How many saddles have you tried?

smd13
smd13 Posts: 91
edited April 2017 in Road general
I tend to find myself buying more and more saddles, in the never ending quest for the prefect perch!
I have to admit that there's a large element of curiosity to it (and I'd hate to think there might be an option I haven't tried yet :lol: )

So my question is this- how many saddles did you try before finding "the one", surely I can't be the only one doing this!
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Comments

  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,176
    0. i'e, I haven't found the perfect perch and eons ago was quite happy on a Turbo saddle.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • Zendog1
    Zendog1 Posts: 816
    So far I've tried four - one each for my four bikes. All equally comfortable.

    I suspect I have a bike industry standard arse!
  • Must have tried 10 or more over the years and still looking for the perfect one, but probably the most comfortable has been the cheapest, a Charge Spoon.
  • drwae
    drwae Posts: 223
    One. The one that came on my bike. Stock Cannondale SuperSix EVO saddle is apparently perfect for me! I have a Synapse as well and the stock saddle on that is more uncomfortable :(
  • I'm with xdoc - Charge Spoon is as good as it gets, - I think!!
  • gethinceri
    gethinceri Posts: 1,647
    5. Brooks Cambium Carved is as close as I've got, so far.
  • hambini
    hambini Posts: 113
    I've tried 4

    1. Selle Italia Flite Titanium
    2. Fizik Antares
    3. Selle SMP Stratos
    4. ISM Adamo

    I sold all of them apart from the Selle SMP, I have one of them on both of my bikes. Once you've found a saddle that fits you I think you are sold on it for life - or until they stop making it.
  • 2 before I found one that was acceptable - then bought a few
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    I'm with xdoc - Charge Spoon is as good as it gets, - I think!!

    The only one I found uncomfortable :cry: Now have Aliantes and a brooks team pro.
  • smd13
    smd13 Posts: 91
    hambini wrote:
    Once you've found a saddle that fits you I think you are sold on it for life - or until they stop making it.


    Well that's it, i was reasonably happy on my prologo tri40 but the grass is always greener (or softer!) on the other side. Plus I figured all this nose cut out stuff must be onto something- this was not the case :lol:


    I do keep meaning to try a charge spoon at some stage but for now need a tri saddle
  • luv2ride
    luv2ride Posts: 2,367
    Loads. Thinking back i think ive tried:
    Boardman Arionè copy
    Fizik Pave HP
    San Marco SKN (x2) - really thought this was "the one", then tried a bike fitted with a Toupe. Looked ace too!
    Spesh Toupe (x2) - again, thought I'd cracked it, only to suffer numbness on long rides
    Madison Prime (same as Charge Spoon) - nice, but stitching was all over the place :cry:

    The ones currently fitted seem comfy enough for me:
    Selle Italia Novus Flow L2 - summer bike, best tried yet
    Selle Italia Max Flite gel flow - winter bike
    Charge Scoop - CX bike
    Pinnacle OE saddle - single speed monster cross. (Comfy but probably will change for a scoop at some point)
    Also have an old Spesh OE saddle on my Singlecross which has always been really good for my butt. No idea of the name though....
    Titus Silk Road Ti rigid 29er - Scott Solace 10 disc - Kinesis Crosslight Pro6 disc - Scott CR1 SL - Pinnacle Arkose X 650b - Pinnacle Arkose singlespeed - Specialized Singlecross...& an Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 4 string...
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    I know plenty of people who complain about their saddle. They try wider ones, padded ones, cut away ones, orthopaedic ones and all along its more to do with their position on the bike. Either they are leaning too far forwards or their seatpost is not at the right height. If nothing at all seems to feel good enough for you maybe you should start exploring other areas to solve your issue.
  • matt_n-2
    matt_n-2 Posts: 581
    I've tried:

    Charge Spoon - didn't like it
    Fizik Arione - didn't like it
    Fizik Aliante - didn't like it
    Specialized Toupe - didn't like it and actually had me in agony after half an hour
    Specialized Power - kind of ok for upto an hour, not great for longer rides though
    Speciliazed Romin - really like it, have one of each of my bikes now
    Colnago Master Olympic
    Colnago CLX 3.0
    Colnago Dream
    Giant Trinity Advanced
    Italian steel winter hack
  • Alex99
    Alex99 Posts: 1,407
    The old days... Rolls

