veganheart

As a vegan I am finding it a bit challenging to find a good quality, extremely combfortable seat. I bought the Terry Liberator for my wife and the sales person assured me that it was not made of leather. Six months later I am on that companys' online catologue website and I notice that the Terry Liberator is listed as having leather. Very frustrating.

I have been using a gel seat for a while, but no matter how i configure it there always seems to be a bit of chaffing. Is it the way I am configuring it or is it because its a gel seat?

Anyone know of a good quality, combfortable (combfort is a necessity!), non-leather saddle?

Thanks!

ewitz

I have a Brooks on my cross bike. I find it very comfortable. The trails to my favourite deer hunting spots are long so comfort is very important.

veganheart

and I should reply how?... "please let me be so macho and cool as you?" jerk.

robertsdvd

Wow, that's a d*ck response. I too have brooks saddles - got my first when I was vegetarian (I've slipped up recently and as for my first Brooks.. I decided to rationalize it as - "well, if the heathens are going to eat their steak, I might as well make use of what's left")... however, I understand your position Vegan... I found that all these new gel saddles and everything are quite uncomfortable... so I got a 2 dollar vinyl used saddle (like found on old old road cycles) from the Broadway Bike School here and found it quite comfortable actually - for commutng and riding around <shrug>... its just plastic, some thin foam padding I think and a vinyl cover... a little narrower than a B17. I say check the used box bins... you might be quite surprised...

ewitz

Maybe you should just drive your hybrid car to the local PETA offices.

robertsdvd

Maybe you should just drive your Ford Excursion to the SHUT THE HELL UP!

robertsdvd

(sorry everyone)

gonesh9

Why do veganheart's decisions bother you so much? The way I see it, people who react this way when there is no threat to them are either very insecure, immature, or both.

Stubacca

Agreed. Can't we all just get along?

veganheart - I use an animal-unfriendly saddle, so can't really recommend it to you! One bit of advice I can offer is to stay away from gel saddles. I've never found them to be comfortable, no matter how I position them. I've always found the saddles with the least possible cushioning to be the most comfortable, as it seems to allow the sit bones to support you properly and takes the pressure off the flesh.

TeleJohn

My Specialized Body Comp Geometry saddle is quite comfortable. I'm pretty sure it is all synthetic. Construction is a little cheezy - plastic.

ngateguy

Gel sucks

I use an ergo seat funny looking but it is the most comfortable seat I have ever used. It is available in vinyl

https://ergotheseat.com/

OhiOH

I'm sure there isn't an ounce of anything animial in this one:

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?SKU=18504

For only $269 US (on sale).

Just trying to lighten things up a bit - pardon the pun.

trekkie820

https://www.trekbikes.com/accessories...ategory_id=276

I use this saddle on my MTB, and this along with a nice pair of baggy shorts with a chamois and it feels like riding a cloud, with the performance of something else. It is made of a synthetic leather like surface, NOT real leather.

AndrewP

Get a seat with the width at the back matching your wife's sit bones, minimal padding and narrow at the front so they dont chaff the inside of the thighs when pedalling. I got mine at Canadian Tire for $15, but they dont sell that model now. Since seat comfort is such a personal thing I dont think other peoples experiences can have much bearing on what you should get for your wife. When shopping for a saddle ask them about their return/exchange policy. Another thing to consider is the handle bar position - too much weight on the butt can contribute to discomfort.

cycletourist

I have tried at least a dozen synthetic saddles and hated every last one of them. The Specialized Body Geometry was the worst of the lot. They only got a five star rating from Bicycling Magazine because Specialized buys lots of advertising. The mag writers probably didn't even test ride the saddle.

I have found only two saddles that I like:
1) the Brooks b.17 and
2) the San Marco Rolls which is leather stretched over a plastic shell and has the same shape as a brooks b.17

I am mostly vegetarian, meaning that I eat fish, eggs and dairy but not beef, pork, or poultry. I do it for the dietary benifits not because of any moral or political reason. I see nothing wrong with using animal products if they make my life better. If I were to have a moral crisis one day and decide to never use leather again I think I would have to quit riding bicycles. A comfortable ride without it is just not possible.

