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Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues
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I need some of the forum's females to help my GF work through finding the right saddle.......and well, Guys too if you have some insight. She just started racing last year and is riding a 2016 Cervelo P2. She's tried an Adamo Breakaway, Cobb Randee, and just picked up Terry Butterfly last weekend.

I'll be as delicate as I can describing her issues, but all 3 above cause pain right underneath. As she describes, like someone is taking a hammer to her down there. The Randee is comfortable when she's not in aero, but when she gets on to the aero bars, the pain then occurs "in the front". Mostly b/c she sits in the middle, so when in aero, the nose is putting pressure in the front. We tried to get her to sit more on the nose, like with Adamo, but that was also painful. I think she would be ok on an ISM 2.1, but while on an Adamo previously, she complained that the prongs were rubbing her inner legs.

Anyway, any saddle suggestions that have worked for the ST Females?
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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I can't really help on the female specific saddle choice but there is an article on the net about the British women's team and some steps they took to help with discomfort.

It can't be hard to find and might be worth a read.

Other than that, one of the girls who rides with us sufferd on longer rides (on a prologue) up until moving forward on it, tilting it down a touch and the biggest difference - wearing the thinnest pad tri shorts ? !

WD :-)
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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You might get more (helpful) views if this was posted in the women's forum.

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.
Last edited by: japarker24: Oct 18, 16 11:26
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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I have a lot more experience on road bikes than tri bikes, but here are my two cents. Before I bought my tri bike, they fit me with a couple saddles that they had at the shop. I ended up still going with the one the I use on my road bikes and touring bike--the Fizik Arione Donna. My position isn't particularly aggressive, so if your GF rides with a saddle significantly higher than her handlebars, I can see how it wouldn't work, and obviously, every woman's body is different. It is the only saddle I have found that a) supports my sit bones, b) has a narrow enough nose not to irritate the tendons on my inner thighs when I lean forward in either aero bars or the drops, and c) has a cutaway (really just a groove) in the front to alleviate soft tissue pressure.
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [japarker24] [ In reply to ]
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what helped me was going from the Adamo (had inside leg rubbing issues as well) to the Specialized Sitero, another one to look into would be the Fizik tri saddle.

But take it with a grain of salt as I am a male.
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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i ride with the adamo prologue on the P3 which i find reasonably comfortable. she could try using the plastics zip ties to bring the sides closer together if the rubbing is causing that much of an issue. has she tried playing around with the tilt of the saddle? maybe tilting ever so slightly down would take some of the pressure off while in aero. but has she had a bike fit? that should solve most of the problems...
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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On the Adamo you can always zip tie the front prongs together, which pulls them in slightly and makes them more narrow. This should reduce/remove the rubbing on the inner thigh issues.
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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let's look beyond the saddle here - what is the drop from the saddle to the armpad?

A different saddle is not necessarily the magic bullet - too much drop, too much pelvic rotation = too much pressure on whatever you got up there.

Being comfortable when NOT in aero is pointless; zip-tying saddles isn't the right solution either.

If you've been thru a comprehensive fitting, comfort and balance come from the saddle position in relation to the bar/pad position.

This is true for males as well as females, so it's good in either forum

Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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daltri1 wrote:
I need some of the forum's females to help my GF work through finding the right saddle.......and well, Guys too if you have some insight. She just started racing last year and is riding a 2016 Cervelo P2. She's tried an Adamo Breakaway, Cobb Randee, and just picked up Terry Butterfly last weekend.

I'll be as delicate as I can describing her issues, but all 3 above cause pain right underneath. As she describes, like someone is taking a hammer to her down there. The Randee is comfortable when she's not in aero, but when she gets on to the aero bars, the pain then occurs "in the front". Mostly b/c she sits in the middle, so when in aero, the nose is putting pressure in the front. We tried to get her to sit more on the nose, like with Adamo, but that was also painful. I think she would be ok on an ISM 2.1, but while on an Adamo previously, she complained that the prongs were rubbing her inner legs.

Anyway, any saddle suggestions that have worked for the ST Females?

She may need a seat with a cut out like the Sitero, or Selle SMP or maybe even the Fizik tritone that is snub nosed so it's hard to get pressure "in the front". It could also be a fit issue and not a seat issue.
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [WD Pro] [ In reply to ]
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WD Pro wrote:
Other than that, one of the girls who rides with us sufferd on longer rides (on a prologue) up until moving forward on it, tilting it down a touch and the biggest difference - wearing the thinnest pad tri shorts ? !

