Commuting - Good commuter bike saddle?

Hi all. I was just wondering if any of you had a good recommendation for me. I wish to upgrade the CODA seat my Canondale came with to a more comfortable saddle. I know it's not much, but have about $50 to spend on a saddle, at least right now. Two of the ones I was seriously considering are the Serfas Men's Ti Arroyo (found one in my price range on REI) and Terry Men's Liberator saddles (found one on EBay), but wanted to hear what y'all thought of them or something you have found to be even better given my limited funds. Thanks for any responses...~James~

What about a Brooks? They seem like extremely highly regarded saddles, and i've seen them online for about 60 bucks.

I'm a big fan of Brooks saddles. The B17 is great for setups with handlebars level with saddle (e.g. MTB, hybrid etc) and the Professional or Team Professional for saddle higher than handlebars.

Persons-Majestic Company (http://www.permaco.com/) currently has a sale on, so you can pick up a B17 for $44, Professional for $56 and Team Pro for $68 (+ shipping, and don't forget the proofhide @ 6.25 to help protect).

It might slightly blow your $50 budget, but the Brooks have been the most comfortable saddle I've found. I use a Team Professional on my commuter and another on the road bike, and have ridden B17s quite a few times as well.

Hi,
if you go for the B17, get the Champion Special. I bought a Selle Italia Trans Am today and just love it. Of course, I need to go on a long ride, 10 miles doesn't tell me what it will be like over the course of 50 miles. Do a search of old comments made here about the Trans AM. I did not like the Liberator at all. The Serfas RX killed me; but I know a guy who thinks it's great.
The Trans AM has a built in shock absorber. The B17 also has a way of smoothing out the bumps. All things being equal, I would go for the brooks. I have ordered one, actually. I am hoping I can get it to work with this frame. I have very short legs which winds up making it hard for me to get saddles back far enough. Good luck.

Thanks y'all...I'll take a closer look at the Brooks saddles. In doing more research, I have added another saddles as I have heard the two I was considering are primarily more for racing. It is the TRICO Sports Airflex Elite. So, if any of you have any comments on this or any others, I would love to hear them. Thanks again to those of you who have responded...I hadn't really considered a Brooks, but if I find they are actually substantially better, I won't fret over spending about $10 over my budgeted amount, cause I would love to find one that will last for a significant amount of time and will be comfy on my tushy (can I say that here? lol).

~James~

I have Brooks B-17 on 3 of my bikes & they are hard to beat. For a lot less $, you might try to find a Geppieme team professional, a narrow leather covered, embroidered saddle which was available at a discount from Nashbar. I got one for my Bianchi & like it a lot. They were selling them at $29.95 but I got a return for $9.95 + shipping. It was the non-gel model, not the gel type which they have in their catalog regularly. Don

Personally, I like my saddle a little wider than the B17, and prefer the Brooks Professional S, Flyer S or B67S; but it's really a matter of personal taste. I usually spend about a week conditioning a new Brooks with Proofide about 2X a day before mounting it on a bike. The prices on the mfgs web site right now are hard to beat, I just bought four...

I think the saddle issue is one of ya gonna try one until you find one that fits your bum.

My bum likes the Avocet Air-02-race...

I've done 185 miles on this seat followed by a 100 mile ride the following day...

I even bought a few extra when they changed their style. Turns out they changed it back (cool!)...

Thank y'all for your input on the Brooks saddles. I know that someday I'm probably gonna someday be buying (or at least looking very seriously in possibly getting) one, but now, I don't have a lot of extra funds, so am leaning towards the TRICO (I found one for under $40 from a good online source, and I'm not talking about eBay either). It's not that I don't like the Brooks saddles, but I have a long list of things I need to get for the bike, including a new back tube (the old one I blew when inflating it) so have to stay somewhat close to my budgeted amount, at least right now. Thanks again for all your input...it was very helpful!!

~James~

Speaking of Brooks what do people recommend to use to cover the saddle in wet weather you have a sprung saddle like the b.66/b.67 etc. I've seen a cover for the b.17 but I have yet to find one for the sprung saddles. I am aware of the plastic bag/duct tape option but I'd prefer something a little more aesthetically pleasing. Any ideas?

Since I bring my bike inside & park it next to my cubicle, I seldom need a cover but when I do, I found the detachable hood (which I never wear) that came with my Nashbar rain gear is a perfect fit for the B17, just put it over & draw the string tight & tie it. Not a bad solution if you don't mind bright yellow. One of the other fellows at work has a really sharp looking black fitted goretex saddle cover that he bought from some specialty shop. When I asked how expensive it was, he said the way I stretched my dollars, I probably didn't really want to know! but I will get some details in case you are interested. Don

I'll have to recommend the Brooks saddles, to me nothing else matters (except for a Flite or SLR saddle for a road racing bike). They're actually an investment, too. They will always be worth at least what you paid for them.

Don't forget on a commuter bike with a Brooks saddle if you have to leave it outside please lock the saddle with the bike or remove it and take it with you. I think they are too much of a tempting target for bike thieves who know what they are worth, especially in a bike-friendly community.

Nobody ever use the San Marco Rolls saddle.
I think it's better than the Brooks, takes less
breaking in, is lighter and doesn't look out of
place on a road bike either, 1 saddle for all jobs.

www.belfastandbeyond.com

Brook saddles are great but they take a while to break in. Until then, they will be a little hard and a bit uncomfortable.