Touring - Selle Anatomica Fans?

Just ordered one. Anyone have problems with longevity of this saddle? I've been reading some comments on the web about the saddle prematurely stretching to the point where it can't be tightened anymore.

FWIW, someone in my riding group has one and hasn't reported this as an issue so far...

I think leather saddles will sag forever, rate depending on how much you use them. Follow the break in instructions to a T to prolong the life of the saddle. You should get your money's worth that way.

I did not follow the instructions for my B 17 and it continued to sag for three years until I couldn't use it any more, even with tensioning. My bad.

The employees at one of the local bike shops seems to really like them. I talked with them back when I had my Cannondale T1 -- I did not like it and they expressed they would be happy to buy it from me if I still had it.

I've had one for about 3,000 miles - I just put it on the bike and never did anything else to it.

No complaints, no issues.

Cutting holes into the center of the saddle hastens the sag.

Unless your arse defies gravity somehow, in which case you wouldn't need a bike at all, you'd need a prop and motor, or sail.

I have 6,000 + miles on mine; it's still going strong.

I did find that you have to tigthen them more than a Brooks (if that's what you've tried in the past). With a Brooks, the advice is to *rarely* tighten the adjusting bolt, and even then just a little bit. I found that my SA stretched quite a bit the first few months I had it and I had to tighten it a number of times when it was new. And, when I tightened it, I had to turn the bolt several full revolutions (I met the company owner at a bike show and he confirmed this is ok/normal). After several thousand miles it stopped stretching so much, but I do still tighten it occasionally.

Cutting holes into the center of the saddle hastens the sag.

Unless your arse defies gravity somehow, in which case you wouldn't need a bike at all, you'd need a prop and motor, or sail.

I backed off my Brooks Swift's tension six full turns, and eight full turns on my B-17. Neither has enough sag to help, and both have thousands of miles. Neither is as comfy as my SA was straight out of the box. I'll be cutting a Selle Anatomica-style hole in the B-17 to help at least make it a passable commuter saddle.

Thanks for the feedback. Looking forward to it's arrival in the mail. Ordered online. I currently have a brooks team pro which is ok and for a while I tried the selle smp evolution which was literally a pain in the a$$. For me it's hard to beat a suspended leather saddle for long rides...

I put a thousand miles on mine and then did the Brooks testing with their cut out, sold the Selle to a friend of mine who now has put another two thousand miles on it and still in great shape, I traded the Brooks Imperial for a Brooks Flyer for my touring bike and bought another Selle to put on my commuter bike.

I have a couple of hundred miles on mine, and I think I will really like it. If it stretches too far for the tensioner, drill out the rivets, punch new holes, and put in new rivets--after running the tension bolt all the way back.

My experience mirrors BengeBoy. Love the saddle (I like it more than my B-17).

I have about 5000 miles on mine. It just kept stretching out, I was afraid it would never stop. It has finally stopped with only a few turns left of the original bolt. I've spoken with other owners who've simply bought longer bolts to accommodate the stretchy leather. One guy I know even re-riveted the leather to the frame, it stretched out so much. (The company wasn't happy about this and voided his warrantee) It seems like there is quite a lot of variation in how much the leather will stretch. I guess this is the price we pay for leather that is waterproof and flexible from day 1.

I'm 170lbs so I bought the regular saddle (180lb limit). As I sometimes carry more than 10lbs on my back, I wish I would have gotten the 'clydesdale' option with the thicker leather.

Despite my gripes, from day 1 this has been the most comfortable saddle I've ever owned and I'm really happy I spent the money. On tour I've ridden four ~100 mile days in a row without a bit of soreness - something I never could have done with previous saddles.

I have about 5000 miles on mine. It just kept stretching out, I was afraid it would never stop. It has finally stopped with only a few turns left of the original bolt. I've spoken with other owners who've simply bought longer bolts to accommodate the stretchy leather. One guy I know even re-riveted the leather to the frame, it stretched out so much. (The company wasn't happy about this and voided his warrantee) It seems like there is quite a lot of variation in how much the leather will stretch. I guess this is the price we pay for leather that is waterproof and flexible from day 1.

I'm 170lbs so I bought the regular saddle (180lb limit). As I sometimes carry more than 10lbs on my back, I wish I would have gotten the 'clydesdale' option with the thicker leather.

Despite my gripes, from day 1 this has been the most comfortable saddle I've ever owned and I'm really happy I spent the money. On tour I've ridden four ~100 mile days in a row without a bit of soreness - something I never could have done with previous saddles.

I'm also ~170lbs and ride "light in the saddle" but went with the clyde after reading many of the SA BF comments (Benge boy, chinarider, et al). Very glad I did so. I've mentioned this is another thread but my SA got rained on while camping 5-6" overnight. (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?531542-Selle-An-Atomica-Journal&p=9193348&viewfull=1#post9193348) But as with yours, it too has settled down. Haven't had to tighten it since then.