speshelite

I bought a bunch of medium width saddles on ebay for under $10 apiece. Fit and comfort are pretty much dialed.

As we all know, the markups on bicycles and components is often astronomical. Esp. if the brand is "Italian" i.e., formerly owned by an Italian, now owned and distributed by a multinational corporation with all frames and components manufactured in China.


Let's face it: the tech to produce a saddle is pretty minimal: a plastic shell, some foam, a viny or leather cover, some stitching, staples and glue. A few dollars to manufacture at the very most.

Rotten

Have a link?

B17

[US SELLER] New Genuine Leather Road Bike Cycling Fixed Gear Saddle Seat -Black | eBay

This is the seller I bought from- there seem to be a few more selling similar items, so his story about having them made may not be accurate. It comes in white and brown as well, same price. I don't know/work for him, yada...

WildRalph

I have a Marin, that was on a bike i bought. I love it! I have an Avocet on a Schwinn tourer..., it doesnt compare to the Marin on longer rides. Trek Fuel - $600 Mtb: with what I call the "prison shower" seat. I'd like to get a couple more of those Marin's for different bikes!

70sSanO

^+1

My weapon of choice is the Pure V. Worked so well on my mountain bike that I decided to put one one my road bike. I mean if it is comfortable on a hardtail, how much nicer can it be on smooth pavement. Replaced a Brooks saddle with it and cost around $30-$40 new on eBay.

John

CrowSeph

This is what i found for my next project.
i think is pretty nice , also for less than 20$ can't be better!


https://postimg.org/image/wght56mm7/

Trakhak

Stock saddles seem to always work fine for me, since I always dial in the fit correctly. Doesn't get cheaper than that.

paulkal

I have the cheap Regal knock off's on 2 bikes, they are vinyl, not leather.
You get wat you pay for, not very comfotable, so I only use them for short rides.
A few years ago Rolls saddles (real) were only €25 in Germany, that is what I use for long rides.

canklecat

My butt isn't picky about saddles so I ride whatever came with the bike. Never changed the saddle on my 1976 Motobecane, which was just vinyl over thin foam and a plastic shell. Seemed okay.

Non-original saddles using Lycra over dense foam came with my Univega Via Carisma (Bell) and Centurion Ironman (Terry). The Lycra over foam serves the same purpose as padded shorts so usually I ride without padded shorts. It breathes. The only drawback is getting caught in a heavy rain. The saddle can get pretty soggy.

I've ridden the Univega as-is for a year, usually 10-60 miles per ride. No complaints as long as the saddle height and angle are appropriate. Last year I had to tweak the saddle a bit when I substituted riser bars for the flat bars. This month I put the original flat handlebar back on and had to tweak the saddle a bit again. Seems fine.

I'm not quite as satisfied with the Terry saddle on the Centurion, although it's been a challenge getting re-adjusted to a road bike. Hard to say how much is just overall conditioning and how much is saddle. Being a Terry saddle I'm guessing it was actually designed for women, although it's not quite as wide as most female-specific saddles I've seen. Last week I dropped the nose one click. Less pressure on the perineum, but a little more on the arms to support myself. Main problem so far has been the saddle getting soggy when I'm caught in the rain, so I may try a firmer vinyl saddle that's more impervious.

I might try a Selle SMP. I'd like to try a saddle that I won't scoot around on so much trying to find the sweet spot for maximum efficiency. But I can't see spending more than around $50. I just don't have the saddle problems some folks experience that drives them to use very expensive saddles.

My problem is physical conditioning, and I can't find the product genre for that on Nashbar or Amazon.

