Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

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MattyK
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Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby MattyK » Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:50 am

Hi all.

Just got my wife's new bike this weekend, her first proper roadie.
It's a Merida Scultura 905, 50cm. So a men's frame, but well enough sized for her.
We spent last night setting up her position on the trainer and learning how to use cleats and deraillers.

However the saddle is a major source of discomfort. It's a Selle Italia X1, very flat, quite narrow and very little padding. It needs to go.

Obviously it would be best if she can trial some, unless there is a "go to" for women's road bikes (the Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow is a possibility here). Are there any shops around Melbourne (near Burwood ideally) where she could try some different women's saddles?

Happy to spend whatever it takes (well, ideally spend once, not multiple times). Any ladies tried Selle SMP? I was impressed riding my brother's but my anatomy is a bit different...

Open to suggestions, though "no pink" is about the only desire.

Cheers.

Blakeylonger
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Blakeylonger » Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:56 am

No suggestion here is necessarily going to work for your wife. Arses are like opinions, everyone has one and they're all different. My partner loves the Selle Italia X1 Lady, likes the Charge Ladle, but hates the X2 and the Diva flow. This doesn't help your wife.

Find a shop that offers a test saddle program. eg fitzroy revolution with Spec saddles, try, ride, return, ride, try, return, try, ride, return and buy the one that suits.

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redsonic
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby redsonic » Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:48 am

Good advice above; saddles are really a personal choice. I tried a lot of saddles, buying second hand mostly and selling on eBay when they didn't suit. For what it's worth, I found nirvana with the SMP glider

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outnabike
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby outnabike » Mon Mar 03, 2014 4:48 pm

I reckon every one comes to this stage with at least one family member. I found the local bike shops particularly unhelpful in that they just did not allow trial saddles stating "if it comes back it is second hand"

So I went onto the internet and bought three that were different profiles and at around $20-00 delivered; no great loss. One of the cut out models was fine and then I bought one from a store of better quality and its been working out well.
Maybe I was lucky. :)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MTB-Cycling-Roa ... 231f6fea5a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cycling-Bike-Bi ... 258000b362" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Selle-Italia-FK ... 5d457db78e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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isabella24
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby isabella24 » Mon Mar 03, 2014 5:13 pm

+1 for the SMP Glider, but as others have already said, everyone's butt and therefore saddle preference is different!
I live in Sydney so can't advise you on shops in Melbourne sorry.
80s Ken Evans / 2011 Trek Madone / 2013 Vivente World Randonneur / 2015 Lynskey Helix

Venus62
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Venus62 » Mon Mar 03, 2014 8:21 pm

I love my Selle Italia Diva (which is on my Scultura 904 comp) but it does have pink stitching if that's a deal breaker! But not overtly girly.

hidepenny
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby hidepenny » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:08 pm

+1 on the glider. It made a huge difference for me in terms of distance and the speed. Not sure if its unsex though.
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Eleri
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Eleri » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:51 pm

I tried a number of saddles before settling on the one that many of my female (and male) friends have - the Selle SMP Lite.

Lots of bike shops in Sydney, so I assume Melbourne, will loan you a saddle for a week or so to try out.

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grasshopper
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby grasshopper » Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:20 am

Try Gran Prix at South Caulfield; they used to have a test program but it depends whether those brands will suit.

+1 to Fitz Rev - worth a try. If not them, Total Rush would probably be happy to put her in the trainer with their Spec saddles. I'm happy to be left alone there but if really desperate to try something I'll engage.

+1 to blakey's thoughts on individuality too. But I know quite a few women with the SI Ldy Gel Flow (I have it on the tourer). I have an SM Aspide Glam on the roadie, so all different.

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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby trailgumby » Wed Mar 05, 2014 12:48 pm

I recently experienced the Specialized approach to loan saddles and I have found one that solves my saddle sore problem nicely on the roadie.

Resolving the issue on my XC race bike will be trickier as their saddles are wide. I tend to bump (and bruise) the inside of my thighs a lot on the way to chesting the saddle when manhandling the bike over technical terrain obstacles :( Roadie saddle is 155mm wide, anything more than 135mm on the mtb and the inside of my thighs becomes a sea of bruises after a handful of laps of Manly Dam.

Give Spesh a try. Steve Hogg has an interesting blog on a particular brand of Italian saddle that covers female models.

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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Blakeylonger » Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:04 pm

grasshopper wrote:+1 to Fitz Rev - worth a try. If not them, Total Rush would probably be happy to put her in the trainer with their Spec saddles.
To clarify, you put the saddle on *your* bike, take it away for a few days / week and test ride it properly, not just a brief trainer test that doesn't really tell you anything significant.

Total Rush? Please. After their body paint stunt they can go jump.

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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Parker » Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:20 pm

Let's start with, there are hundreds of saddles out there that aren't pink and the market is now flooded with plenty of options that aren't pink, it is rare to find pink saddles.