Dchiefransom

Maybe you could e-mail companies that you are interested in purchasing from and find out if they have any saddles made with vinyl instead of leather. Unless your wife just rides a few miles here and there I would NOT get a gel saddle with the fuzzy surface like they put on stock comfort bikes. I don't think that would really be as comfortable as you might think for a decent length ride.
I think the reason most companies use leather is that it tends to "mold" to our individual shape just a bit as the leather soaks up our perspiration.
I had a thought, and checked their website, and I was correct. Try Wilderness Trail Bikes website. They have several saddles, and some models have synthetic or vinyl covers. They say which ones have leather covers. With your level of concern about any animal parts, you might want to e-mail the company to find out if anything under the cover is something you don't want. I use the WTB Rocket, and like it. I only touch it at two small points on my bones. My commuter has the WTB Speed V. I don't like it as much as the Rocket, but hey, got to wait to get a matching saddle for all the bikes. Check out all the saddles on their website. REI here in the U.S.,(not sure if they're in B.C.) sells them. You might just have to cross over and inspect them if you're ever down this way. Good luck with your search.

blwyn

The synthetics all come from petroleum base stocks. The polution and habitate degregation that comes from the petroleum production and refining takes as big of a toll on the well being of animals as using their remains for saddles and other leather products does. So, as Cycletourist says, get a leather seat and be comfortable.

Dutchy

The way I see it. If you walk into a bike shop and they have leather saddles, regardless of if you buy one or not, the animal is already dead, this isn't going to bring it back to life. Buy the leather saddle, your body will be thankful for the comfort. Even if you don't buy one, beacuse you don't want support leather saddles, they'll keep making them for centuries.

CHEERS.

Mark

gescom

The way I see it Dutchy is that after the purchase of the seat the store would want to restock it thus creating the demand for more leather. I agree that people will continue to manufacture leather saddles and they are most likely better but you need a balance. Mass consumerism and animals aren't a good mix imo.

Most leather saddles are more expensive anyway so that balances things out somewhat.

Blwyn, good point.

As far as saddle comfort goes I found that a narrow seat is actually better (for me) for long rides as I get little or no chaffing at all (please no jokes here ok ). Narrow seats look uncomfortable but are worth a try.

froze

hey Veggie do you use synthetics? Well of course you do. Everything you buy has synthetics in it, and that new saddle will have a abundance of synthetic material in it. By the way did you know that it takes only about 1 year for animal product based things to break down? And what becomes of that? It makes the ground fertile! Now do you know how long it will take for synthetics to break down? Only about a 10,000 years while it kills the soil. Oh wait I know what your going to say, you would recycle it right? Well that's good for you but only 8% of all synthetic material gets recycled! So I would think that the animal hide would be a better use of resources. And lets not forget that manufacturing of Synthetic products creates a great deal more pollution than animal hide cutting.

robertsdvd

Have any figures as to the chemicals involved in the tanning process and other processes of making the leather products? Did you account for this as well? I'm sure the petrolium-based products are still worse, but let's take everything in account. So - for example a Brooks saddle - let's find out what their process is for the preparing of the leather and the metal for the rails and such and disposal of the chemicals left over. And also - the production of Proofide. Further - how the leather breaks down since it is no longer as natural as it once was - we can assume it has been treated with chemicals of some sort, no?

veganheart

Well, well... haven't we got a nice little discussion goin' on here... I usually try not to get on my soapbox, but since the carnivores have gotten on theirs.... lets get down to brass tacks shall we?

Most of the millions of cows, pigs, sheep, and goats slaughtered for their skin endure the horrors of factory farming—overcrowding, deprivation, unanesthetized castration, branding, tail-docking, and de-horning. At the end of their short, miserable lives, they are stunned, skinned, hung upside down, and bled to death.

