Gender neutral saddle

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 sebastien 30 Apr 2019

Hello,

This is not political correctness gone mad...

My wife and I have been traveling for the last couple of years on a run & bike mode.

One major remaining issue is finding a comfortable saddle for both. Currently a major issue for her more than for me.

Any suggestion?

Sébastien

 balmybaldwin 30 Apr 2019
In reply to sebastien:

Take the saddle off then it's fair?

OP sebastien 30 Apr 2019
In reply to balmybaldwin:

One had to make that suggestion... Now it's done, can I get more helpful answers?

 Stig 30 Apr 2019
In reply to sebastien:

There is no answer to this as it depends entirely on the shape/size of your respective arses.

that said, my wife swears by the Selle Italia Viva, she has one on both of her bikes and I recently used it when I borrowed her bike for a 100 mile+ ride in Mallorca and it was surprisingly comfortable. So that one might be worth investigating?

 balmybaldwin 30 Apr 2019
In reply to sebastien:

It's not going to be easy as men and women have very different shaped arses and sensitive bits. I suspect the best you'll do is one thats a bit uncomfortable for both of you.

Have you tried riding a women's saddle?

 girlymonkey 30 Apr 2019
In reply to sebastien:

A saddle needs to support you under your sit bones. So while a saddle could be "gender neutral", if you and your wife have different width of sit bones (as is common for women to have wider sit bones than men) then you are unlikely to find one comfy for both. 

Maybe each have your own saddles on the correct width of seat post for easy swapping?

 felt 30 Apr 2019
In reply to sebastien:

Frankest article I've seen:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/mar/26/hannah-dines-saddle-re...

ISM is often recommended.

 damowilk 30 Apr 2019
In reply to sebastien:

What about a Brooks Cambium? I struggled to find a comfortable saddle, until trying one. The advantage for 2 people using the same one, is that it works like a hammock, rather than padding, and your sit bones should find their own position and depress the saddle where they need to.

 gethin_allen 30 Apr 2019
In reply to sebastien:

Have you considered the Selle SMP? They seem quite thickly padded, something that can be a problem, but the cut out is large to avoid the excess padding in the middle issue and they seem quite forgiving to shape.

I know a few people who find them comfortable and Mark Beaumont used one for his around the world in 79 days so it must be good.

 nniff 01 May 2019
In reply to felt:

> ISM is often recommended.

I had an ISM saddle for a while - it was OK in a time trial position, but if you sat up at all it was agony.  As a saddle on a regular road bike it was purgatory.  The only positive is that I sold it for what I paid for it.  Each to their own, of course.

To the OP - It might be worth looking at Fabric saddles - I have them on three bikes.  They have the great advantage at least of not being expensive mistakes.  They come in a range of widths, curves and padding types.  I'd be inclined to find one that suits your wife and then see what you think.  

The other thing to consider, which may not apply, depending on your  respective styles of riding, is that it is a saddle not a seat.  There's a difference.  Finally, and as previously suggested, you could buy an extra seat post and one or two Fabric saddles for less than any other big name saddle - you're going to have to adjust the seat post every time anyway I would have thought

Rigid Raider 01 May 2019
In reply to sebastien:

Have a look at a Charge Spoon; lots of people find this a very comfortable saddle. Alternatively the Charge Ladle is the women's version and is slightly shorter and wider so a bloke ought to find it still OK. They are quite affordable as well.

 thepodge 01 May 2019
In reply to sebastien:

Cant remember the make and model of mine but I do know its women's specific but perfectly comfy on my man bits. 

1
 stubbed 01 May 2019
In reply to sebastien:

I think the issue you have is that men's and women's geometry is different, and the discomfort that your wife is suffering from is due to the geometry difference, not the saddle.

Basically a man's bike will have a longer reach for the same height, so she might be leaning forward too much to grab the handlebars and that is what is causing the discomfort in the saddle area. So changing the saddle won't help.

In addition the handlebars would be too wide maybe. I'm no expert (although I cycle a lot) but I find that I can't ride men's bikes at my height because of this. I am ok for about 20 miles but longer than that it is too uncomfortable.

 The Potato 01 May 2019
In reply to sebastien:

agreed with all the above, bar removing the saddle of course.

The Charge spoon as already suggested is a fairly generic option as is the WTB rocket.

When you say run/bike mode, do you mean you go out one running and the other riding then swap part way through? The other thing I was going to suggest was to have two saddles with seatpost already attached and just swap over, but that wouldnt be practical if you were already out.

 cousin nick 01 May 2019
In reply to sebastien:

Another option.....

I sometimes borrow my wife's hardtail MTB. Rather than use her female-specific saddle, I simply swap out her saddle/seatpost for a spare saddle/seatpost for me. Both posts are marked at the right height, so with a QR clamp it only take seconds to swap over and we're both happy.

N

 cousin nick 01 May 2019
In reply to balmybaldwin:

> It's not going to be easy as men and women have very different shaped arses and sensitive bits. I suspect the best you'll do is one thats a bit uncomfortable for both of you.

> Have you tried riding a women's saddle?

Yes!  I naively thought it would be comfy, being bigger and softer, but a couple of miles in I realised the exact opposite. Never again!

N

 neuromancer 01 May 2019
In reply to sebastien:

Selle Superflow? Generally women's saddles tend to have large cutouts?

OP sebastien 03 May 2019
In reply to stubbed:

Thanks a lot for that. We had a gut feeling that I was setting the bike to my habits, that is the handle bar too low for her. And we are looking at the option of a touring handle bar offering more options.

But, at the same time, given the wheight of the bike, the climb and or ground, it's not really feasible to stand straight like on a Dutch bike.

Post edited at 12:27
OP sebastien 03 May 2019
In reply to The Potato

> When you say run/bike mode, do you mean you go out one running and the other riding then swap part way through? The other thing I was going to suggest was to have two saddles with seatpost already attached and just swap over, but that wouldnt be practical if you were already out.

Sort of. We divide the day in two (three when it is going well) stages. Each runs 10k in the morning and again in the afternoon. The other follows on the bike with tent, food, water, you name it... And we go on for 15 to 20 days. So weight is kind of an issue.. 


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