comfy saddles

beckenham
beckenham Posts: 242
edited September 2007 in Workshop
I have a Focus Cayo Expert, lovely bike :D but let down lightly by it's saddle :( Can anyone recommend a decent saddle suitable for relatively long distances and at a reasonable price? She Who Must Shop (the wife) thinks I've already spent enough and is watching the joint account like a hawk :roll:
Beer, the reason my ambitions have not become my achievements

Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    San Marco Regal .Not the lightest on the planet @ about 370gms but very comfy.
    Price about £30.

    PS
    It looks the bizz too with it's copper rivets :lol:
    Apparenly Boonen uses one.
  • John Stevenson
    John Stevenson Posts: 962
    We probably need a sticky for saddle discussions.

    The usual caveats: everyone's bum is a slightly different shape. Therefore the only sure way to find what fits you is trial and error. After a while you get some idea of what general shapes you like. I like saddles that are dipped, for example. Some folks get on better with flat saddles, and so on.

    Gel is generally a bad idea as the extra squishiness is counter-productive. What you want is a thin layer of padding that does a bit of load distribution, but keeps you more or less in touch with the basic shape of the hull - that's what determines comfort.

    As Anton de Lacey says, San Marco's Regal is widely liked as is the Rolls. fizik's Aliante works well for me.
    John Stevenson
  • spclark
    spclark Posts: 1
    Of all of the saddles I've tried the Koobi PRS Alpha (http://www.koobi.com) is the most comfortable. The padding is perfect, it's relatively light, and it has a built in suspension that reduces road fatigue.
  • baudman
    baudman Posts: 757
    Fizik Arione - not cheap tho.
    Commute - MASI Souville3 | Road/CX - MASI Speciale CX | Family - 80s ugly | Utility - Cargobike
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Fizik Aliante for me, the Gamma version is cheaper tho.
  • Gussio
    Gussio Posts: 2,452
    Selle Itailia Flite on both my bikes. Very comfy and doesn't seem to restrict blood flow. Both have worn excellently (one is old style t'other is new style cut away gel flow, which I think looks very cool).

    Was looking at the Selle Italia SLR in LBS recently. Assistant leaned over my should and said, "wouldn't buy one of those. We saw a video that monitored bloodflow during a test and the SLR restricted flow by 80% (or something)". Ouch :shock:
  • keebo
    keebo Posts: 44
    Having tried a number of different saddles; Selle Italia SLR gel-flow, Felt Carbon [supplied wth my F65] and Specialized Avatar, I have found that the Massi Bio-hole [oh, err missus!] is extremely comfortable. I did an Ireland end-to-end ride in June this year with 65 others [approximately 430 miles on dog-rough roads] and suffered much less bum pain than most of my fellow cyclists. I've had a couple of Bio-holes and while they may not score high marks for style at the cafe stop, they are very comfortable and available in a range of colours.
    http://www.hollymillcycles.co.uk/produc ... b0s82p1461
    Keebo,
    Semper in excreta sumus, solum profundum variat!
  • simbil1
    simbil1 Posts: 620
    Gussio wrote:
    Selle Itailia Flite on both my bikes. Very comfy and doesn't seem to restrict blood flow. Both have worn excellently (one is old style t'other is new style cut away gel flow, which I think looks very cool).

    Was looking at the Selle Italia SLR in LBS recently. Assistant leaned over my should and said, "wouldn't buy one of those. We saw a video that monitored bloodflow during a test and the SLR restricted flow by 80% (or something)". Ouch :shock:

    The SLR is designed like that so more blood goes to your legs :lol:

    I like the SLR but would concede it is more of a perch than a saddle, meaning it works just fine if a good deal of your weight is on the pedals. The angle of contact also makes a difference for me, if I get it wrong it doesn't sit well with the soft bits. Done a couple of centuries on it though and have a couple of kids so I think its probably OK.

    To the OP, I have the Selle Italia X2 Trans AM on my MTB and it works well. The cut out means less soft bit contact and its quite comfortable over rougher stuff. Only around £18, but not very light at 290g
    http://picasaweb.google.com/thefirstsimbil/Bikes
  • bryanm
    bryanm Posts: 218
    San Marco Rolls for me.

    I keep thinking about getting one for my moutain bike, but I think it would look a bit stupid!
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Trust me, the search for the perfect saddle will take most of your life. Although some
    people have reported getting lucky after buying only a few dozen.

    Dennis Noward

    Toledo, Ohio
  • Fab Foodie
    Fab Foodie Posts: 5,155
    dennisn wrote:
    Trust me, the search for the perfect saddle will take most of your life. Although some
    people have reported getting lucky after buying only a few dozen.

    Dennis Noward

    Toledo, Ohio

    Not always...
    I will have to be the old crusty who suggests a Brooks....
    OK, not sexy, not light, but for many long distance riders, just perfect.
    My TCR has one, looks odd, but my backside's happy.

    It's my second Brooks after the first one was retired after 22 years onto my Turbo-mule
    The pessimists of this world are rarely disappointed....
    Fab's TCR1
  • kenbaxter
    kenbaxter Posts: 1,251
    Fizik for me. Rode an arione for 2 years which was better than anything else I'd tried from Selle Italia. Just gone to the Ti railed Aliante which is very very good. Shop around on eBay.com (not .co.uk) and pick one up from a US shop - mine was 150 dollars plus 20 postage - about 85 quid, arrived in 5 days and looks awesome in white on my litespeed vortex!
  • Gav2000
    Gav2000 Posts: 408
    Anton de Lacey wrote:
    San Marco Regal .Not the lightest on the planet @ about 370gms but very comfy.
    Price about £30.

    PS
    It looks the bizz too with it's copper rivets :lol:
    Apparenly Boonen uses one.

    I'd give a vote for the Regal as well. I have one on each of my road bikes and they have both adapted to my bum very well. There is a black version for about £30 or a white version for nearer £50, I have the black version which is great. It has a genuine thick leather cover which soaks up sweat and prevents the saddle from becoming moist as some plasticky saddles can become.

    Gav.
    Gav2000

    Like a streak of lightnin' flashin' cross the sky,
    Like the swiftest arrow whizzin' from a bow,
    Like a mighty cannonball he seems to fly.
    You'll hear about him ever'where you go.
  • scherrit
    scherrit Posts: 360
    Rolls on my track bike, Arione on the roadies, Fizik Gobi on my mtb and I'll second the comment on it depends on how hard you're pedalling, and add "it depends on how upright you are".

    Oh and some weird thing with clear gel on the touring tandem. The rolls can be had for 25 odd if you're lucky on eBay NOS. It's heavy but some six day riders use them, and their fashion sense and need for a comfy perch is undeniable.
    Good luck!
    If you're as fat as me, all bikes are bendy.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    [quote="dennisn"]Trust me, the search for the perfect saddle will take most of your life. Although some
    people have reported getting lucky after buying only a few dozen.

    Dennis Noward

    Toledo, Ohio[/quote]
    Totally agree! :lol:
  • paul.d
    paul.d Posts: 82
    Rido for me
    http://www.rido-cyclesaddles.com/

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