I struggled with my Defy's original
Giant Contact saddle for ages, the nose was quite wide and the saddle quite soft so didn't offer much support so I would constantly be moving around. I tried a
Charge Spoon and found I was moving even more on it even though it was firmer, the stitched saddle skin making sores far worse. After a fit the fitter suggested a flatter, thinner & firmer saddle as although my sit bones were 'normal width' I was getting a lot of rubbing due to my thighs which was causing me to rock in place (along with fixing some foot issues also causing rocking). I switched it out to a thinner nosed
Fizik Arione (more in line with the original saddle shape) and considered that 'perfect'. Several months afterwards my mileage had increased (along with weight loss) and reaching anywhere over 3-4 hours I would suffer again with sores. My LBS suggested it was more due to my fatigue causing increased rocking (and to work on core strength/stamina), than saddle/fit. I did start to suffer less with increased core strength, also toughening up but it was a constant sore->recover->sore->recover process, which got tiresome.
I got my Diverge a few months after that with the
Specialized Phenom saddle, utterly different to anything else I'd tried. I found my movement on the saddle much better (less) with sores on longer rides almost none existent, either due to more saddle flex (not quite as firm as Arione), middle cutout and/or the centre channel. I'm still not sure which! The difference was so big I even bought one for my turbo bike. Long intense regular turbo sessions I do suffer a little with sores still (just not as frequently as the other saddles), yet out on the road I can do 5-6 hours rides before any real pain. Most of the time then the pain is my sit bone area being very tender and not from saddle sores. I do occasionally pick up sores but they tend to be from not having enough days off the bike, rather than riding time & intensity related.
