Bike saddle recommendations

[andione1983]

Hi guys looking for some ideas on where to start.

My stock prologo kappa rs is too grippy and digs into my crackers.

I'm a 100kg guy 185cm and enjoy a decent ride 1hr + in the saddle.
Looking for some ideas on what saddle to start looking at for abit of comfort.

[rodneycc]

Selle smp drakon for me. Got to set it up right with a sprit level or don't bother for the price though. Once you have set it up right they are just bliss.

[illdrag0n]

140kg bloke here, 154mm sit bones. 168mm specialised power. Go get fit for your sit bones width.

0 nose, 0 pressure on the jatz crackers. Only thing I can ride long distance on at the moment

[cyclotaur]

Obviously a very personal choice, saddles.

I used a basic Cannondale saddle for years, got multiples to use on up to three bikes. Sold two bikes and was left with an ageing saddle and couldn't source any more of the basic C'dale one so wasted some $$ on a cheap replacement - didn't work out.

Eventually found a decent fit on a hire bike in Europe last year (Sella Royale Seta SL) so bought three of those for the stable and it's worked out great. And they're relatively cheap secondhand.

[brandy234]

Went looking for a more comfortable saddle and ended up with a Selle Italia SLR Superflow. There's a couple of different sizes and the price ranges depending on the rail material.

It's been a great saddle.

[outnabike]

My leather brooks is around 6 years old now and has been great from Day 1. I have been 96 kg till recently.One hour is a mere bagatelle to a brooks seat.
Bet we are all different.

[nemo57]

+1 for fitted Specialized saddles.
If you find undue pressure on the knackers, try ISM. They may take a week or so to adjust to, because they press on a different part of your sit-bones, but after that I've found them super-comfortable for rides up to and beyond 200km.

[g-boaf]

+1 for fitted Specialized saddles.
If you find undue pressure on the knackers, try ISM. They may take a week or so to adjust to, because they press on a different part of your sit-bones, but after that I've found them super-comfortable for rides up to and beyond 200km.

Old topic, but +2 for the Specialized saddles. Even the S-Works Romin Evo - very comfortable saddle.

[wongaga]

Good discussion.

Can anyone recommend a bike shop in the SE burbs of Melbourne that does good service on saddle selection? I'd like to be able to to trial a couple for a few days at a time so I can find one that suits my child-bearing hips.

On the same topic, I used to have a Brooks B17 that was wonderful, but could not be set back far enough (frame is a tad small and in retrospect I should have dumped the bike and kept the saddle). Anyone know of a Brooks model that allows generous set-back?

Cheers, Graeme

[brumby33]

I too am looking at getting a new saddle and am looking seriously at Brooks B17 to place on my VWR and am wondering is the Brooks with the huge springs at the back are better than the more rigid framed B17.

I've never liked the original WTB saddle that came with it.

I'm 178cm and 108kgs as of this post.

cheers

brumby33

[ColinOldnCranky]

My leather brooks is around 6 years old now and has been great from Day 1. I have been 96 kg till recently.One hour is a mere bagatelle to a brooks seat.
Bet we are all different.

I'll endorse the same. WHereas riders may change saddles with every new bike or more, I suspect that no-one ever parts with a Brookes saddle once worn in. You buy a new bike, take the saddle off and bag it, put the Brookes on. When next selling, the unused saddle goes back on the old bike and the saddle on the newy gets bagged same as last time.

Leather saddles take a while to break in (but probably no more discomfort than someone going through three or four conventional saddles until the right one is found). I know of people with leather saddles who would remove the saddle and take it with them when they left the bike locked up (as I sometimes did) out of fear of having to go through another six months of discomfort to break in a new one in. And that was back in the day when you needed a spanner to remove the seat post! I doubt anyone ever loved a non-leather saddle the same way.

[warthog1]

More than 100k km on fizik ariones.
Have them on all of my bikes.
They work for me. They don't for others.
As said, everyone's anatomy has differences in size and shape. People ride with different positions.
Saddles consequently are an individual choice.