The meat industry relies on skin sales to remain profitable. Buying leather directly contributes to factory farms and slaughterhouses since skin accounts for 55 percent of the byproduct value of cattle.

Every time you choose to buy a leather saddle, jacket or leather shoes, you sentence an animal to a lifetime of suffering. Join the millions of consumers who are realizing that "hairless fur" is something we can do without.

Some say yeah but the animals are already dead; why not use their skins?

The animals are dead because there is a demand for their flesh and skin. Once the demand for meat and leather decreases, fewer animals will be killed. By buying leather, you make inhumane treatment of animals profitable, and you "vote" for cruelty with your consumer dollars.

Leather production reaks havoc on the environment and is much worse than synthetics. These are the facts:

Until the late 1800s, animal skin was air- or salt-dried and tanned with vegetable tannins or oil, but today animal skin is turned into finished leather with a variety of dangerous substances, including mineral salts (chromium, aluminum, iron, and zirconium), formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and various oils and dyes, some of them cyanide-based. More than 95 percent of leather produced in the U.S. is chrome-tanned. All wastes containing chromium are considered hazardous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Tannery effluent also contains large amounts of other pollutants, such as lime sludge, sulfides, and acids.

Although leathermakers like to tout their products as "biodegradable" and "eco-friendly," the process of tanning stabilizes the collagen or protein fibers so that they actually stop biodegrading.

People who work in and live near tanneries are dying from cancer caused by exposure to toxic chemicals used to process and dye the leather. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the incidence of leukemia among residents near one tannery in Kentucky was five times the U.S. average. According to a New York State Department of Health study, more than half of all testicular cancer victims work in tanneries.

The leather industry uses massive amounts of energy. The Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology states, "On the basis of quantity of energy consumed per unit of product produced, the leather-manufacturing industry would be categorized with the aluminum, paper, steel, cement, and petroleum-manufacturing industries as a gross consumer of energy."

Additionally, to raise the animals whose skin eventually becomes leather, trees are cleared to create pastureland, vast quantities of water are used, and feedlot and dairy farm runoff create a major source of water pollution. Huge amounts of fossil fuels are consumed in livestock production. (By contrast, plastic wearables account for only a fraction of 1 percent of the petroleum used in the U.S.)

Maybe non-leather saddles are not as combfortable as Brooks etc, but given the foregoing, I would rather have a clear conscience and a sore butt.

There you have it folks. That's why I won't buy leather.

Suggestions and advice on the best non-leather saddle(s) still welcome.

seely

I think the Performance Forte lineup has a few synthetic saddles in their line... performancebike.com They are reasonably priced and extremely high quality from what I've seen. But then again I have a vinyl Mongoose saddle on my roadbike. Also, Specialized has some nice synthetic saddles. The BG series is very comfortable for me. The previous poster who had said they are crap and horribly uncomfortable didn't take into account that no two people will most likely ever agree on the comfort of a saddle, its purely subjective.

DanFromDetroit

Saddle fit is such an individual thing that I suppose no recommendation I might give would be sure to work for *you*, but I'll give you my opinions anyway.

It may be the gel that is causing you your discomfort. It seems counterintuitive that a nice plush and cushy saddle would be uncomfortable, but oddly, most people find a firmer saddle to be more comfortable on a long ride.

Also tipping your saddle fore or aft changes the fit of the saddle. Some experimentation is usually required to find the right fit. If you are a guy and you dress to the left, orienting the saddle 5 degrees off center to the right might make the saddle more comfortable as well.

My LBS has a good policy on saddles: If I want to buy a saddle, I bring in my bike, the owner then hands me a multitool and tells me to ride a few minutes on each saddle until I find one that suits me. This policy is the result of many previous saddle returns. It works quite well for both the LBS and the customers.

If your LBS is not similarly enlightened, then I would suggest a cheapo BMX saddle. These are 100% synthetic, reasonably firm, and very inexpensive. If it doesn't work out, then you are not out much anyway.

Dan

gonesh9

Great post veganheart.