[Fredrico]

This makes a lot of sense. I finally got my hands on a 155mm Specialized Power saddle and I do like it a little more, but who knows. This stuff takes some time to figure out.

I am hoping that my size is indeed 143. I have a 145 selle Italia SLR coming to demo soon.

Yes. Just checked. Your sit bones are closer to half the width of the saddle.

The two smudges where the sit bones fit on the saddles I'm riding are 75 mm apart. The old Selle Italia Turbo is 140 mm wide and is rounder. It fits a bit better on the middle part of the sit bone that Wim mentioned above, and is actually more comfortable than the flatter 150 mm Selle Royale Regal :ihih: on the commuter. On short rides the wider saddle is more comfortable. But on the longer rides I start to feel pressure on the two points of the sit bones where they rest on the saddle, and leaning forward, the perineum rests hard on the middle section, even though its flat.

Above saddles also aren't cut out in the middle. Tried one with cut outs once. The flanges on either side of the cut out became two little horns butting into the perineum.

 

[Fredrico]

Woody, will you read what i wrote and what you wrote...please..again. You're doing nothing but confirming what I wrote. Also, most of all, I was referring to a brand new seat and immediate comfort. Because if it is plush (aka, too much padding and/or hammock-ness), then troubles abound after an hour into it. A too plush seat ends up 99.9999% of the time causing pressure area discomfort---especially about an hour or more into the ride. Again, this is on a brand new seat. I thought that is was what this thread was about---sit-bone width and trying new saddles. We are not talking about a saddle well broken in---especially not my rounded Brooks Cambium saddles on my cruisers. And saddles like Brooks, Rivets, Giles B, SI Storica, Spa, etc, usually (again, 99.9999% of the time) take a little while, lol, to bust them in where they feel fantastic whether it is the moment you get on them or it is 6 hours later.

Yep, saddles with too much padding can rub raw under the butt on a long ride. The "racer's" saddles have minimal padding, like the Selle Royal Regal and Selle Italia Turbo. I have a Turbo in a box ready to go when the old one finally get worn out on the sides. LeMond and Hinault used it. The only one with a more comfortable cred was the Brooks and it required softening to conform to the butt, like maybe a few thousand miles. Then riders refused to give them up. The Brooks is still in production. Selle Italia resurrected the Turbo a few years ago. That says it all for me.

I stopped looking for saddles after Selle Italia brought out the "Turbo S." It had thin padding under leather, same as the old Turbo, and got good reports in the early '90s. One of the top sellers when I worked in a shop 10 years ago, forgot the name, was a long, narrow 140 mm saddle, with the same round shape as the Turbo, only with the all of a sudden "required" cut out. Seems like a urologist prescribed cut outs after treating cycling patients with erectile disfunction from damaged perineal tissue. Manufacturers seeking to avoid lawsuits and hold onto market share nervously went along with the doctor's prescription and here we are!

Sitting on anything for 5 hours is uncomfortable if you can't easily slide around on it and still get support distributed over the widest contact area possible. Those wimpy ridges don't do it.

 

[Fredrico]

I guess I am crazy, but so far I really appreciate the pressure relieved from the cut outs.

No crazier than the few million others riding the same saddles.

There are also different cut out flanges, some with sharper edges than others, varying degrees of padding, softness, shock absorption, sizes of cut outs, and saddle widths that all make a difference.

Have to assume the manufacturers are interested in making designs that work, and they in turn specialize in certain riding styles, such as racing, or touring, or trolling down the boardwalk. Good you found one that works!