arse to saddle, I’m never quite sure)! I would definitely nose up to put weight back to sitting bones.

+1 for bike fit!

Just a normal Charge spoon on most bikes but feels completely different on different bikes – don’t notice it at all the mtb and cx bike number one. Sadly, new cx bike (same saddle) is sore but I think it’s down to position not saddle so I am going to have to mess around with the set up.

Also, I once cycled home from work (40 miles) on my other half’s bike. We use the same saddle and similar set ups. But carrying a heavy pack changed everything… I couldn’t sit down after 25 miles. 15 miles standing up is pretty tough…

Miss4real has a Cube (Carbon Hardtail) and discarded the saddle immediatley – using a Selle Italia Diav Gel Flow has been her saviour !

So much so she’s just bought another for her new bike before it get’s delivered.

I set it level at the nose using an inclinometer on the phone.

+1 for Selle Italia female saddles, really helped my better half who was suffering with the same issues.

mrs xiphon uses a WTB womens saddle (mtb) and a spesh womens saddle (road)