[ironhanglider]

I too am looking at getting a new saddle and am looking seriously at Brooks B17 to place on my VWR and am wondering is the Brooks with the huge springs at the back are better than the more rigid framed B17.

I've never liked the original WTB saddle that came with it.

I'm 178cm and 108kgs as of this post.

cheers

brumby33

I understand that the Brooks 'Flyer' is identical to a B17 with the addition of springs. A couple of things to note, they are significantly heavy and the springs (or rather their mountings) have a tendency to creak.

I have a Flyer on my ebike, it suits the upright position and the weight is not an issue there.

I have a B17N on my commuter road bike.

I also have a Swift and a Ti Swallow. The Swallow is the flexiest of them all, and the leather has stretched (under my 100 +/- 5kg) to the point that I need it to be either altered or recovered (after 11 years). It was very comfortable from day 1 however. I think that the Swift and Swallow look best on road bikes. I'd probably use a B17N(maybe a team Pro) for a tourer/commuter, and the Flyer (or B17) for Utility bikes.

I have also ridden on a Swallow copy (Gyes? Sobdeal?) which was also pretty good and is a much cheaper entry point. It's a bit of a gateway drug.

Cheers,

Cameron

[australiantourer]

We seem to be in agreement that saddle choice is totally idiosyncratic — everyone’s bum is different! Brooks saddles have such a following that a few years ago, I thought I should investigate further. I bought the B17, persevered for a while and then sold it on gumtree for pretty much full price — it was gone in an instant! I didn’t find it exceptionally comfortable, and resented the maintenance issues: I didn’t mind applying leather dressing to it from time to time, (mindful of not wearing good trousers afterwards), but drew the line at having to keep a plastic bag in case of rain. Then I bought a Serfas 180 mm wide seat, an RX I think, and love it. In fact I later bought another to replace the WTB seat that came on the VWR. That seat looked similar to the Serfas, but was only 135 mm wide. I haven’t ever had a “fitting”, but I know I have wide hips, so it makes sense that a 180 mm seat works for me. I don’t care if they look overdimensioned on a lean steel bike — it’s there to sit on! There are people who get such joy from their Brooks that it is probably worth experimenting, especially as they are so saleable.

[wongaga]

Yes I agree Brooks rock, but back to my question: are there any shops in Melbourne that are recommended for help with saddle selection and allow trials?

[Warnesy]

Trek will do 30 day trial of their saddles.

[Arbuckle23]

Berwick cycles "used" have a good bike fitting set up and saddle try out program.
I went there and was very happy with the measuring and discussion on how I rode to select a saddle to suit me.
I took home a Specialized Romin, which proved to be perfect for me.
I could have taken back and swapped if it didn't suit.

But Google tells me they have closed!

[brumby33]

Yes I agree Brooks rock, but back to my question: are there any shops in Melbourne that are recommended for help with saddle selection and allow trials?

Yes some bike shops may run what is known as a saddle library where you pay a fee like a membership of a certain club, then you can borrow and use a particular saddle for a period of time and keep doing that untill you find a suitable saddle for you, when you make your decision, then the fee you paid to join the library gets taken off the price of a new saddle of the type chosen.
Omafiets in Alexandria, Sydney runs such a library and have several types of seats available. I was thinking of doing it myself but find that their shop is a bit out of my way from where they used to be in Redfern.

Cheers

brumby33

[g-boaf]

I ended up trying this saddle that is on my Canyon (which never gets ridden because it is very rare):



It went on because it was the closest thing in shape to the leather padded version on my Cervelo S5. Even though it is bare carbon I was surprised at it being quite comfortable and a few others I know who have that saddle also reckon it's okay.

I remember Jet Cycles many years ago saying very plainly that if the saddle that provided didn't work out, just keep coming back and we'll keep trying different ones until you find the one that works. I thought that was a great approach.