Specialized have a good fit system and there is more than one specialized dealer in Melbourne that you don't need to go to Total Rush, for example, Hampton Cycles is well regarded as a good bike shop.

newie
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby newie » Wed Mar 05, 2014 4:30 pm

Blakeylonger wrote:
To clarify, you put the saddle on *your* bike, take it away for a few days / week and test ride it properly, not just a brief trainer test that doesn't really tell you anything significant.
Don't agree with this necessarily. I can tell within 30 secs of sitting on a saddle whether it is going to work for me or not. A good saddle just feels really comfortable from the get-go and that doesn't change with distance or time. A bad saddle, well, my bottom knows straight-away, it just doesn't feel right. But, people are different I suppose.

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grasshopper
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby grasshopper » Wed Mar 05, 2014 4:32 pm

Blakeylonger wrote:
grasshopper wrote:+1 to Fitz Rev - worth a try. If not them, Total Rush would probably be happy to put her in the trainer with their Spec saddles.
To clarify, you put the saddle on *your* bike, take it away for a few days / week and test ride it properly, not just a brief trainer test that doesn't really tell you anything significant.

Total Rush? Please. After their body paint stunt they can go jump.
I fully understand all that. But the subject can apparently tell from the trainer whether at least some saddles won't work for her. If they want to try Spec and don't want to go to FR, TR is an option. Using a few on a trainer might allow her to narrow the search without even committing the coin to the test program, which limits you to the brands that any particular store sells. Not a very palatable option, I agree. But I even tried something there recently that no-one else could provide. And yeah, with a little curiosity to see they would handle it. :lol:

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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Parker » Wed Mar 05, 2014 5:15 pm

FYI regarding Total Rush they have saddles that you can take away and try before you buy, it's even more effective than putting it on a trainer.

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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Parker » Wed Mar 05, 2014 5:18 pm

And they'll even put it on the bike for you

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isabella24
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby isabella24 » Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:47 pm

Parker wrote:And they'll even put it on the bike for you
Because women can't fit a saddle themselves?

Sorry, I'm not trying to pick a fight but I reckon the majority of women can fit a saddle to their bike.

(And Parker, I know you're a woman...)
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Parker
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Parker » Thu Mar 06, 2014 12:09 pm

isabella24 wrote:
Parker wrote:And they'll even put it on the bike for you
Because women can't fit a saddle themselves?

Sorry, I'm not trying to pick a fight but I reckon the majority of women can fit a saddle to their bike.

(And Parker, I know you're a woman...)
Um no, because it's the nice thing to do. They measure the current position of your saddle and put the new one on so you don't have to.

It's got nothing to do with women not being able to do it, it's ACTUALLY CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE.

My comment's got nothing to do with me being female, I'm trying to point out that some bike shops will serve you, I have a FELT AR4 and to change the saddles over is fidly for me and annoying, takes me longer than a 30km ride, the way its attached to the seat post isn't what I'm used to, so yeah, I get one of the people in the store (male or female) to do it for me.

And they do it quicker with more precision, because guess what, I'm not great at mechanics, the army tested me once and said HELL NO. But you know it's got nothing to do with me being female, I'm just better at other things.

Can't believe I respnded.

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MattyK
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby MattyK » Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:46 pm

Thanks for all the responses. We will be trying to find a place that will loan out testers - yes my wife's back end (or more technically, front end) could definitely tell what didn't suit her, but given the likely sizeable investment it would be good to optimise. PMC don't have a loaner SMP Glider but the Lite 209 would probably be a similar starting point to know if it is in the ballpark.

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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Dr_Mutley » Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:47 pm

MattyK wrote:Thanks for all the responses. We will be trying to find a place that will loan out testers - yes my wife's back end (or more technically, front end) could definitely tell what didn't suit her, but given the likely sizeable investment it would be good to optimise. PMC don't have a loaner SMP Glider but the Lite 209 would probably be a similar starting point to know if it is in the ballpark.
The lite 209 would be a better place to start as it's a wider saddle...

/dons flame suit ;-)

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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby trailgumby » Thu Mar 06, 2014 7:44 pm

The Spesh store at Chatswood seemed to run on the assumption that you would keep the test saddle for around 2 weeks. When I turned up wanting to swap one (that I could tell wasn't going to work) after a week their response was "oh you haven't ridden it enough"

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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby gorilla monsoon » Fri Mar 07, 2014 5:55 pm

Another vote for Selle SMP, in my case the Avant for my flatbar. Had to play around a little bit with positioning but now it is how I want it.
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MattyK
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby MattyK » Fri Mar 07, 2014 10:19 pm

Dr_Mutley wrote:
The lite 209 would be a better place to start as it's a wider saddle...

/dons flame suit ;-)
Maybe but the Steve Hogg article suggests the Glider is effectively wider due to the shape of the padding.

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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby Dr_Mutley » Sat Mar 08, 2014 3:14 pm

Yes... I think this holds true for seasoned riders... For those who require a bit more "softness" it might be more preferable..,

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MattyK
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Re: Choosing/finding saddles [MEL]

Postby MattyK » Sun Mar 09, 2014 2:07 pm

What might be preferable?

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