Demo saddles

rockmonkeysc

I thought this was a excellent idea. My local(ish) shop has a range of demo saddles. Never seen them in any other shop.
Seems much better than the usual hit or miss measure and fitting. A good long ride will be the best possible test.
Is this common in good bike shops?

ej2320

Don't think any of mine do that, it's a good idea though

Although my local shops are very good and would probably let me try if I asked.. Or at least swap a saddle over from a demo bike

The Northern Monkey

Not a bad idea at all... never seen it myself.

The comfiest saddle I have is about 6 years old and cost me £15.. I dont like the spoon but ask on ant forum and its the standard response.

rockmonkeysc

I have a Spoon and its bearable but not great. Trying an SDG Bel Air, 36 miles on Exmoor tomorrow should tell me if it's right for my curvaceous butt.

njee20

Fizik and Specialized both do a full selection of demo saddles for their dealers.

Long_Time_Lurker

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have a Spoon and its bearable but not great. Trying an SDG Bel Air, 36 miles on Exmoor tomorrow should tell me if it's right for my curvaceous butt.

Problem is that it takes a while for a saddle to bed in. I have a bel air on my Cube. It was horrendous at first - the finish on the saddle was too slippery, so you never felt planted in the seat. Only once that sheen had worn off (a month in), did it feel comfortable.

rockmonkeysc

That's ok as long as a few other people have worn it in first.
After 30ish miles on Exmoor today I decided that it's more comfy than my old Charge Spoon.

batmo

One of my riding buddies had a real issue with finding a saddle he was comfortable with and our LBS got a selection of demo ones for him. They were all a vile puce/pink colour to encourage returning them to the shop!

lbalony

My LBS does them. Fizik in bright yellow with test written on them. There in the bargain bin at the moment. No chance of removing 'test' though. Shame as look good saddles

dusk

njee20 wrote:

Fizik and Specialized both do a full selection of demo saddles for their dealers.

and then charge £100+ for an average saddle

njee20

Define average? :?

batmo

dusk wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Fizik and Specialized both do a full selection of demo saddles for their dealers.

and then charge £100+ for an average saddle

Buying a £25 saddle is great, if it fits you. The rest of us have the choice to put up with it or spend a bit more...

rockmonkeysc

dusk wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Fizik and Specialized both do a full selection of demo saddles for their dealers.

and then charge £100+ for an average saddle

My local shop has SDG demo saddles which are not bad value. The one I bought was a Bell Air with ti rails for £60 which I think is reasonable value when you can get a demo and know it's right.

paul.skibum

I like the Bel Air - had them on both bikes until I got the Bronson - it came with a WTB Volt which I hated initially - hard, no padding, just felt, slippery and sharp under my bum but dont notice it now.

eric_draven

i have bought a cheap worn 2nd hand version of saddle i have been looking at to try them first,did this last year when i wanted to try a Fizik Ailante on my mountain bike,then went and bought a good used one and sold the first one,bit of a faff about,but got to try one for as long as i wanted to,once made the mistake of buying a selle italia flite about £75 10-12 years ago,only to find it crippled me after 10 miles or so

dusk

RockmonkeySC wrote:

dusk wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Fizik and Specialized both do a full selection of demo saddles for their dealers.

and then charge £100+ for an average saddle

My local shop has SDG demo saddles which are not bad value. The one I bought was a Bell Air with ti rails for £60 which I think is reasonable value when you can get a demo and know it's right.

I was thinking Fizik, £100 for an Aliante is madness when it's barely different to a Charge Spoon

njee20

I was thinking Fizik, £100 for an Aliante is madness when it's barely different to a Charge Spoon

Eh? They're totally different. They're both saddle shaped yes, but so's a £5 Halfords job.

I'd try a Spoon, but they're heavy, and the stitching puts me off - munches shorts.

I've heard, the Spoon's being discontinued - Charge saddles are going to be made under the 'Fabric' brand name, with the Spoon no more. You won't like the prices either - a Scoop starts at £40, and goes up to £170 for the "Ultimate".

Angus Young

njee20 wrote:

I'd try a Spoon, but they're heavy, and the stitching puts me off - munches shorts.

The stitching won't munch your shorts. But the saddle itself wears away badly around the stitching. I've had one for about 8 months and it looks about 5 years old. Comfy enough, but if you want a saddle that lasts, look elsewhere.

njee20

Saddles with any sort of raised detail tend to much shorts, stitching particularly. Never seen one that didn't!

I imagine baggies fare better.

Angus Young

Absolutely no wear on my shorts at all after eight months of almost daily riding, with the shortest ride I do being 8 miles. As mentioned, though, the saddle itself has not fared so well, so not recommended.

njee20

Fair enough. Still not gonna risk it, particularly as they're heavy ;-)

Assos actually won't warranty shorts if used in conjunction with saddle with a stitched cover. Fun fact.

Angus Young

As I said, not recommended, anyway. Always gets good reviews, but I guess they don't live with them long enough to find this particular flaw.

lostboysaint

njee20 wrote:

I was thinking Fizik, £100 for an Aliante is madness when it's barely different to a Charge Spoon

Eh? They're totally different. They're both saddle shaped yes, but so's a £5 Halfords job.

I'd try a Spoon, but they're heavy, and the stitching puts me off - munches shorts.

I've heard, the Spoon's being discontinued - Charge saddles are going to be made under the 'Fabric' brand name, with the Spoon no more. You won't like the prices either - a Scoop starts at £40, and goes up to £170 for the "Ultimate".

That's not what I understood. I was told that Fabric was a separate company started by Nick L and that it would be targeting a different market, including OEM, and that the Charge saddles would continue.

njee20

Which would make sense.

dusk

njee20 wrote:

I was thinking Fizik, £100 for an Aliante is madness when it's barely different to a Charge Spoon

Eh? They're totally different. They're both saddle shaped yes, but so's a £5 Halfords job.

I'd try a Spoon, but they're heavy, and the stitching puts me off - munches shorts.

I've heard, the Spoon's being discontinued - Charge saddles are going to be made under the 'Fabric' brand name, with the Spoon no more. You won't like the prices either - a Scoop starts at £40, and goes up to £170 for the "Ultimate".

I have both, they're very similar in shape