Women: What's your favorite saddle?

you might be better off asking in the other saddle thread as opposed to the "womens" one :)

true enough, sorry about that..

Your probably right Devoneil, but genitals are important, don't you think? Its enough to stir any lurker. I just happened to be on this website looking for a frame to buy and saw this post and nothing excites and affects me more than the comfort rights of females bottoms. I was forced to comment...

The thing I love most about the genitals is their dual purpose; procreation and recreation. It's a fantastic example of intelligent design.

Dude, I've been saying "flabby bits" over and over again for 4 or 5 minutes now. Thanks for the laugh!

Obviously [not owning any], I assume the cut out is for the lady flappy bits, all well and good. Can see the reasoning etc... Why don't mens saddles have a cut-out for our danglies?

The cutouts in saddles are designed to relieve pressure on a blood vessel which we all have, I think it's somewhere between the genitals and anus (hah!), pressure on it is thought to be more dangerous for guys as this blood supply is an integral part of our reproductive organs, rather than just near them. Or something.

I have been considering cutting one of these 'fertility gaps' into a Brooks, guess I need to do one as a test to show people before they'd commit to letting me loose on their saddle.

Maybe time to talk to brooks about getting some stock...

The cutout is supposedly both for the blood vessels and the psiatic nerve running through the pelvis though I'm not sure how much it actually helps.

I'd totally let you do the cutout on my Brooks, I can get a B17S for way cheaper without the cutout, but apparently you'd also want to cut holes on the sides to lace underneath.

I also big time want some of that fancy-ass tooling from the pics on the 1890s Brooks catalogue everyone's bandying about online.

Selia Italia Ladies Gel Flow

And, like Nhatt, padded shorts, always

I've got a brooks and a charge spoon, and the brooks is much comfier, I've found.

But to be honest I still get a fair bit of soreness.

The thing I love most about the genitals is their dual purpose; procreation and recreation. It's a fantastic example of intelligent design.

If they only serve two purposes, are you including micturation as a sub-category of recreation?

My wife likes her Charge Ladle, having tried a number of others. Seems quite well finished for the price.

But decent shorts for longer rides, and getting the saddle set up 'just so' are of paramount importance.

Pajamas, I've done 12 hour rides on various saddles from the SLR family, but that doesn't mean they'd work for you. Just get some decent shorts for Dunwich.

oh dear, now when I read "flappy bits" and in relation to saddles I just thought of Farmer Giles...... and how much of a problem that must be

And over a skirt they look like any other legging.

Wearing leggings over skirts is the holy grail of style decisions. How have you achieved this feat?

Nhatt just bunches up the skirt and tucks it between her legs to act as a sort of extra chamois within the shorts. She's cutting the envelope at the pushing edge.

The most ill-conceived saddle I ever had (can't remember the name but nothing fancy like) had a dip instead of a cut out and used to collect puddles of rainwater!- it wasn't that uncomfortable but I don't like sitting in puddles so needless to say that one had to go.

Happily I had more luck with its replacement - a Selle Italia Gel Flow Ldy and was so enamoured I bought a second one as a spare. Good thing too as the first one is now splitting after about 5 years of use, and possibly from cycling in jeans so often.

If they only serve two purposes, are you including micturation as a sub-category of recreation?

Good to see someone else bringing this word out now and again.

I've got a Brooks B17S that I love. Have only had it a few months, but no breaking in issues and it has been perfect on my commute and longer weekend rides. Tis great!

Ive got a cut out one.... the one before was ruining certain other fun between my legs... and cycling :)

Dont mess with the legs, between, fun !!

The consensus seems to be towards the Brooks B17S and the Selle Italia ladies gel flow. Both affordable to pick up & try out, carefully. I've been wanting to try a Brooks anyway.

I should probably warn you I haven't done more than about 40 miles in a day on my Brooks yet. But it's certainly been comfortable so far.

For the past year I've had a standard Brooks B17 on one bike, and a Charge Spoon on the other. Both are fine, but neither has been the comfiest thing ever (though the Spoon is much better than the Brooks for distance stuff). Tempted to try a Selle now...

I have been riding a Specialized Alias for two years now and have three bikes fitten with them..
If you can, get measured for your saddle, it makes a hell of a difference. My riding style changed - for the better, my hips stopped rolling and the power went to the cranks and not me arse 'wriggling on the seat movement'.
Once you have a fav saddle, stick with it!

Many saddles are far too narrow for us women, our sit bone distance on average is 15cm (taking in account 2cm for fixie style ridin), men average 12cm! Saddles that look nice and come OEM are on average 11cm wide...ouch..

If anyone would like any further advise just shout - I used to work for a german saddle company who specialised in measuring bums...nice :)

What do you mean about the 2cm taken into account for fixie riding style?
I like Specialized, the Alias seemed a bit too squishy for my needs. Generally I do well below 15 miles, but this last weekend I had about 50 miles under my butt. Some pain but not so bad as before, I'm getting back up to speed.

I may stick with the Jett, I like it, but I'm thinking with my style sense right now and want a black saddle. So while I was at it I decided to hear what others thought of their saddles.

Ok, your sit bones (pelvis bone) taper inwards towards the front of your body a bit like \ /, so, the further leaned forward you sit on the saddle the narrower the seat you need to support your sit bones, and not get in the way of your legs for pedalling. We add 2cm to he actual distance so the sit bones sit on the saddle and not the outside of it.

Easy to measure, sit on a sheet of corrageted cardboard with your back straight, nothing in pockets, lift your heels off the ground and with your hands pull yourself into your seat - the idea is to make an imprint of your pelvis (sit bones) in the cardboard (tricky for women cuz we have padding!). When you have made an imprint draw a cross in the centre of each imprint, get a ruler and measure the distance. Add 2 cm for a fixie riding position and you have your saddle size. The idea is that your sit bones sit comfortably on the saddle and supports your hips, not your lady/man bits trying to support your body.

For a sit up and beg style you could add up to 4cm because you re using the widest part of your pelvis.
Hope that makes sense :)

Take a tape measure with you when you buy a saddle and measure the distance between the two parts of the saddle where you should sit you pelvis and make sure you have enough space for them!

My other half likes her charge spoon on the road bike and loves the ladies version she has on the commuter even more. Although that might be because it looks nicer (deep brown/black with pink stitching).

The consensus seems to be towards the Brooks B17S and the Selle Italia ladies gel flow....

@jayloo - i got an unused brooks s17 (black) - it's yours if you want it - pm and me and we can make a plan. i'll be the one with a delapidated terry's at a rakish angle

Selle Italia SLK Gel Flow (different to Clefty's etc..). I really like it, quite hard but very comfortable (took me a couple of rides to get used to it) and don't need to wear padded shorts but haven't done very long rides with it yet. I am planning to go to Westies this week, you can have a little ride on it if you want.

I've just bought one of these so fingers crossed it's more comfortable than my charge spoon. I got some of those Assos women's specific cycling shorts and they make things 100% better, but for £125 one would expect them too!