It's not that your saddle needs breaking in, it's that your fanny won't be used to the saddle right away. It took me a good long while to get used to my saddle, but now, for the most part, it feels fine.

Most roadies can't bring themselves to ride a Brooks -- doesn't look fast enough. :rolleyes:

+1 I replaced my Avatar with a Toupe (non-gel) and from the first ride found it to be more comfortable.

Took a while to come to it, but I gave in. I hated the Toupe and knew that I loved my Brooks on my tourer. So I bought a Brooks Swift for my carbon road bike. Sacrilegious, eh?

I bought an Alias, and it was comfy from minute one. And believe me, my sit bones are far from "conditioned" with the low-miles I put in!

i had the same problem. it felt like i was sitting on a brick and i had to stand up constantly throughout my ride just so my sit bones wouldn't hut so bad. I thought i had a wide enough saddle and i just needed a softer saddle with gel, but when i went wider, the entire pain disappeared. I am currently riding a saddle that is 175 mm wide!!!! I know! i thought 155 was wide enough, and according to the butt-o-meter, i needed a 155. I think i was sitting on the inside edge of my sit bones on the 155. it sucked and i was only able to go about 20 miles before the pain really set in. Now i can ride much longer without pain. try going wider. specialized saddles are the best because they have very gratuitous cut outs.

selle smp strike is a pretty wide saddle. it has a wierd nose, but i have heard good things (from people that need wider saddles)

Yep -- same here. I tried several saddles on my road bike: Toupe, Alias, Selle Italia, Fizik -- some were OK, but none came close to the Brooks. I fought the form vs. function battle for quite a while before slapping the Brooks on the roadie for good.

Some roadies find their perfect fit in a racey-looking saddle -- lucky for them. But, I'll bet there is a fair share that ride on saddles far less comfortable solely on its looks. Silly when you think about it.

+1

i had sit bone pain after riding for 4+ years. it had nothing to do with hardening up. if your saddle is too narrow, you could be sitting on the inside of the bones and the pain feels like it is caused by a saddle that is too stiff,but really it's just a tad too narrow.