Need Saddle Recommendations



laflyby

New Member
Apr 24, 2007
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Some of you may have read this on another forum, so please accept my apolgogies.

I am not well versed in the area of cycling saddles - both road and mountain, so I need the help of anyone who might be able to help.

My wife broke her hip two years ago running a marathon. Due to a metabolic problem, her hip broke at mile seven. Nineteen miles later, she finished. Her hip would not heal. Now two years later, she finally was told the break is healed. Running is out of the question for quite a while, but was given the o.k. to bike.

Here is where I need help. The break was of the pubic bone. For those of you who may not know what bone that is, it is the one that the thin potion of a cycling seat makes contact with in the genital region. Does anyone know of any special seats that may provide the padding she will need to help protect the bone as it is a little sensitive at times? I am willing to go with a company that customizes seats it that is all that is available. My main concern is that I can get something that will allow her to be active again without having to deal with the pain a standard seat will give her at times.

Recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
laflyby said:
Some of you may have read this on another forum, so please accept my apolgogies.

I am not well versed in the area of cycling saddles - both road and mountain, so I need the help of anyone who might be able to help.

My wife broke her hip two years ago running a marathon. Due to a metabolic problem, her hip broke at mile seven. Nineteen miles later, she finished. Her hip would not heal. Now two years later, she finally was told the break is healed. Running is out of the question for quite a while, but was given the o.k. to bike.

Here is where I need help. The break was of the pubic bone. For those of you who may not know what bone that is, it is the one that the thin potion of a cycling seat makes contact with in the genital region. Does anyone know of any special seats that may provide the padding she will need to help protect the bone as it is a little sensitive at times? I am willing to go with a company that customizes seats it that is all that is available. My main concern is that I can get something that will allow her to be active again without having to deal with the pain a standard seat will give her at times.

Recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you.
I'm not sure if she needs more or less padding (I think less). Most are more comfortable if the pressure is on the sit bones and NOT in other places.

Have you considered these? http://www.selleanatomica.com/
 
The last saddle that I would recommend is my Sella Italia. I love it for it's look and lightness but it gives my skinny **** curry, so it may not suit a damaged pubic bone. I don't think that I would be accepting any advice from this forum on such an important topic. My advice, and most of the hackers on these sites, would be based on their own seat preference and I doubt if you would get accurate info. I suppose the best and most obvious advice is to go to a few bike shops and try to suss out the sales bloke who you have the most confidence in and isn't trying to sell the most expensive just to get his commission up. Best of luck.
 
Russ Reynolds said:
The last saddle that I would recommend is my Sella Italia. I love it for it's look and lightness but it gives my skinny **** curry, so it may not suit a damaged pubic bone. I don't think that I would be accepting any advice from this forum on such an important topic. My advice, and most of the hackers on these sites, would be based on their own seat preference and I doubt if you would get accurate info. I suppose the best and most obvious advice is to go to a few bike shops and try to suss out the sales bloke who you have the most confidence in and isn't trying to sell the most expensive just to get his commission up. Best of luck.
I would agree on not taking saddle advice from here. You/she needs a very specific saddle and probably does not want to monkey around with finding one that works.

I would also check with a Phsical or Occupational therapist or an Orthopediic person.
 
Definitely beyond the scope of this forum. I would look for a female Physical Therapist who is an avid cyclist. She would be able to guide you best. Ask cycling buddies, local clubs, and shops if they know of anyone who fits that description. After the seat rec, you could try a professional fitting to get her position dialed in. Can also consider some method of vibration dampening (CF, elastomers, etc.) if road noise seems to be aggravating the problem. Best of luck.
 
I know that most likely my wife will most likely need something special for her, but where to have something specially made I have no clue. In addition, there might be a company out there that I have never heard of that someone who checks these posts might be able to let me know about.

Since cycling is a sport that attracts people of all scopes of career paths, my hope is that there are physical therapists or orthopedists, who are avid cyclists, who will read this thread and be able to guide me in the proper direction. The orthopedist and pt she sees aren't knowledgabe enough about cycling to assist.

For those of you who have responded so far, thank you.
 
laflyby said:
..... Does anyone know of any special seats that may provide the padding she will need to help protect the bone as it is a little sensitive at times? I am willing to go with a company that customizes seats it that is all that is available. My main concern is that I can get something that will allow her to be active again without having to deal with the pain a standard seat will give her at times. ....Thank you.
You could try a Moonsaddle, and mount it backwards (tips pointing forwards) on a semi-recumbent bike that will accept a regular seat,,,, like the Lightfoot Surefoot, Day6Bicycles, Sun SunRay or Actionbent MantaRay (-I *think* all these bikes will accept standard saddles, but I'm not certain, you'd have to ask them yourself-).

.....I have a RANS Fusion which is nice too, but I don't have her problems and the Fusion uses a proprietary seat (you can't put a regular bike seat on it at all) and so she'd have to live with the RANS seat.

{....You could just order the Moonsaddle first and put it on a regular bicycle to try, but ergo seats tend not to work well on regular bikes. With no nose, the rider tends to slide forward off the seat--so many ergo seats use a mount that shifts them rearward a couple inches, which helps the rider stay on the seat, but also results in lots more hand pressure....}

Alternately, you could try a recumbent bike that uses a hard seat-base--Sun EZ-1 and Cycle Genius Starling are a couple lower-priced ones, around $600. With these you should be able to add more foam padding wherever it was necessary.
~
 
laflyby said:
Some of you may have read this on another forum, so please accept my apolgogies.

I am not well versed in the area of cycling saddles - both road and mountain, so I need the help of anyone who might be able to help.

My wife broke her hip two years ago running a marathon. Due to a metabolic problem, her hip broke at mile seven. Nineteen miles later, she finished. Her hip would not heal. Now two years later, she finally was told the break is healed. Running is out of the question for quite a while, but was given the o.k. to bike.

Here is where I need help. The break was of the pubic bone. For those of you who may not know what bone that is, it is the one that the thin potion of a cycling seat makes contact with in the genital region. Does anyone know of any special seats that may provide the padding she will need to help protect the bone as it is a little sensitive at times? I am willing to go with a company that customizes seats it that is all that is available. My main concern is that I can get something that will allow her to be active again without having to deal with the pain a standard seat will give her at times.

Recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you.

Forget the saddle and think the big picture. Make sure that the bike is the correct fit first. Then think about the saddle and biking shorts. She needs a very good fit with either a coach or LBS that is trained for it. They use laser guides and other means to ensure that the fit and motion at all of her joints are well aligned. Remember that she may not have the normal range of motion and that she also may have different length for her legs, etc. A good fit can balance her out. The saddle is the last place I would think about. You may sit on it, however, it does not determine if her hip and knees are hyperextended. Get a fit and she will be much happier.

These comments are predicated on the fact that she has been seen by a doctor who has approved of this activity. I have never seen her and could never provide medical advise regarding such activity. I am providing this response as a general response to an issue of fit and not regarding her medical condition.
 
Bones often heal stronger than before so ask the doc.

By the way, heavy padding is a seriously BAD thing on long rides for me personally. It might be a turn-off for her when everything "down there" goes numb from all the pressure on nerves and soft tissue. There's a general ache in my hips and pelvis if I ride off my sit bones, when "my own personal padding" is rocking on my seat's padding. Not good.

I'm not sure of the geometry in your case but I'd wonder whether the pressure on the sit bones wouldn't be preferrable to pressure from all over. Also, won't the bone and connective tissues get stronger.

Good luck - I wish my wife could ride with me.
 

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