    The new days...
    Mountain bike - standard Specialized fairly soft 'sport' saddle. Don't know the model, but it's great (I sit very upright on my MTB).
    Road bike - gone from Rolls, really old white turbo, then started a saddle search and rented various (Fizik Aliante vs (too soft, didn't like it), Antares vs (couldn't find the right spot on it), Arione vs (pretty good), Arione standard (not bad, not great on the soft bits), Aspide open (good), SMP Dynamic (good).

    I have bought the Aspide open and the SMP. I conclude that my anatomy likes a curved, firm saddle with a big split up the middle, both of which these offer in different degrees. I still think about the Arione vs and may try it again. Being a flat saddle, I did like that it had a big sweet spot allowing me move around a bit, whereas the curved saddles tend to limit this somewhat.
  • alex222
    alex222 Posts: 598
    Just three for me (San Marco Spid, Fizik Antares and Fabric Scoop Flat Pro), very pleased with the Fabric.
    Need to get round to buying one of the cheaper Fabric Scoops to throw on the winter bike, as have really gone off the Antares that is on there now.
  • andy9964
    andy9964 Posts: 930
    Two.
    The standard item on the CAADX, until the rail broke, then a Charge Scoop (shallow).
    The CAADX saddle was okay for communting duties, but anything around 25+ miles started to get uncomfortable
    The Scoop (dealer gave me the Ti rail model for the price of Chro-Mo) has been a revelation. I'm hardly ever aware that I'm sat on anything
  • daddy0
    daddy0 Posts: 686
    Stock saddle on my Scott Sportster - not great / not bad, heavy
    Stock saddle on my Felt F5 - PERFECT (well almost - a bit heavy at 270 grams), until it broke, sad, sad times

    Since then I have been trying to find a saddle that is *that* comfy, these have all failed me:

    Charge Spoon - not too bad, but heavy and too narrow for me
    Selle Italia SLR Flow - not wide enough, not enough padding, light though
    Fizik Arione R7 Manganese - far too narrow for my sit bones, absolute torture

    Just bought a Pro Griffon Carbon saddle, only done one roller session on it so far, but seems good, wide enough (142mm), bit of padding, pretty light (169 grams), not too expensive (£50ish). REALLY hoping I've found "the one" this time.
  • I've tried 4 or 5 saddles over the years (Fizik Arione by far the worst and Specialized Toupe the best) and have concluded that once you've found a saddle that's reasonably comfortable, shorts become a much more significant factor in comfort, especially over longer durations.

    The difference between my Castelli shorts with an X2 pad and cheap(er) DHB training shorts (with a Cytech "Giro" pad, which isn't exactly bottom-of-the-range) is massive and really starts to become noticeable after 2 or 3 hours in the saddle.
  • Quite a few over the years

    Currently have :-
    Fizik Arione Vs - liked and have on one bike
    Fizik Antares Vs X - liked and have on two bikes
    Astute Skyline - got for christmas, will go on a new project. My dad has same saddle and loves it
    Prologo Scratch CPC - love and have on two bikes
    Prologo Scratch X - love and on my cx bike
    Specialized Sitero - on my tt bike, not the best but will do just now

    In the past :-
    Brooks Cambium C15 - loved but the persistent squeaking from the rails done my head in and in the end replaced or the antares vsx.
    Prologo Zero CPC - had one my tt bike but was giving me numb nuts so was replaced for the sitero
    Fizik Arione R5 - bought for new bike but found it uncomfortable so was replaced for the Vs
    Selle Italia SL - came with one of my bikes, found it too hard and very uncomfortable, so sold it and bought the scratch cpc
    Selle Royale pro - came with my cx bike, good saddle but changed for scratch x

    Planning on buying an ISM Adamo for my TT bike and a saddle that's comfortable when doing 2Hr + rides on the turbo
  • bbrap
    bbrap Posts: 610
    Also quite a few (still have most of them as I never seem to sell them on).

