Saddles

[Thimbleberries]

I have a new bike, that came with a reasonable women's (I think) saddle. But I did get a bit of numbness at one point, so when I saw another saddle on sale that lots of people seem to really rate, the Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow, I thought I'd try it.

I find now that it seems that I'm feeling a lot more vibrations and bumps from the road and getting a little saddle sore and lower back ache - though I'm also doing slightly longer rides.

Does anyone else use the Diva Gel Flow saddle, and do you think it could be making me feel more bumps from the road than a standard padded original cheaper saddle that came with the bike? Is it something I'll just get used to? It might solve some things, but if I feel more vibrations, that increases saddle soreness and possibly hand issues

Hi OP Saddles are very individual and all cyclists have different views. I have used the Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow on my road bikes in the past and found it much better that anything else I'd tried. However my new bike's saddle is fine although I was prepared to change it if I needed to. It's worth a look on ebay for the selle italia as a lot of people try a saddle, find it doesn't work for them and then sell it on. My shopping bike has a Brooks leather saddle and that was bought second hand for less than half the price of new

Saddles are like shoes, and mould to you with use. They are also more effective paired with good , padded cycling shorts. Like shoes, different models/stiles suit different people. I have a leather Selle Italia saddle on my road bike, which I got over 20 years ago, and has moved bikes a few times. I fully expect this saddle to see me out. I have a synthetic Bontrager saddle on my mtb which was comfortable from the off, but I don’t expect will last more than a few years.

I think you need to do a few long rides on each saddle OP, and see which works best for you. Specialized Concept Stores used to have a saddle fitting service, I don’t know if they still do.

I've already got the selle italia now - it was on sale, so I thought it worth a try, but it can possibly be returned for another week or so.

But what I don't know is if the fact I seem to feel more vibrations now is from the saddle, or whether it's from the longer rides, or the fact that I've raised the handlebars a bit so more pressure is on the saddle.

I found it unexpected to feel so much more vibration, and I don't know if I'm just noticing it now that my attention is drawn to it!

I'm going to have to experiment a bit but want to direct the experimenting in the right direction to start with...

Everyone seems to like the diva flow gel, so I expect that it probably isn't that, but I don't know.

OP, if you are looking to get seriously into cycling, I’d consider a bike fit. Best £100 anyone has ever spent on me (it was a Christmas present). A few tiny tweaks made a huge difference to how I ride, pedalling efficiency etc.

There are other things I could change as well; I've put the handlebars much higher to ease pain on my wrists, but that also puts more pressure on the saddle, so it could also be that.

If it gets bad enough, I'll pay for a bike fit of some kind, but it's not at that level yet - I can probably sort things out with a bit of trial and error.

I am never going to be doing really long rides, and hour or 90 min or so each way is probably what I'm looking at for the odd time, and otherwise, more like 30 min, so I don't really need perfect comfort. But I don't want injuries either, and I do tend to have a lot of arm/back/etc pain generally.

oh Christmas present, that's an idea to ask for one...

Not a serious cyclist though, purely getting around and a bit of exercise once or twice a month with slightly longer rides.

I had the diva flow gel. I bought it because everyone raves about it however it wasn't quite right for me. Saddles are such a personal thing and what works for one might not work for another person.
I've moved to the selle Italia SLR lady, which I find much better, despite being much thinner with little padding.
It could be that as you say with the change to the height of your handlebars you have more weight going through your seat. Is your saddle high enough? Have you had a good professional bike fit? Could the back pain be down to the change in handlebar height? There could be a number of things which are causing the problem.
You have my sympathy. I struggled with bad pain from my saddle for quite a while. It is better now, but not perfect. For me I had to look at the saddle, padded shorts and also my saddle height and reach to the handlebars.

Yes it could well be the handlebar height. I've now got some gloves, which might help the wrist/thumb pain, which means I could possibly put the bars back to where they were, or at least a bit lower. I think the saddle is high enough; I'm not sure my balance it good enough yet to have it much higher. I can just touch the ground on tiptoes with it in its current position.

Or maybe it's just getting used to it. I just found it surprising that I could feel the vibrations so much, and wondered if that is normal, I guess because I'd expected the opposite!

I've not had a bike fit yet, too early in the process really and I don't think I cycle enough, but it's certainly something I'll look at if my own experiments don't work.

i've not entered the world of padded clothing yet either, mostly because I use the bike more for every day cycling, places within 30 min of me, where I'm just wearing my usual clothes for what I want to wear when I get there. But for longer rides, it could be something that would be useful.