One for the ladies: Selle San Marco Mantra

Finding a saddle that gives you a comfortable ride can be a long and too often painful endeavor for anyone. But from what I understand, it's even harder for women. Most companies build women specific saddles. These tend to fit women better but there is no guarantee. Some women feel best on the hardest of hard male specific seats. It's all about trial and error.

And Lidia tried many saddles over the years. As an Ironman triathlete and Gran Fondo racer, she has experience with the whole range from being as low as possible on the Queen K to climbing upright on Mortirolo. Since November, she now rides for Gruppo Sportivo Gran Fondo New York and as such receives a saddle of her choice from Selle San Marco. She never tried any of their products before so she was understandably anxious given the importance of a well fitting seat. Lidia emailed Luca Bertoncello of San Marco and asked which saddle to choose based on her previous saddles and his experience.

Luca picked the Mantra for her. It's a non-women specific saddle with a cut-out. I have a hard time explaining the ins and out of a saddle shape. Hence, I'd rather point you to the website that shows all the specs.

I can, however, tell you what Lidia said about the San Marco Mantra: "After not having ridden a bike at all for two months, I got on the Mantra and had absolutely no problems. In eight years of riding I came to the conclusion that a certain level of discomfort is normal. But the Mantra just fit perfectly from the get go. I only did a few rides in December. But now I've been riding 200 miles in the last five days, am happier than I ever was with any other saddle and am completely pain and issue free."