The Beast Components saddles (like the one above) were a chance discovery - I just happened to grab one to see if it was any good and it turned out to be extremely good. I can ride big kms with that saddle (the padded version) and it's very comfortable. If I hadn't taken a chance and grabbed it from BikeBug then I wouldn't have known. Since that padded version went on the Cervelo when I got it, I needed to find something to go on the Canyon and the one above was it. Seems to be quite good. Nearly identical shape, just without padding.

[piledhigher]

I ended up trying this saddle that is on my Canyon (which never gets ridden because it is very rare):

It went on because it was the closest thing in shape to the leather padded version on my Cervelo S5. Even though it is bare carbon I was surprised at it being quite comfortable and a few others I know who have that saddle also reckon it's okay.

I can vouch that once the shape is right the padding doesn't matter. my commuter runs a de covered Selle Italia SLR, the leather was tearing so I stripped the leather off, that said it started off as minimal saddle before the surgery.

WP_20190526_13_28_04_Rich_LI by PiledHigher, on Flickr

[wongaga]

As a post-script to my thread, I discovered the seat post bolt was too long and was contacting the underside of the seat at maximum deflection. Taking 5mm off the bolt has helped enormously. It's not perfect but much improved, and my perineum is delighted to no longer being bashed by a high-tensile bolt.

Cheers, Graeme

[GarrisonHale]

What is your recommendation for a good comfortable road bike saddle? The saddle that came with my bike has been decent but I'm thinking of getting something a bit more comfortable to help with some longer rides I've got planned for this summer. I already have some bike shorts. I also know that many people recommend trying before buying from a LBS if possible. I'm just looking for opinions from people who have experience with a good saddle that will be comfortable for long rides. https://check-distance.com/

[AndrewCowley]

My suggestion is to work your way through the Specialized range of saddles. There's the Romin, Toupe, Phenom and Power. These cover almost all bases in terms of shape and size.

Specialized stores have a scheme where you can swap within a certain period (a week or so) if you aren't happy.

[LateStarter]

My suggestion is to work your way through the Specialized range of saddles. There's the Romin, Toupe, Phenom and Power. These cover almost all bases in terms of shape and size.

Specialized stores have a scheme where you can swap within a certain period (a week or so) if you aren't happy.

Also check out the Specialized Bridge Comp with MIMIC, a new addition to their range in recent days, some might sneer at it because it has "level 3" padding, ie softest, but to my reckoning still firmish. It is also among the cheapest at $120, the MIMIC option seems to work for me, (although not yet done a "big*" ride with it), I have always had issues with the mid to front section of many all expensive saddles and this seems (I hope) to address these (so far), I had bought the Bridge for the trainer and was surprised at how good it seemed. The MIMIC option also available on the others mentioned above but these have firmer "level 2" padding. The PRO, Expert, S-Works additional features (rail and base materials) are IMHO not worth the small weight differences for the large $ difference. Good luck with your quest, saddles can be a pain!
*big as in 200-300kms+

[nickobec]

What is your recommendation for a good comfortable road bike saddle? The saddle that came with my bike has been decent but I'm thinking of getting something a bit more comfortable to help with some longer rides I've got planned for this summer. I already have some bike shorts....

As a new rider I would suggest sticking with your current saddle, unless it is really uncomfortable on short to medium rides. It is going to take time for your body to adjust to riding in the saddle for any distance.

My first road bike came with a Selle Italia SLR a minimalist saddle, it was not comfortable on longer rides so after a month or so I replaced it with a more "comfortable" saddle. A month later back to the SLR as it was better for me than the more "comfortable" saddle. A couple months later tried another more "comfortable" saddle, same result, rinse and repeat for my first year or so of riding. In the end it was the SLR that was the best saddle for me and I rode it for years. Fifteen years and over 100,000 kms later I am now saddle agnostic, I ride a number of bikes with variety of saddles (there are a few that don't work for me), even built up a couple of projects using the rejected more "comfortable" saddles from 15 years ago.

So I would stick with your original saddle a while longer, get your body used to riding and then if you still have saddle issues, start trying different saddles and a lot of saddle comfort is personal preference.