I was very excited to get my blackwell flow. It was either that or the Koobi…and most seemed to like the Flow. Well, I measured my old seat and got it in approximately the same height and spot my fitted saddle was. I was pleased at first, thinking, yay!!! I’ve found it! I LOVE the narrow nose. But, I think the back might not be wide enough for me. anybody else find that it rests just to the inside of your seat bones?
Is there a saddle for the girls out there that is narrow up front, but a little wider in the back? Kind of like the Terrys, but I just don’t find them narrow enough in the front…
Have you tried Specialized? They have three different sizes for women (narrow, medium and wide). I recently bought a new mountain bike and bought a specialized saddle. The salesperson had me sit on some rubberized mat, measured the indentation from my pelvic bone and then recommended me a size - medium width (surprise actually because I have a fairly narrow frame at the hips). I like this saddle much more than my Terry and Selle Italian.
Yes, that’s what unfortunately led me to the Jett. I was inbetween sizes, so I went with the smaller one first. Had the “inside the seatbones” problem, so I moved to the larger size. $200 later, neither seat worked. I’m already $400 in the hole this year…so I thought I’d turn to the experts here!
Here’s what I’ve tried: Damselfly, butterfly (both are ok, but hurt about 75 miles), Lady Trans Am, Blackwell Flow, Body Geometry Jett in two sizes.
I’ve sat on the Fizik Arione and the Tri Apside in the shop, and did’t like them after 5 minutes.
thoughts? I’m thinking of trying that crazy u-shaped seat…
I would try the Adamo from Blackwell Research. After trying about 30saddles in my tenure that is the one for me! Not a woman by the way but it may be worth a try. ERIK
The Adamo isn’t particularly wide in back. It does take the pressure off of your soft tissues (a definite plus), but the back can feel pretty hard on a long ride. For me, it solves some problems, but creates others.
Have you tried changing your shorts?? When I wear bike shorts which have a bigger pad than tri shorts I have problems too. I kept changing my saddle until I realized I did better with a thinner pad. I’m sorry I can’t remember the name of my current saddle. I’ve all ready shipped my bike to CDA. I did change to a mans saddle which had a smaller nose. Good luck. Patty
The Blackwell Flow is not designed to support your sitbones— It works well for women who ride in the tri position with a relatively flat back. When you ride in this position, your sitbones are no-where near the saddle and you are basically riding on your junk. The Flow has a nice contour for riding in this position and is cut out in the back to not interfere with your hamstrings.
If you ride more upright, I would think the Terry Butterfly would be good for you. The predecessor to the Flow was actually a Butterfly with a cut down rear. John Cobb used to make these by hand. My wife rides the Flow on her tri bike and the Butterfly on her road bike. She loves the Flow and is not having problems with the Butterfly.
Good luck---- It takes a while to find a tolerable saddle. You will adjust to the saddle somewhat over time. Also, riding with Chamois Cream can cut down on friction problems. A nice pair of shorts also goes a long way, and just like saddles, there are lots of different types of shorts and not all shorts work for all women. (For example, my wife likes to ride with a minimal chamois. She can ride 100 miles in tri shorts no problem but put her on a pair of padded road shorts and she’ll complain about feeling like she’s wearing diapers nonstop.
Don’t know if this will help you personally, but after a couple of years of pain I have decided the Arione road is the least painful. It’s wide enough in the back to ride in a road position and the nose is thin and long enough to ride in the aerobars. All the soft and spongy saddles like the Blackwell made things even worse for me, since I guess softness increases rubbing?
Now THAT is the most interesting thing I’ve heard, and probably most correct! I rode 86 uncomfortable miles in my Terry Butterfly on my road bike. I’ve been doing long distance on my road bike b/c I plan to take it to Lake Placid. I’m definitely more comfortable doing long distance being able to be on the aerobars, but my road bike just climbs a LOT better. I had put the Flow on it and my first thought was after the two hour trial ride I took on it was “This doesn’t work on my Orbea, but it might work on my Cervelo!”. So I guess I was right in thinking that.
The Terry Butterfly is barely satisfactory…I find that it works ok for my sitbones (about the right width) but the nose is a little too hard.
Does anyone have some road bike suggestions? PS I do use Chamois Buttr–great for overall friction reducer, but just not the solution. And my new Shebeest shorts seem AWESOME, much better than any tri shorts or my old Nike ones.
I’m always interested in these threads. I know I’ve wasted more money over the years trying to find the right saddle. It seems like any saddle I put on my mountain bike is great. But on my road bike and tri bike, no such luck. I just ordered a Blackwell Flow to give it a try. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Next to try is the SPecialized women’s saddles. I went with the Blackwell flow since on my 60mile ride this morning after half way I found myself thinking theres too mych pressure on my sit bones, maybe the saddle is too wide - its the Terry Falcon I’m trying right now. Its very frustrating!
I’m already $400 in the hole this year…so I thought I’d turn to the experts here!