Road saddle for <£30

h34e0f
h34e0f Posts: 370
edited September 2012 in Road buying advice
Any recomendations for a saddle on a low budget? Will be mostly used for recreational rides of around 25-60km, however there will be some occasional longer rides hopefully.

Don't want to spend a massive ammount, mainly just looking to swap from my current (cheap) saddle which I swear weighs more than the rest of the bike put together!

My only requirements are that it is black, and has good ventilation & comfort. I ride with padded shorts so comfort will be easier gained.

Comments

  • Lots of folks seem to like Charge Spoon - not tried it myself though
  • It's worth noting that the Charge Spoon is the same saddle (except with some extra decorative stitching) as the OEM Giant saddle. You'd have to be a right wally to swap the stock saddle on your Giant road bike with a Charge Spoon. Guess how I found that out. :roll:
    They use their cars as shopping baskets; they use their cars as overcoats.
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    If you looking under £30 - then its the charge spoon. - I don't know of many others. Theres one from bontrager for around £45 which is highly rated. - and spesh romin seems flavour of the month at the moment - but is getting on for 3 times your budget.


    (i have a little used charge spoon for £10+ postage if you want it)
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    Charge Knife works better on a road bike IMO (the Spoon is a bit too padded). Looks better as well. Not less than £30 though unless you get lucky with a sale somewhere or find a used one.
    More problems but still living....
  • h34e0f
    h34e0f Posts: 370
    Yeah I was looking at the spoon but saw a few reviews saying it was too hard for longer periods in the saddle and was therefore better suited to the mtb?

    Kingrollo you have a pm
  • jameses
    jameses Posts: 653
    +1 for the Spoon. I've got one on my hybrid, recently cycled from Caen to Paris and back (which included a couple of 100+ mile days) and had no problems with discomfort.
    I was also considering one of these: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/saddles/product/review-madison-prime-saddle-12-37485
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    h34e0f wrote:
    Yeah I was looking at the spoon but saw a few reviews saying it was too hard for longer periods in the saddle and was therefore better suited to the mtb?

    Kingrollo you have a pm

    It's not too hard. It's a very good long distance saddle for a road bike. I just prefer the look and feel of the less padded Knife.
    More problems but still living....
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    I have a Charge Spoon sitting on a shelf in the garage. I found it a lot more comfortable than the saddle that came on the bike, but beyond about 40 miles it still wasn't right. And the oddly positioned stitching started to eat my shorts.

    I've now gone all retro with a Brooks B17 special, which weighs a ton but is splendidly comfy.
  • I've been happily putting miles in on a Ragley Cheeky for a year or better now. Not a fancy choice, but very comfy, for me anyway.

    It has got something of a long nose on it, which can catch your shorts if you're not used to it.
  • It's worth noting that the Charge Spoon is the same saddle (except with some extra decorative stitching) as the OEM Giant saddle. You'd have to be a right wally to swap the stock saddle on your Giant road bike with a Charge Spoon. Guess how I found that out. :roll:

    You and me both! :oops:

    But the Spoon is a comfortable saddle.
  • h34e0f
    h34e0f Posts: 370
    Cheers for the advice.

    The Madison Prime is on sale for £18.29 on Amazon so I may go for that, cheers!

    For reference; http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006YSUOOE/r ... B006YSUOOE
  • tonye_n
    tonye_n Posts: 832
    It's worth noting that the Charge Spoon is the same saddle (except with some extra decorative stitching) as the OEM Giant saddle......
    No its not. What nonsense.
  • andy_wrx
    andy_wrx Posts: 3,396
    Planet-X super light road saddle or On-One BigNose
  • andy_wrx wrote:
    Planet-X super light road saddle

    Yeah, I've got one of the Ti railed versions and I think I only paid around £30 for it. It's supposed to be an Arione clone so it woud depend if you get on with that shape.
  • Calpol
    Calpol Posts: 1,039
    I can't make a recommendation as everyone and their arses is different however what I have learned is that sometimes you need to MTFU and persist a bit. It is easy for those people new to cycling to confuse saddle suitability and muscle adjustment to exercise. I put a Specialized Romin on my bike a few weeks ago, I admit I liked the look of it and the idea of the split easing pressure on the perineum. Its the cheap version so pretty hard. I almost instantly liked the shape of it and how it suited but it was hard and pretty uncomfortable even for short rides. My sit bones seemed to be taking a fair bruising on it. However I have persevered and just completed 190 miles over the last three days with little or no discomfort either during or after. My conclusion is that either my body has got used to riding or the saddle have got broken in.

    This question on saddles comes up so often and I reckon the saddle manufacturers must love it as it means they keep flogging new ones. However imo it is unreasonable to expect instant body adjustment to an exercise regime the way some new riders seem to.

    I would also recommend not skimping on bib shorts particularly if you are new or planning to ride for longer distances. I find my Castelli ones a step up from my DHBs.
  • andy_wrx wrote:
    Planet-X super light road saddle or On-One BigNose

    Fwiw,+1 on the former though not so keen on the latter on my commuter.Its a bit more padded and so should be more comfortable-but it isnt! Took about £100 miles to get used to the super-light.
  • Specialized Riva BG saddle. Done a couple of thousand miles on mine. Decent padding but not overly so. Prefer it to the Charge Spoon that's on my tourer. Both excellent though.
  • tonye_n wrote:
    It's worth noting that the Charge Spoon is the same saddle (except with some extra decorative stitching) as the OEM Giant saddle......
    No its not. What nonsense.

    Well, I can't speak for *your* experiences, but in my case, the Spoon was the same as the saddle that Giant fitted to the 2007 TCR Alliance. Same length, width, rails, moulding - even the position of the nuts holding it together were exactly the same, and in the same places. The only differences were topside - the Spoon felt slightly less padded (although that might simply be down to the fact that I was comparing a new saddle to one that had done thousands of miles) and the Spoon had the decorative stitching. I'd be prepared to lay quite a large amount of money on them coming from the same factory, from the same mouldings. Or one is a copy of the other (also possible).

    Nice saddle, though, and a lot comfier for me than the new Fizik Arione I've just got.
    They use their cars as shopping baskets; they use their cars as overcoats.
  • Love the spoon!! tried multpile saddles and 1st one can cycle >30 miles!
  • It's worth noting that the Charge Spoon is the same saddle (except with some extra decorative stitching) as the OEM Giant saddle. You'd have to be a right wally to swap the stock saddle on your Giant road bike with a Charge Spoon. Guess how I found that out. :roll:

    I did the same. 2012 giant defy range saddles are rebranded Spoons as I found out the stupid way!

    Do prefer the Charge though as its non-slip