    Currently riding Fizik Arione on summer and winter bikes.

    Have tried, San Marco Rolls, Selle Italia SLR, Prolite San Carlo, Charge Knife, Charge Spoon, Selle Italia Team SLR monolink, Brooks B17.

    Most comfortable of them all is the B17, just does not look right on a light road bike, but I do pop it on if I'm doing a century ride as I can finish still being able to sit down. Others seem to be OK for 65ish miles then require standing often to relieve pressure.
    Rose Xeon CDX 3100, Ultegra Di2 disc (nice weather)
    Ribble Gran Fondo, Campagnolo Centaur (winter bike)
    Van Raam 'O' Pair
    Land Rover (really nasty weather :lol: )
  • Fizik Ares for TT, not perfect but acceptable. Can't bear it on the turbo for some reason, so use a very tatty old Arione. Probably could swap to Arione full time if I could be bothered to spend the money. Old Selle Turbo Lite is my preferred retro flavoured road saddle.

    With all of that said, I have a very tatty old Charge Spoon on my commuter that works really well - it's worth trying the cheap saddles.
  • mugensi
    mugensi Posts: 559
    I think I've tried around 6 sadlles before settling on the Prologo Kappa PAS and have one on both my road bikes. I also have a Prologo Scratch 2 Space which is as comfortable as the Kappa and I have it on my MTB. I see no reason to try anything else.
  • mercia_man
    mercia_man Posts: 1,431
    I have a carbon-railed Fizik Aliante VS on my Legend road bike, a titanium-railed Brooks B17 on my Alves tourer and a titanium-railed San Marco Rolls on my Bike Friday performance folder. All suit me very well.

    Other saddles I have found comfortable over the years were Selle Italia Oktavia Genuine Gel and Selle Italia SLK.

    I didn't get on with Selle Italia Max Flite Gel Flow and Turbomatic2 as they felt too hard for me while a Brooks Colt, although comfortable, would not adjust to my favoured horizontal position unless I pushed it right back as its rails were not compatible with my Campag seat post on my tourer. I tried but didn't like a Specialized BG model on my tandem so switched to a B17.

    The big test of saddle comfort for me is multi-day tours. It may be heavy and look old fashioned but Brooks B17 on my tourer has worn in to fit me like a glove and is perfect for riding day after day.
  • zefs
    zefs Posts: 484
    I've tried 4, I am now using Fizik Arione which I find comfortable. What helped me most with comfort is pointing it down by 3 degrees, it actually made a lot of difference for me (pressure wise) so that's what I would recommend before changing the saddle itself.
  • de_sisti
    de_sisti Posts: 1,283
    I have one of these on my 3 bikes. Out of curiosity I have just bought one of these
    (second hand) to see if it compares favourably.

    Have previously tried f Fizike Arione and Brooks B15, but came back to the Rolls.
  • vimfuego
    vimfuego Posts: 1,783
    As others have said, I settled pretty quickly on the Charge Spoon. It was basically the first one I'd tried that wasn't supplied with the bike (gave it a go when I'd got peed off with a Spesh BG effort).
    I now have them on all my bikes including the MTB (even did LEJOG on one).

    £19.99 can't beat it.
    CS7
    Surrey Hills
    What's a Zwift?
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Two. Fizik Antares which I did not like, and Arione which I did.
    Even the R1 is comfy for 5+ hours.

    Guess there may be a better fitting one out there, but not much point in looking for it now.

    Have a Fabric saddle for a non road bike, its nearly as good for a fraction of the cost.
  • I've tried seven and still get sores, still not mastered it. They can be comfy but still get sore even with top quality chamois. Tried looking for a local saddle fit shop but couldn't find one.
  • meesterbond
    meesterbond Posts: 1,240
    A few on the road bike, 3 or 4 maybe... keep coming back to the Fizik Arione...

    On the TT bike I'm on saddle 4 or 5 but I think this one might be the one...