Continuing my bike seat quest from a previous post, I finally found a wide saddle in a second hand bike shop in SE Asia. It's the same model you see in this picture.
The seat measures about 10 inches across at the widest part. These seats are apparently only available as second hand, not new, so I have to make do with this one.
Big as it is, I'm not even going to attempt to ride it until I modify it a bit, as I ripped my crotch up very badly last year when I tried to ride a conventional seat. I have minor prostate problems, so want zero pressure on the prostate and genital areas.
I am going to take it to a shop that reupholsters motorbike seats and ask them to modify the seat. I think the kind of modification that makes the most sense is this type: (ABS)
because it seems to totally eliminate contact with the perineal area while preserving the nose for riding stability.
Now, I suspect they won't be able to actually create that concave front nose, as the frame is not shaped that way. But if you simply lower the nose by removing padding, will that achieve the same effect?
Or maybe rather than lower the nose, one can simply raise the rear part of the seat, by putting extra padding there?
My saddle already has a slight indentation down the center, as you can see, but it's totally inadequate to relieve pressure. I want to deepen and widen that center indentation so there is no pressure at all on my perineum. How deep should it be? How wide should it be? Many seats I've seen that have cutouts have the cutout too narrow, IMO.
And should one attempt to reupholster with special very firm padding that won't compress a lot, in order to make sure that the sit bones remain high in the saddle, and the perineum remains pressure free?
Also, as one loses potential butt support due to the rounded edges of the seat, is it possible to upholster it so that the edges are not round, but rather rise at 90 degree angles from the frame? That would add over an inch of butt support and make it noticeably more comfortable, IMO. (I have a big butt and am a heavy guy) Or is that not necessary? Does your butt compress the flat area so that the rounded downward-sloping area at the edge becomes part of the same plane of support? (I hope that's not confusing!)
Unfortunately, this saddle has the kind of mount that can not adjust seat position front to rear, but you can adjust the seat angle. It also has two slightly rusted shock absorber springs underneath. I don't know how difficult it would be to find someone who can change the mount to one that can be adjusted front to rear...maybe I can live without that.
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated on this. I'm hoping that if you get a wide enough saddle, you can create your own customized dream seat by modifying it to your anatomy.