Giant Defy saddle/Spoon/Boardman saddle

wide phil

Had my Defy 3 for a few rides now and enjoying it but finding the saddle to be a fairly uncomfortable place to be, up to 20 miles its just about OK but Im finding that 30 mile is the max before I want to get off for the day. I am a fairly wide arsed bloke so apprehensive about buying something too skinny. I have a charge spoon on my mtb and find that fairly good but not sure whether it would be suitable for a road bike and I used to do 60 mile days on my Boardman hybrid and cant remember being in so much pain. I was wondering if the saddle pain is as a result of road bike position compared to more upright position of hybrid/mtb.
OR its just Defy saddles are rubbish ???

southdownswolf

First of all, are you certain that your position on the bike is correct? Just a small correction can make a huge difference to comfort. It could be that you are over reaching to the handlebars, you seat could be too high, too far back/near etc...
I've used a Charge Spoon on my road bike before and got on with it okay. Best thing is to try the saddles that you currently have on your other bikes and if they work, then you could buy another of the same type. Nobody will be able to tell you on a forum which saddle is best for you as our bones are all different. Someone could be the same height and weight as you, but if there "sit bones" are different, then you would need different saddles. Plenty of shops will offer a try before you buy service on saddles, you may need to put a deposit down though first. Fizik, Specialized and many others offer saddles designed to fit different widths, its worth having yourself measured and trying out the saddles.

southdownswolf

Have a read of this...

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/health-are-you-sitting-comfortably-30179/

raisinberry777

The Charge Spoon isn't MTB specific, it's a rebranded Velo VL-1205 which can be found in lots of places rebadged as other things, they even used to come as standard on the lower-end Giant Defys (although my knowledge is only of a 2013 model, not sure if it's still the case).

Either way, the same saddle ends up on lots of road bikes as well as mountain bikes, so chuck it on your road bike if you find it comfortable.

keef66

I too found a Spoon OK on my road bike, until I noticed the stitching was eating my lycra shorts, when it had to go.

So if you fancy a grey Spoon with white rails, let me know.

cougie

My spoon has been ok on my fixie for rides up to 80 miles or so ? Not eaten my shorts either.

wide phil

southdownswolf wrote:

First of all, are you certain that your position on the bike is correct? Just a small correction can make a huge difference to comfort. It could be that you are over reaching to the handlebars, you seat could be too high, too far back/near etc...
I've used a Charge Spoon on my road bike before and got on with it okay. Best thing is to try the saddles that you currently have on your other bikes and if they work, then you could buy another of the same type. Nobody will be able to tell you on a forum which saddle is best for you as our bones are all different. Someone could be the same height and weight as you, but if there "sit bones" are different, then you would need different saddles. Plenty of shops will offer a try before you buy service on saddles, you may need to put a deposit down though first. Fizik, Specialized and many others offer saddles designed to fit different widths, its worth having yourself measured and trying out the saddles.

cheers yes, my mate a very accomplished roadie, has just done a basic bike fit with me and altered the seats angle and moved it back so my knees are apparently now in the correct position, also told me my saddle was a tad high so lowered it a bit. Do need to give it a try to see if there's any improvement first.
Cheers for the link, makes sense
The spoon saddle does eat my mtb stiching so was thinking it may get annoying on a road bike but may give it a go also

beski

I found the stock saddle on my Defy uncomfortable, same as OP have a spoon on my MTB which I find comfortable. Got a white spoon for my Defy & find it far better, never had a problem with stitching on my shorts either