Women's cycle saddle recommendations? (Read 2282 times)

I have a POS old mountain bike that DH is converting to sort of a hybrid for me for Summer (putting slick tires on it, basically). I haven't ridden in years--mainly because the saddle that's on it leaves me SORE and numb "down there" within a mile or less (and this is WITH a nice pair of Cannondale chamois shorts). It's a cheap, women's-specific saddle with a hole in the front, but it's not open--the hole is covered with the saddle fabric, so I think that's why it doesn't do much for pressure. The saddle probably needs to be angled differently, too. I'd like to be doing 10-20 miles 1-2x/week for cross-training, since recent knee issues lead me to believe that my quads could use some strengthening...and biking sounds a lot more fun than doing a bazillion squats. So what saddles would you gals recommend? I know Terry makes some good ones, but they generally aren't cheap. Since I'm not going to be logging all that many miles on my bike I'd like to find a saddle that isn't too spendy (I'll be going through running shoes fast enough with marathon training, so that's where the money's goin'), but will be comfortable for rides of an hour or so. Thanks!

Take a look at the forums on team estrogen - everything you could possibly ever want to know (and probably more) about saddles for women. http://forums.teamestrogen.com/forumdisplay.php?f=72

Terry makes some pretty good popular saddles. I have a women's 'Open Century' on my road bike. It has a hole in the snoot part of the saddle. Looks weird but works really well. I like it a lot. You will be sore on any saddle at first ... but you shouldn't be numb and the soreness should get better as you ride more.

Yeah, I know sore sit-bones are par for the course when starting...but that instant pain and numbness up-front is not right (and it's kept me off of my bike for the better part of a decade).

I just bought a new saddle for my bike - just a cheap-ish one from Nashbar, since I don't really ride often enough to justify a more expensive one, but this one has a fairly substantial cut out unlike my old saddle. So, I'll see how that goes. However, I also have short arms, so it's really hard for me to get a bike set up that allows me to be close enough to the handlebars but still sit back on the saddle far enough to be on the sit bones without feeling really stretched out or having my knees too far forward. And, if you keep sliding forward off your sit bones, you're putting all your weight on the soft tissue - instant sensation of burning followed my numbness. Assuming the saddle works out, my next buy would be shorter stem, which may also help. Also, take a look at the Allay Topeak line - I don't have any personal recommendations, but they look cool to me: http://www.allaysaddles.com/

I did the same thing with a junker bike given to me by my brother-in-law. Put the narrowest tires I could on it, got a women's cut-out saddle (cheapie from Performance bike), stripped it down to one gear and one set of brakes, slapped a saddlebag and a bunch of lights on it and voila - indestructable commuter for about $100. Losing all those gears, derailluers and brake parts, not to mention the fat tires, shaved about 7 lbs off the bike! Anyway, not trying to threadjack... Here's the saddle: http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=23416&subcategory_ID=5211 The wrong frame size could be a problem - particularly if the frame is made for men. We gals tend to have longer legs/shorter torsos (sp?) vs. men, so a men's frame will force you to "reach" further, which could make your problem worse. A cheap fix for this would be to play around with handlebar stem length and/or height, or to try a different handlebar. Check out the "trekking" handlebars here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/deakins/handlebars.html In general, a too small frame is mo betta than too large. If worse comes to worse, you can pick up used bikes for cheap or free, I guess. Arla

I didn't read through everyone's responses, so sorry if this is a duplicate. I ride with a Terry Butterfly. It's the best saddle I've had so far. Love it. I do have to tell ya that no matter what saddle you have, it has to be adjusted just right. There are times when I get off my bike 10-20 times to adjust the seat a fraction. There's infinite possibles on how the saddle can be adjusted. Also, when I haven't been on my bike for awhile, it takes several rides a week to get those sitz bones numbed up. Until that time, it's ouchie for a bit. Time in the saddle will heal all.