Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Good saddle for "normal" clothes.

A friend of mine is try to get into riding, but his saddle is waaaaaay too soft, and it's pressing all the wrong places. He's quite big boned, in addition to being ~300lbs. Any advice on a wide, but firm saddle? He doesn't really want to spend the kind of money a Brooks would cost. I was thinking a cutout would help him a bit. Not sure what his sitbones are, but I imagine he would need a >150mm saddle. Any suggestions?

I am over 300 and commute 12 miles each way, every day on this:
http://s211.photobucket.com/albums/bb8/dianemisso/Red20110618/?action=view&current=IMG_0701.jpg
the saddle says SPECTRA on the side. If find it very comfortable. Wider saddles give me bruises.

nfmisso- Love that Schwinn. I agree with the advice against wide saddles. And I know Brooks saddles are expensive; I resisted for a while but finally caught the bug. On my 5 bikes, I've got two Brooks, an old Wrights saddle (they used to be a Brooks competitor), a conventional seat and an old Schwinn with a wide mattress saddle. You may try to find one of those old mattress saddles; they are more comfy than they have a right to be.

I commute, run errands and do 50+ mile rides in regular clothes w/o bike shorts on a Brooks B17. It's money well spent.

I love my Fizik Aliante vs (http://www.fizik.it/product.aspx?c=ALIANTE_VERSUS). It's very comfortable on long rides.

Saddles are always a personal preference. Body Geometry, WTB, and Terry might interest him. I just put a Velo Orange Model 5 on mine and like it. Its very similar to the Brooks Flyer, but not quite so $$$.

If he's not against a women's model saddle, the Selle Italia Diva gel flow is awesome. I, too, need saddles over 150mm and with a fair amount of real estate at the rear, and in a guys model they're almost impossible to come by. There are plenty of 150mm+ models, but they all drop off sharply at the edges for a useful width of about 130 - 135mm.

The Diva gel flow is a mid-range squish for the padding, a firm shell, and has a useful 160mm width across the arse with a fairly flat profile and a center cutout. The only thing I could find that makes it a women's design is the pink/purple-ish logo and stitching. Other than that, the remaining dimensions of overall length, nose length, and width dimensions except the wider rear, all match with some of the mens saddles from Selle Italia.

You might look at Velo-Orange model 8. I'm real happy with mine and I think they have them on sale!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-PIkrS8gpCmU/TXQT73Z8DlI/AAAAAAAABSA/jndKhe1MZ2w/s320/IMG_0499-1.JPG

but leather is still the way to go for street clothes:
http://simplecycle-marc.blogspot.com/2011/02/great-saddle-conspiracy.html

Marc

You might try some truly retro saddles. On one of my bikes I have a saddle from an early 60s cruiser. Basically a sprung metal plate with leather stretched over it. It is actually quite comfortable if you're riding upright. One of my road bikes has the saddle from an mid 70s Schwinn roadbike. A vinyl shell with about 1/8" padding. Done a few centuries on that saddle.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=56899

I have this Milano Sport Gel in 175mm. I love it, commute 6mi a day on it fine and have done 15-20 mile rides with no problems. I'm 6'2" and 325lb.

I previously tried a Brooks B17. Absolute torture, it was horrible. Everyone kept saying "wait until it's broken in!". After 2 weeks I gave up on it. I don't care if it feels like 1000 little angels massaging my nether regions once it's broken in -- it wasn't worth it!

I'd shoot another vote for the B-17; they're just darn good saddles and I'm convinced that "clydeishness" helps with any break-in problems. Mine tapped out pretty quick and has been super comfy ever since.

Yet another vote for Brooks B-17. Just finished 20 miles in " regular clothes ".

oban_kobi, Actually a well fitting saddle should be as comfortable without wearing cycling shorts as with. Blue jeans and other pants/shorts with a wide and thick seam at the crotch aren't very good to wear on any saddle, YMMV.

Brad

I'll never ride another bike without my Brooks.

Before I got my Brooks Aged I had a mountain bike with one of those enormous Bell gel saddles you can find in Kmart. Some (ok, most) people say the more contact area a saddle has, the more friction and irritation you will get... sounds about right but that thing was comfy for miles and miles. And that was last year when I was me now + 50 pounds.