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As per the title really.
Trying to get Mrs Batfink out for some mild MTBing, and she has made it very clear that the saddle is not sufficiently comfortable for her.
Anyone got any recommendations? Preferably not something completely female-specific, as she'll be using one of my bikes (and am not really interested in having to keep swapping the saddles over). Or is that a really bad idea - will I die if I ride a bike with a women's saddle?
Get her measured up for a Specialized Body Geometry saddle. Or my Missus swears by her Bontrager Affinity WSD. Switches it between her road and MTB
The wife has Charge Ladle on her main bike. Its nicely shaped but not very padded. Good for the mtb. The other bike has a wtb she comp which is more padded but not massive. I can ride both of them without issue.
Whatever you do don't compromise her comfort for your convenience or she'll just not ride. Get another seat post and swapping will take seconds.
Get another seat post and swapping will take seconds.
good call..... I actually hadn't thought of that 😳
+1 for the 'my wife get on well with bontrager wsd'
not sure precisely which one but it has a slight dip in the middle
As with all bum/saddle interfaces, be prepared for trial and error.
Mrs_oab hated the Terry she had, and the Specialized ladies she borrowed. Yet gets on ok with the ancient Selle Italian non ladies thing that came on her bike 10 years ago....
Get her some padded shorts.
It's all hit and miss, trial and error I'm afraid! Recommendations for saddles are always a bit of a gamble as what works for one person might be the most hateful instrument of nether-torture for another!
we've been through:
nasty OEM saddle - ok for short rides
WTB Rocket V - okish for MTB, tolerable on short Roadie rides
Specialized Mk1 riva 155mm - ok on MTB and medium rides on Roadie
Specialized Mk2 riva 155mm - ok on short MTB, no good on Roadie
Specialized Mk1 riva 143mm (re-measured bottom!) - ok on MTB so far, not tried on Roadie yet
Bontrager WSD somethingorother - er, no good, I won't give you the description she gave me of what it did down there, but it didn't sound pleasant!
Both Spesh and Bontrager seem to have a reasonable range of models for women, my suggestion would be get measured, then try sitting ona few in shop if possible to see how they feel, then pick one (in cheaper cro-mo rail guise) and ride for a while, see how you get on. If all good then buy lighter posher version, if not then try another model.
How is her positioning on the bike? you mentioned she'll be using one of yours, make sure it actually fits her and you adjust as necessary* as position can have a massive impact on how and where you support your weight, something that might seem trivial like a slightly too long cockpit can cause you to tilt forward on the saddle to reach the bars and put too much weight on the wrong places.
Is she already using padded shorts? if not then get some!
* I sense you might not have done this if swapping saddles was going to be too much faff, did you look at things like bar width, stem length/reach, saddle fore/aft position etc? or does she luckily magically fit your bike?
My GF and I are pretty much the same height, she's only an inch or so shorter, and we can both ride the same size frames but the rest of the fit is so different that we can't swap bikes without problems.
Anyone got any recommendations? Preferably not something completely female-specific,
As you are in a relationship you may have noticed that things are a bit different downstairs for ladies, the saddle reflects that.
Trial and error but apparently the Selle Italia Diva range is good.
2 posts seems like the simplest solution too.
Get her measured up for a Specialized Body Geometry saddle
works around here as well and that for me makes it a perfect solution
Mrs Yak swears by Fizik Vitesse saddles. Short blasts, 100milers, road, mtb - the lot.
Another vote from me for the Fizik saddles - vitesse on both mtb and road bike, vesta on the cx.
Definitely padded shorts, and probably a second seatpost.
I use the Body Geometry ones, having swapped from Fizik when they suddenly stopped being comfortable.
Have tried Bontrager and a roadie Selle Italia, and didn't get on with either of them. Also, if she does get measured for a saddle, bear in mind the fact that the measurements don't always equate to the same size in a different brand...
SDG Allure here (Why do women's saddles have to have such stupid girly names?) It definitely helps with the soft bits but does give me sore sitbones after a long ride, but I suppose that just shows the weight is in the right place.
I didn't get on with Specialized BG ones at all; sold the one I had after just two rides.
She needs to try a few out really but it's nigh-on impossible to find a bike shop with a good enough variety of women's saddles, in my experience. It can get into an expensive trial and error system.
Also, padded shorts are a must. Evans have got some good end-of-sale discounts on at the moment, including on Pearl Izumi and Castelli.
I have the Selle smp trk on all 3 of my bikes, can't fault it.
I've had a series of fizik vesta saddles. Really good IMO. OH says when he rides my bike it's really comfortable. He even ended up buying a fizik guys saddle to get something similar.
Ladies saddle and decent padded inners makes a massive difference. The consequences for ladies on being uncomfortable are just not worth going into. 😥
(re-measured bottom!)
Was this the first measurer?
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My wife uses the Charge Ladel too with padded undershorts.
Thanks all! Some great suggestions here.