How to get the right saddle ?

Tjgoodhew

I know saddle fit is a personal choice but i dont want to keep buying and trying. I always read people saying about trying out to see if it fits but i want an alternative to spending £80-£100 on a saddle and then selling it for half the price a month later on Ebay when it doesn't fit.

Iv finally accepted the Fizik Antares that came with my new bike is the wrong shape for me and will have to go. but i have no idea what to buy going forward. The stock saddle on my Caad8 i have no issues with but its seen better days. Looking at the two the Antares is flat whilst the Cannondale has a groove straight down the middle.

Im guessing i need a saddle with this sort of channel but looking online its difficult to see the true shape. I have had a look in my Local LBS and most of their saddles are over £100 which is a bit more than I wanted to spend

Budget is ideally £70 at the top end.

So is there anyway of making an educated online purchase ??

norvernrob

I don't think the groove or channel makes anywhere near as much difference as the actual shape and width of the saddle. If your cannondale is comfy, measure it and take a photo to compare the shape and dimensions with others online.

My first bike had a cheap prologo which was really comfortable, I got rid of the saddle with the bike and ended up trying 3 different ones on my new bike before just buying the newer version of my old saddle. I spent £200 on cool looking saddles when all I needed to do was buy what I knew was comfy at £40!.

navrig2

It is difficult but you can try a few things:

1. Specialised and Trek/Bontrager have a device in shops which measures the width of your sitbones which shoulkd naorrow down a suitable width.

2. Some shops have saddles you can try before you buy so get cozy with your LBS.

3. Try the Bike Radar saddle swap shop viewforum.php?f=40112

4. Ask your cycling buddies if they have any you can borrow.

Are you giving the ones you are trying enough mileage?

Tjgoodhew

I have rode about 200 miles on the Antares. Anything over about an hour i start to really ache and it just feels wrong. I have good quality bibs so its def a saddle issue and it is a very different shape to the cannondale saddle.

I do have a Ritchey WCS at home and havent given that much time but again its pretty flat and very hard and the few rides i have done on it i have the same issue. I might stick this on short term as its a little more comfy but i can see myself needing a long term solution

cattytown

As said earlier, shape is probably more important than the channel.

Also why not buy a saddle from ebay (or on here), try it. If you get on with it, by all means buy a pristine new one the same, but trying saddles that way may well cost a lot less.

Paul.

arran77

Find a shop that can measure your sit bones for you and go from there, hopefully they'll have saddles that you can then test ride over a week or so.

Buying on the recommendation of others is always going to be risky in my opinion as it's unlikely that any two back sides are alike