WD :-)

The thinnest pad tri shorts was the biggest difference for me. Took me two years to realize I had less issues after a race than I did after a long ride, and to put that together with my choice of shorts. Now I only ride in tri shorts.
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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 My bikes previous owner zip tied the front of her Adamo podium, this seems to make it work better for some people. Personally, it didn't work for me until I took the zip tie off. I'm not sure how much time your GF put into the Adamo as far as trying it, but I know personally it took a little bit for the pubic rami bones to get used to carrying weight -- it's a little tender for the first few rides. I actually ride mine a little more towards the middle (and I move around a little on it), even though you're supposed to perch right up on the nose. I find it comfortable in both aero and road positions, so much so that I put one on my road bike as well. One thing that I do, is to use chamois cream on just about every ride. I find that makes a big difference in comfort. Of course, that will not relieve direct pressure if that is the problem.
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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I use to have issues as well and tried a couple different saddles. I fell in love with the Cobb fifty-five and haven't had any issues since. If you go to Cobb's website you can go through a simple fit questionnaire. You can also contact their fit specialist and they have a money back guarantee for comfort on their saddles! Great company to work with!
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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daltri1 wrote:
I need some of the forum's females to help my GF work through finding the right saddle.......and well, Guys too if you have some insight. She just started racing last year and is riding a 2016 Cervelo P2. She's tried an Adamo Breakaway, Cobb Randee, and just picked up Terry Butterfly last weekend.

I'll be as delicate as I can describing her issues, but all 3 above cause pain right underneath. As she describes, like someone is taking a hammer to her down there. The Randee is comfortable when she's not in aero, but when she gets on to the aero bars, the pain then occurs "in the front". Mostly b/c she sits in the middle, so when in aero, the nose is putting pressure in the front. We tried to get her to sit more on the nose, like with Adamo, but that was also painful. I think she would be ok on an ISM 2.1, but while on an Adamo previously, she complained that the prongs were rubbing her inner legs.

Anyway, any saddle suggestions that have worked for the ST Females?

x2, have her contact Rachel Olson at Cobb Cycling. She is the Women's fit specialist and can help identify and recommend the right saddle.


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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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Lots of saddle problems stem from a less than ideal bike fit... Are you sure she's fitted correctly to start with? If that's not the case, then you might chase new saddles to a great length (and great expense).

"Suddenly the thought struck me. My floor is someone elses ceiling"-Nils Ferlin
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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(1) Tell her to ditch the bike shorts. My favorites are Coeur Sports Tri Shorts, which are amazing - no chaffing (happy kitty) and I've worn for multiple Ironman's and century rides over the past few years with no issues. The thicker the shorts the more pressure it puts on the lady bits especially in aero. Here's an article by Cobb explaining why thick shorts don't work for most women: http://www.cobbcycling.com/...rts-why-cobb-shorts/. Disclaimer I've never tried the Cobb Shorts just a good article that addresses the issue.

(2) Highly recommend contacting Rachel Olson at Cobb Cycling, she was able to help me with saddle issues and got me on a great saddle. I rode on the VFlow Plus for years, loved it, got a more aggressive fit and needed a longer rail on the saddle than what the VFlow Plus had so I tried out the Fifty Five for a little over a month and decided it wasn't for me (returned it since there is a 60 day comfort guarantee) and contacted Rachel, she recommended the Plus2 and it's perfect. Also recommend reading this article specific to women's saddle choices (guys that work at a bike shop or male fitters - highly recommend reading it as well so you can better advise women that come to your shop - you can at least print a few copies to have around): http://www.cobbcycling.com/innie-or-outie/

(3) Make sure she has a good bike fit and the saddle is at the right angle (hoping this has already been addressed).


Elisha
"Triathlon doesn't build character. It reveals it."
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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If this helps:

My GF uses a Specialized Toupe and a Specialized Ruby
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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Did a ton of research for my wife and went with the Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow. She's been using it for 2 years and loves it, no issues. Good luck
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [gnewton] [ In reply to ]
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gnewton wrote:
Did a ton of research for my wife and went with the Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow. She's been using it for 2 years and loves it, no issues. Good luck

And that just goes to show that we're all different "down there." I have the same saddle and I HATE it. I spent almost $200 on it and all I get is numbness that lasts for at least a day after a ride.
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [gnewton] [ In reply to ]
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"Did a ton of research for my wife and went with the Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow. She's been using it for 2 years and loves it, no issues. Good luck "

Same here. Picked one up on Wiggle for $100. My partner loves this.
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [daltri1] [ In reply to ]
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Agree with a lot of the others, padded cycling shorts can make the issues worse.

Without a good fit, all saddles have the potential to feel uncomfortable.

The slight forward slope might help.

Everyone is different, go to a tri shop and look at a lot of different saddles. I tried Cobb, Fizik , and others. For whatever reason, a super cheap no name saddle with very little in the way of padding is the one am most comfortable on, which seems counter intuitive even to myself but I will stick with what works.
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Re: Female ST'ers, Help my GF's Saddle Issues [ninagski] [ In reply to ]
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ninagski wrote:
gnewton wrote:
Did a ton of research for my wife and went with the Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow. She's been using it for 2 years and loves it, no issues. Good luck


And that just goes to show that we're all different "down there." I have the same saddle and I HATE it. I spent almost $200 on it and all I get is numbness that lasts for at least a day after a ride.

Same here. I tried this saddle in-store on a trainer -- and I couldn't stand it. Glad it worked for your wife though, gnewton!
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