Why do we need them?
Us girls aren't attached thru our pelvises like them boys (on account of us havin' to have babies don't cha know!) A saddle that doesn't support our wider "sitting bones" can actually act as a wedge driving our hips apart. This can cause tingling in the hands pain in the neck, the shoulders, the small of the back and the whole pelvic cradle. Womens' saddles are shorter thru the nose and wider across the back to support our tender little hineys. (hee hee).
trust me - IT MATTERS!
What was that? Oh, what about the saddle with the hole? Well, this is a little delicate. Ahem. Girls, imagine sitting on your bike. Is your spine in a straight line from hips to head? Or can you not quite get that pelvic tilt far enough forward because your pubic bone grinds into the saddle, squashing all your (ahem) soft tissue, as it were? With the hole you can do the pelvic tilt forward (alleviating tons of ergonomic problems!) You notch your pubic bone into that hole and all your soft tissues fit into the hole. You are actually sitting on your pelvis with a straight spine, just like those boys!
I went from not being able to ride more than an hour and a half without serious crotch numbness and soreness to being able to ride for four hours without pain! (ok, not taolly without pain, but without agony)
In 1992 I saw these fabulous "Holey Saddles" at a bike show in Toronto on a Miyata bike called the Pavea. It took me a while to convince those folks that they should sell me just the saddles. I only sold 40 that year. But in 1997 Oxford sold 7000 of them. Most distributors in Canada now buy those exact velo saddles and sell lots of other different models of "Holey Saddles" for both men and women from many different manufacturers (Velo, Terry, Selle Italia etc.) They are widely avilable all over the world. We sell hundreds of these tools of enlightenment. Come on and test ride one today!
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