Women: What's your favorite saddle?

I love it! Where the heck do I get one?? I use the Specialized Jett, btw, which has a cutout, and which I generally love.

TokyoFixedGear sell them, a bit pricey, but defintely worth it, best thing about it is that you don't need to break it in.

I'm sure they'll let you try one out to see what it like, came with a complex instruction on how to set it up properly.

I prefer the Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow to the Ladies Gel flow. I've ridden both on long miles and the Diva is definitely much comfier (at least for me).

I'll be selling my white gel flow saddle soonish.

I'd be interested to see the difference,

Although the name makes me think of Mariah Carey..

I'll be selling my white gel flow saddle soonish.

Hands up! I might be interested. you could do a good line in reselling selle saddles to me. I would have to check a picture of it to be sure though (I have been looking at so many selle saddles I can't remember which is which)...

Although the name makes me think of Mariah Carey..

yeah WTF is that about?!

I have a totally awesome Fizik, it's the wing flex one (or something that makes me think of pads..)
Love it.

Wow what a great thread!
I have ongoing saddle issues.
I have two bikes, both of which I use a lot (2 hours commute a day).
Bike 1 started with the standard Boardman saddle which was completely unbearable.
Swapped for a specialized avatar 143 mm which is ok but not comfy by any means.
Bike 2 has a Selle Italia Lady gel flow, which is very painful and only just bearable!
I don't have much money and can't really afford to buy loads of saddles!
Don't know why I have such issues. Think my sit bones are quite narrow which is why I get on better with the avatar... Have kind of resigned myself to ouchiness now... :-(
(Sad violin plays in backround!)

Bike Whisperer would be your best bet to get straight to the point.

I've booked myself in for similar issue, trying to get to the bottom of it.

Wow what a great thread!
I have ongoing saddle issues.
I have two bikes, both of which I use a lot (2 hours commute a day).
Bike 1 started with the standard Boardman saddle which was completely unbearable.
Swapped for a specialized avatar 143 mm which is ok but not comfy by any means.
Bike 2 has a Selle Italia Lady gel flow, which is very painful and only just bearable!
I don't have much money and can't really afford to buy loads of saddles!
Don't know why I have such issues. Think my sit bones are quite narrow which is why I get on better with the avatar... Have kind of resigned myself to ouchiness now... :-(
(Sad violin plays in backround!)

I know that some bike shops have a one day saddle swap garentee, maybe this is something to try?
They let you ride a saddle, and if you don't like it, you return it and try a differnt one. You are also very welcome to try mine at south drinks, give me a heads up and I'll being my road bike.

Wow what a great thread!
I have ongoing saddle issues.
I have two bikes, both of which I use a lot (2 hours commute a day).
Bike 1 started with the standard Boardman saddle which was completely unbearable.
Swapped for a specialized avatar 143 mm which is ok but not comfy by any means.
Bike 2 has a Selle Italia Lady gel flow, which is very painful and only just bearable!
I don't have much money and can't really afford to buy loads of saddles!
Don't know why I have such issues. Think my sit bones are quite narrow which is why I get on better with the avatar... Have kind of resigned myself to ouchiness now... :-(
(Sad violin plays in backround!)

have you tried adjusting the angle of your saddle? I find that even as little as a few degrees can change my comfiest saddle to a weapon of pain. And vice versa.

Hmmm, all good suggestions.
@Ed, loked up bike whisperer and their services look awesome, but also look like they'd cost money I don't currently have... Maybe in more well off years to come! :-)
@Nhat, really sweet of you to offer to let me have a go but I live out near Norwich so prolly couldn't take you up on it... Also not sure if bike shops in Norwich do a one day trial thingy but I'll look into it, thanks.
@stelle, it's never even ocurred to me to try changing the angle! I think I'll try that before anything else, could well be the problem.
I generally have my saddle pretty much exactly level, what angle are you other ladies riding at?

For more guideline on saddle position, consult Sheldon Brown;

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html

you'll need to scroll down to adjustment.

I think is was Braker who said on another thread (or maybe this one) that Wiggle have a really good returns policy, so you could potentially buy a saddle and return it after a week if you didnt get on with it, I'd check the idea out properly though.

I've recently swapped back to the Charge Ladle (lady-specific version of the popular Charge Spoon), which is the most comfortable saddle I've ridden so far.

I had been riding a Concor supercorsa in suede, which was fine for my daily 10mile-round commute to work, but caused severe chafing issues on a 60mile ride to Brighton. I was also sick of it rubbing away the bum of my skinnies!

Angle-wise, I used to ride my saddle horizontally, in line with the top tube but now I find it much more comfortable with the back of it down a bit, and the front up a bit (obviously!). It looks a bit weird and assymetrical, but my tender areas appreciate it!

I prefer mine level or down a bit. If it starts to angle up I'm in a world of pain, which was exactly why I dumped my last seat post when the clamps stopped holding it in place. Ack!

OK well I tried angling the front down a bit and it was slightly better, though I felt I was having to use quite a lot of arm-effort to keep myself on the saddle - seemed to want to slip off the front a bit!! Think I may have angled it a bit too much, and also think it'll take a bit of getting used to, but as I said I think it wasn't quite as painful as normal. Gonna see how it works out over the next week or so and then try angling the back down a bit to compare.

Also, having read Sheldon's advice I raised my saddle by a good 2-3 inches!! Made a spectacular difference to my average speed! :-D

Thanks for all the help gals (and ed!) x

I have a 15 mile round trip commute and I wear padded shorts b/c I have changed too many things on my bike and I'm back to shifting around while I ride. You need to think about where exactly it hurts and whether or not you should move your saddle forward or backward. Do you know any riders in Norwich? You need to have someone watch you ride who knows at least a little bit about bike fit. There will be more pain in your arms as you are higher up and need to gain arm strength. Remember to keep your elbows loose and your shoulders dropped down; watch if they raise up around your ears.

Good luck!

B17 ftw. It's listed as unisex I think and much nicer IMO than the women specific ones.
It was so comfortable straight out the box but I think I was very lucky with that.

I have an old turbo saddle on my polo bike that I've used once and it still hurts. If anyone has an old cheap saddle they want rid of, this would make me very happy?!

+1 for the Specialized Jett - angled up at 9 degrees (thank you iphone). Have tried other saddles which look similar - but have ended up loving the Jett (155mm). Just returned from the US where I bought 2 in white. Possibly looking to sell a Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow in white - virtually new.

I have a Planet Bike women's ARS (ha!) classic:

Looks a bit naff but my arse likes it. As far as I can tell they don't have a distributor in the UK so if this one wears out, I'll have to make a trip back to Canada.

this thread needs a hippy and a merge.

My Missus always complains about her "tail bone" hurting after long rides. She seems to be fine on short commuter runs though.

Any recomendations for a lady from the ladies?

clarify what she means by "tail bone" and have her point if necessary. if it's the part in the center, the sacrum, then she's sitting entirely wrong and needs to readjust posture to be more on the "sits" bones.

this thread needs a hippy and a merge.

no hippy needed in this case. :-)

Oh riiiiight! We have mods on this sub-forum!!