andre nickatina

I'm on my 2nd Turbo and have seen many a Turbo on other bikes. One thing I've noticed is that the padding firmness has been a bit different on other Turbos I've seen vs. ones I've owned. That is to say, they usually have more give whereas mine have been very, very firm. Is this because different year Turbo's had different hardnesses, or is it more on account of them breaking in over time, like Brooks do?

I've been running a Turbomatic II for a year and it seems, atleast to me, that it's gotten softer since I first owned it. Can't say for sure though. I haven't ridden either of my Turbos for anywhere near that long to know though (the second one I actually just picked up the other day and have yet to mount it).

dobber

Turbos are basically leather, padding and a plastic shell. They aren't going to break in like a Brooks.

Charles Wahl

I have a Turbo from 1985, and another from 1986. There's definitely a difference between them in the amount of "give" of the padding. I rode the harder (1985) one for many years, commuting mainly, and while it feels great at the start of a ride, after about 15-20 miles it becomes painful. I've never ridden the softer one (white, may get use on an appropriate build in the pipeline). My main saddles now are a Brooks B17 and B5N.

Wino Ryder

I have a SI 'Turbomatic 3' from the early 90's that is relatively firm. The one I have has a gel insert and is richly stitched with the Selle Italia logo. Good looking saddle, but it was painful on 30 mile rides, so I replaced it with a Brooks 'pro' about four years ago. Other than the chrome rubbing off the plastic nose piece its still in good condition. I really liked that saddle. It was light, and really looked good on my main ride, and great for riding around town, but turned into an ass-hatchet over 20 miles.

Like others have said, its a leather covering over dense foam attached to a plastic base, so it's not going to 'break-in' like a Brooks.

andre nickatina

I was just trying to figure out if the foam softened after say, 100-200 miles.... foams do change over time of course.

Thanks for the advice though. I'll give my new Turbo a try, and if it doesn't work out I'm sure I can find someone willing to trade their Rolls or Regal...

Charles Wahl

I am sure that's the case, but as I said above, I have two that are over 20 years old. Neither seems to have lost any elasticity (what you'd expect of foam breaking down), and the harder one that I have was always pretty much that way, and hasn't seemed to change during that 20 years. And it probably has several thousand miles on it.

tashi

My Turbo is hard as hell but somehow super comfy. Mine is super old and used (by the bike's previous owner). I've felt other ones that are less hard, but hardness doesn't always equal discomfort as long as the shape is right. I think that the key to comfort with the Turbo is that the seat is quite big so you can shift around a lot. I think that the Turbomatics are a little more padded but slightly smaller. I thought that the Turbo was the comfiest saddle I'd ever ridden (16 years of hard riding or so) until I got my Regal. Now I need one of those for every bike!

ParaWK4

Just my opinions here - I think the earlier Turbos with the multicolor stripes on the side are a bit firmer than the later ones with the all white stripes. I also have Turbomatic with the yellow trim and is quite a bit plusher than the Turbo.