GIRLS (No rude words I promise)

but if your saddle's not working for you it's 'cuz it doesn't come with your pelvis in mind. Bikes come stock with men's saddles. AARGH!

If you have sore shoulders or back, an aching neck, numb or tingling fingers and (frankly) a sore butt and nether regions, you need a women's saddle.

NOW!

THIS IS NOT A NEW THING!

There's an 1898 Cleveland women's bike at the shop here, and it has a proper women's saddle. Do not be fooled by modern, male-centric manufacturers' idea of normalcy!

BECAUSE: Us girls aren't attached thru our pelvises like them boys (on account of us havin' to have babies don't cha know!) A saddle that doesn't support our wider "sitting bones" can actually act as a wedge driving our hips apart. This can cause tingling in the hands pain in the neck, the shoulders, the small of the back and the whole pelvic cradle. Womens' saddles are shorter thru the nose and wider across the back to support our tender little hineys. (hee hee).

What was that? Oh, what about the saddle with the hole?

Well, this is a little delicate. Ahem. Girls, imaging sitting on your bike. Is your spine in a straight line from hips to head? Or can you not quite get that pelvic tilt far enough forward because your pubic bone grinds into the saddle, squashing all your (ahem) soft tissue, as it were? With the hole you can do the pelvic tilt forward (alleviating tons of ergonomic problems!) You notch your pubic bone into that hole and all your soft tissues fit into the hole. You are actually sitting on your pelvis with a straight spine, just like those boys!

In 1992 I saw these fabulous "Holey Saddles" at a bike show in Toronto on a Miyata bike called the Pavea. It took me a while to convince Oxford (the distributor of Miyata bikes in Canada) that they should sell me just the saddles. I only sold 40 that year. But in 1997 Oxford sold 7000 of them. Most distributors in Canada now buy and sell lots of different models of "Holey Saddles" for both men and women from many different manufacturers (Velo, Terry, Selle Italia etc.) They are widely avilable all over the world. Last year, we sold 100 of these tools of enlightenment.

 One quick post script: all of that said about women's woes, the truth is, many of y'all folks out there are riding saddles that make you unhappy on your bike. STOP. Comfortable is not impossible. Drop by the shop and try out a few different saddles. You might b e surprises. What have you got to lose? Test rides are free!