Female saddle soreness article

[Crackle]

Thought this might be interesting.

http://www.theguardian.com/environm...ow-female-cyclists-can-combat-saddle-soreness

It's advice that doesn't just apply to females.

 

[Cycleops]

Being investigated by the Secret Squirrel Club I see. I guess they'd need to be.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

The cycle trade lose a lot of business by not paying more attention to the requirements of female cyclists. Some shops are very good but if a woman complains about the stock saddle on her bike most will just fob her off with some appalling mattress type lump that is worse than useless.

Many potential female riders must have been totally put off cycling after the first few trips on the bike proved to be too painful and no help was available in getting a suitable replacement.

 

[Cycleops]

I don't think it's quite as bad as you make out @Smokin Joe . Sure some bad shops might give poor advice but there's a whole gammut of product out there aimed at this very market. I've just googled "female cycle saddles" and there are a load of articles, reviews and discussions on the subject.

 

[furball]

Speaking as a female, the development of womens saddles that tackle the real issues we face is fairly recent. The idea that women need wider saddles due to wider sit bones has been the main selling point for years without any recognition to the real issues.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

I have historic and recent experience of the problems women get in finding a suitable saddle. When Mrs SJ got into it twenty five years back we had a lot of trouble getting her a saddle with few shops showing any interest at all. Things have probably improved in general but nowhere near enough as a female friend who has recently become a cyclist is finding, despite living in an area with plenty of local bike shops. It's better today because you can find out a lot on the internet, but still nowhere near good enough.

And as furball says above it is more than just a matter of getting a saddle that's just a bit wider, something referred to in the OP's link.

 

[Cycleops]

Seems like @Smokin Joe and @furball need to mosey on down and have a chat with the Secret Squirrel Club.

 

[Cycleops]

I don't mean to be flippant but you just can't compare the situation twenty five years ago to what is available today. Saddles are probably the most contentious subject on here, what suits one person will not suit another. Plus many other factors come into play which all need to be considered. Unless lots more money is ploughed into research there is unlikely to be a definitive answer, but will the market support it?

 

[theclaud]

Saddles are probably the most contentious subject on here

You think?

 

[Crackle]

You think?

We probably need Fnaar to link saddles and helmets together.

 

[Dragonwight]

To be fair to manufacturers if most of your customers are male why would you plough money into developing female saddles. Likewise for bike shops if 1/20 customers are female then the staff are probably going to be less clued up and have less available for sale specifically for females.Our LBS had a whole section set up for women it generated little interest and got scrapped as a loss maker.

 

[steveindenmark]

Brooks were making womens saddles 25 years ago, they still are. The best saddle I own is a Brooks Imperial for women...and Im a man.

Steve

 

[jefmcg]

Brooks' female saddles are just the male saddles with shorter noses so your Edwardian skirt doesn't get tangled in it. That being said, I haven't had any problems since I bought a b17s, after getting the angle right.

For me, I think the breathability was the biggest factor.