The person who did my bike fit told me that a hard saddle is better for “groin compression issues” than a soft saddle. He thinks my soft saddle (Terry Butterfly) may be underlying my current discomfort.
A: Your thoughts on hard vs soft saddles?
B: Recommendations for a hard saddle that is comfortable? I may get away from riding a woman’s saddle, since I have a large frame.
Thanks-
Sarah
p.s. my seat was too low, and I already know I need to HTFU. 
I’m not a girl, but I just don’t like hard saddles. In my 3 years of experimentation, I’ve found that I do best with a soft, wide-nosed saddle with a cutout. You’ll find everyone is different when it comes to saddles. Unfortunately, you will spend a few hundred dollars buying and testing several saddles until you find the one that is ideal for you.
This is an interesting question. I bought a Fizik Arione Tri 2, but I found it too soft, and too wide in the nose. I went back to the Sella italia that came on my P3-SL and was much more comfortable, even though it’s quite a bit harder than the Arione.
What I don’t know, and would like to know is, if there are harder saddles out there that might be even more comfortable.
I can’t take cutouts.
I used to have discomfort when I used a padded saddle. I switched to an SLR xp and have no problems. My groin is fine, thank you very much. I find that on the SLR, I sit, or perch, more on my sit bone, as opposed to sitting “in” a padded seat.
Brad
i know a lot of girls that actually like the guys specalized toupe. i ride the arione tri and find it a good compromize between hard and soft.
This is what I was told happens. You sink in to the squishy seat and more pressure/rubbing/etc. is the result. So while intuitively you might think it would be more comfortable to sit on something softer, it can exacerbate a “soft tissue problem” – which I guess is a more user-friendly term than “pancake-labia”.