Pompiere

Terry also makes saddles for men. I have a couple Terry Liberator saddles that I got second hand for <$5 each. I didn't realize the first one was a Terry, because it was labeled TFI. A couple years later, I found a second one, which was identical except it was labeled Terry. I bought it based on how much I like the other one. Maybe they don't count as a cheap saddle, based on their retail price, but for under $5 used, I'm happy with them.

dunrobin

The more aggressive your riding position the less weight distributed on your butt. Upright/mtb riders need a comfy seat for the long haul because more of their weight is distributed right under them.
I've tried cheap and I've had good luck with a nashbar, but most cheapies don't work for me. I'd rather get a top model with magnesium rails, ie selle italia flite and slr models.
I just picked up 3 nos San marco aspide with xslite rails for 120us all in...that's cheap enough for me...
Merlin has the selle Italia models on sale right now.

higgins617

5 Dollar Avocet Touring II. Not sure if it was cheap to begin with, but it may well be my favorite saddle

noglider 

Yeah the Terry Liberator is very good. I had one and liked it, but it squeaks, and that drove me crazy. I gave it to my wife, and she loves it and doesn't mind the squeaking. I've oiled every place in it I could think of and haven't fixed it, but as long as she doesn't mind, it's OK.

canklecat

Ah, I didn't know Terry made men's saddles too. I just assumed they made saddles only for women. My Centurion Ironman came with an older, scuffed Georgena Terry, a comfortable Lyrca-over-gel-foam sport/touring type.

It's actually narrower than the similarly made Lycra/foam Bell saddle on my Univega. But The Univega has a more upright riding position so the saddle seems appropriate.

The Terry saddle may be just a bit wide for me and it's difficult to find the sweet spot. Not uncomfortable, but I'm often scooting around between perching my sitbones on the rearmost arched area, and the nose for some sprints and climbs, trying to find the spot with the most efficient pedaling stroke.

Or maybe that's normal, I dunno. Do other cyclists scoot around on their saddles to adjust their pedaling efficiency to suit the terrain and conditions?

I suppose I'm considering a Selle SMP for the hammock type sweet spot with cutout for perineum relief so I don't need to bother with shifting position on the saddle. Although Selle seems to market the sharply dipped hook nose as a feature to make it easier to ride the nose and shift back to position without snagging a normal saddle nose.

SoreFeet

I prefer cheap saddles. I got a Fizik saddle from the local parts bin for 15$ in mint condition...Also got a nice San Marco Rolls saddle for 12$ from the used shop.

I used to like Brooks but have grown to hate them...Saggy lumps of no good leather suspended on bone killing frames of metal...

speshelite

Oh man, the takeoff bins are a treasure trove.gl

riprock

+1. Between the Avocet and the old Selle Italia Flite, eBay has treated my rear well.

dddd

+1 on the new standard-model Speed-V, it's the cheapest saddle that I really find comfortable. It's no lightweight but is cheap and of good quality.


Hard to find at a good price, but my absolute favorite saddle these days is the Serfas Tegu Sport saddle. Hard to find for less than $50, it has softer padding than their identical Comp model and costs the same. It features a broad, flat nose with relatively tall, soft padding there for making all-out pulls at the front of a paceline. The fairly broad, flat rear portion sweeps up to allow some added leg extension on tough, seated climbs, with no tendency of sliding back past the rear edge of the saddle.


Here's the Speed-V and Tegu as mounted:

ollo_ollo

I've always been partial to Brooks B17 or Professional and had 1 of each that I moved from bike to bike. Although not expensive BID by today's standards, Brooks were never "cheap"!

I went the Nashbar or swap meet route for most others, usually used ones that were expensive new, but cheap, or reasonable used. Sadly, now expensive again on e-Bay. 2 I liked that I still see at good prices used were:

A Selle Royale CX that Nashbar sold once in the $15 range. I forget the exact amount, but if it was more, I wouldn't have bought it. Still have the CX(sort of) as it is on the Zeus I gave to my oldest son.

Other was a Koski Engineering "Contour". I bought two @ $5 each from a swap meet held at my Olympia, WA LBS. I've heard others knock them, but I found it was as comfortable as my Turbo and put thousands of commuter miles on this yellow/black one. I still have an unused one in red/black.

I found this pic of the Selle Royale via google and the Koski is seen on my Miyata Seven Ten about 12 years ago.

There were rumors once that Brooks was going under. I could afford it at that time, so bought several at what I considered good prices. Ultimately, most of my bikes now have a well broken in, or new Brooks that my heirs will no doubt appreciate. Don