Monday, November 19, 2007

New Saddle

I've debated for some time about whether to try a different saddle on my X6 or not. Well, more frequent, longer rides on the stock saddle in cold weather became pretty uncomfortable as I had to keep shifting from one sit bone to the other during the ride rather than just being able to perch evenly. As the saddle didn't seem bad other than not being wide enough, I decided to look for one from the same line. The stock saddle is a Selle San Marco Ponza. Unfortunately, they don't seem to make a Ponza for women, so I ordered a saddle from the same 'Island' series, the women's Ischia. It is an appropriate width which is good, but also a bit heavier and thicker in profile. Luckily it's not at all expensive, so I don't feel badly about experimenting a bit. I ordered it from amazon since it's not something the local shop usually carries.

This is the saddle as pictured on amazon.

Jeff and I mounted it on the bike Sunday and I think we did a pretty good job positioning it, but I'll probably stop by the shop at some point as the owner said he'd help with adjusting it. It certainly won't hurt to have an expert look at the angle of my knees, etc.

This is a picture that I took of the saddles together for comparison. My new saddle is in the foreground and the stock saddle is shown behind, on Jeff's bike.

If you happen to know about saddles for cx and have any thoughts on this one, pros or cons, please leave a comment for me. Or if there is one that tends to be favored by women, let me know the name. I'm just getting started with cx, so I appreciate *all* advice!

Also, Jeff has decided he isn't very comfortable on his saddle, so we'll be looking into an alternative for him as well.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, I was looking for information about Selle San Marco Ponza (Road) and found this page. This saddle came with my new 27-speed 20" folding bike (KHS T3). It is really uncomfortable for me. I rode with it for about more than 60 km once but I still don't know which position is better.

Looks like it's not just uncomfortable for women only. Is this Ischia better?

sarah said...

The Ischia has been much better for me than the Ponza. However, I can really only tolerate it for shorter rides of less than 25 miles on a regular basis. If I do several 30+ mile rides in a row, I find I suffer. So, it's ok on my 'cross bike as I don't tend to do epic rides on that. If I was going to do longer rides on it I would put a Fizik Vitesse on it like I have on my road bike or maybe a Terry. I hope you can find a saddle you like soon. It's really the most important thing to have a saddle that suits you!