Originally Posted by jcm
Sitbones go on top. If they are straddling the saddle, you have an a$$ hatchet. You should feel little or no pressure 'up the middle.' Alot of the time, it does take long rides to expose the deficiencies. I ride Brooks (no cut-out), but they are not for everyone.
Good advice.
People vary on the width of the ischeal processes of their sacrums (sit bones for most of us). Women generally have theirs further apart so they need wider saddles otherwise the saddle does not rest on the hard sit bones but on their tender hinder parts. That is not a good thing.
Conversely, having a wide saddle does not feel right if your processes are close together. When I started out, I rode with saddles with gel padding and all that. I got a racing bike and it had a really narrow italian saddle that was hard as all get out. But it felt great! It fit. So the most intimidating and uncomfortable looking saddle was what was best for me. Fit is a funny thing. So you just have to sort of fool around. Now I have heard that there are ways to measure the distance between your sitbones but I have never tried to.