First of all, I am a female who rides a men's standard Brooks B17, with the nose tilted up of course so that I sit on my sitbones and I don't slide forward. And I've done a lot of distance on my Brooks saddles.


But some things you might need to consider ...

-- the saddle needs to be wide enough for your sitbones ... both of them need to be planted firmly on the saddle and not sliding off to one side or another. I have ridden a saddle that was too narrow and felt like I was being torn apart. Agonizing.

-- consider the shape of the saddle ... is it flat or does it curve up in the back. I prefer saddles that curve up in the back, flat saddles give me back pain. But you'll have to determine what works for you.

-- consider the tilt of the saddle ... a lot of people seem to want to tilt the nose of the saddle down thinking that will ease the pain but all that does is to create more issues. You slide, you have to push yourself back all the time, you brace yourself. Start with the saddle flat and if that isn't comfortable, try tilting the nose of the saddle up just a little bit to force yourself back onto your sitbones.

-- consider the height of the saddle ... too high and you'll rock from side to side, too low and there's all sorts of extra friction. You may need to experiment with this a bit.

-- get shorts with padding that covers your sitbones. You may have to try several pair of shorts because shorts manufacturers seem to have no idea where women want the padding ... they put it in all sorts of odd places. Try the shorts on and stand in them, crouch in them, make pedalling motions in them, sit in them ... and check where the padding is.

-- and then there is the matter of posture, core strength, and how much weight you're putting on the saddle. You should be putting some of your weight on your feet so that your saddle does not support your full weight. And I've found that the stronger my core is, the more comfortable I am on a wider variety of saddles.