Welcome to the forum Tami - at some point next year we'll be reading your race reports :)
This is a good article for reference:
http://www.cervelo.com/...f-road-saddles-.html I have this conversation nearly every day with riders (male and female), so here are my broad-brush-stroke comments on this subject. I usually say that there might be 1% of 'getting used to it', but anything else you shouldn't put up with.
Undue pressure on the pubic area is not caused by improper saddle width (at the back). Primarily it is the result of too much 'drop', from the saddle height to the handlebars. A saddle with a cutout can alleviate or delay the numbness, but may not be the entire solution.
Measuring your sit bone width is meaningless: the average difference between the ischial tuberosities is
1cm between Male and Female. If Scheherezade is a "99th percentile", what does that really mean? She does not say exactly which Aura saddle she ended up getting - 143, 155 or 160mm? Let's assume she's on a 155. Why not a 160? I'm 160lbs right now, and believe me, I cannot feel a half-centimeter width change underneath my butt. FWIW, I ride, and have been riding for 8years, a Fizik Aliante (140 wide). Prior to that I rode Terry Race saddles, without a cutout (until they stopped making them, ha!). Let's say too that I was 20yrs younger and 20lbs lighter when I rode on that saddle, but it was about the same dimensions as the Fizik is now. The only time someones' pelvic dimensions change is due to trauma or childbirth. Men have trauma, Women have childbirth haha.
Who here rides sitting up completely erect? Is that not where these measurements are being taken on the pelvis? Someone looked at the OpenErg data and said "oh, we need to make saddles in these dimensions" and then came up with some nifty gel assometer to sell you saddles according to how you leave a mark. Even a moderately rotated roadie is off the sit bones, at a torso angle upwards 45degrees. At this point we are off the sit bones, and onto the 'face' of the pelvis, the ischial ramus. This structure is what you are resting on, and it flares outward at an angle. This is where split-nose saddles come into play - especially with torso angles down in the 20degrees range for triathlon. Rather than 'single' nosed saddle that makes you 'pick' a side of your pelvis to perch on, a saddle like the ISM gives you a place for both sides of your pelvic rami to rest. Now the question of what saddle width is best for you is how wide it is in the
front, not the rear.
https://plus.google.com/...17768130057368513446 I would not agree with the thought that the saddle is "where all your weight is". If you have three points of contact on a bike, I posit that the distribution of weight should be 10% at the hands, 40% at the saddle, and 50% at the feet. Whether you are road or tri fitted, if you're not properly planted at the foot, nothing above it will be balanced. The 'drop' to the bars/armpad will follow according to your flexion or gut (or beerbaby). I've had riders come to me saying they've 'tried every saddle there is', but the problem isn't at the saddle, it starts at your foot/pedal interface. However, in general, genital numbness is a result of too much drop to the bars, too low of a saddle, or combination thereof.
That being said, there are individual variances that can come into play physiologically.
Couple of questions for you:
Are you on a road bike or tri bike?
Tri shorts or cycling shorts?
Are you wearing cycling shoes? what type of pedal system are you using?
feel free to post photos of your fit.
Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com