It sounds counterintuitive, but try putting the saddle slightly "nose up". This takes the weight off the "soft tissue" in the front. If she is feeling much weight in her hands, the saddle could be too far "nose down". Check out the Cobb saddles web page for more on this. There are plenty of online sources of info on saddle position, but this one happens to have some useful drawings to illustrate the points.

Use chamois cream (on skin and on shorts) and play around with the brand of shorts, style and thickness of pad, etc. Sometimes you have to experiment a little before finding the right combination. I'm making the assumption that she has a fairly good saddle in reasonable condition. If not, a change in seat could help too.

As you can see on previous threads on this forum, some women have also found that "trimming" the right spots can help too. :-)

Agree with SBR about chamois cream. Put a big blob of it on the chaois. Feels weird but its effective!! I use a selle italia womens gel flow saddle and that works for me. Also agree about the knicks. Make sure they fit well or that can cause more rubbing.

Good luck to your wife

:)

I had a hard time finding a seat that worked for me. Went through 3 of them before I found one that worked. Lots of the high-end saddles would leave me in tears from the pain. Everybody's body is different and I think she has to try different saddles until she finds one that works. A good bike shop should allow her to try different options in the store. I ended up using a Terry Butterfly saddle with a cut out in the middle. I can ride all day now without pain.

Seats are such a unique and personal thing...but, that said, here are a few things to think about:

Does she ride a road bike or a tri bike? I ask because I sit very differently on my two bikes, thus I have different saddles on them. Along with this, does she tilt her pelvis more forward, or sit more upright? Again, this will make a difference in what "girl parts" hit the saddle and where.

I have tried so many seats that I've lost count. I'm currently using ISM on both my road and tri bike, but different versions for each. Particularly the ISM on my tri bike (I think its called the "Road", ironically) has been life-changing for me. I can now do 6+ hour rides in tri-shorts without an ounce of discomfort. That said, it doesn't work for everyone. Many women find that the center cut out is necessary (I feel this way), but again, it's not for everyone.

As others have said - the perfect combo of shorts (and NO underwear!), saddle and chamois cream is hard to find, but once you do find it, you/she will love to ride. Is there any chance you have a bike shop nearby that will work with you guys to test out some saddles? Many shops will let you try one for longer periods of time - because that's really the only way to tell - not just a few minutes in the store, on a trainer. Let us know if she finds something that works!

Terry brand saddles.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.