Originally Posted by
rutan74
You local LBS if they are any good should have some test saddles that you can try for free. Get the right one and then buy that model. The couple of shops I frequent let you test ride these saddles up to 30 days before you have to buy. So, look around. Go to a few shops and see what they have to try before you buy. Get your sit bones measured too. That will help you find the right saddle width.
john
Originally Posted by
seau grateau
Bike shops everywhere do this.
Mine does too. And they usually just have a collection of the ones that they know have typically worked. That's actually a pretty good starting point.
Originally Posted by
dougphoto
But I'd feel guilty doing it at a bike shop, buying and returning several times. Plus local shops have a pretty slim collection to choose from, there are so many saddles out there I'd never run across at a LBS.
Well, I just had this conversation with my LBS but it was on shoes. Same discussion applies - it's a uniquely personal thing. They'd much rather have you come in and work with them than have to deal with you after it get all screwed up with some online thing. My LBS is really great - they're in it to win customers for the long haul so they'll really work with me on stuff like this. When you add in that they know what they're doing on top of it all, it makes for a pretty good resource.
That all said, I tend to be on the cutting edge of saddles in general. A number of years ago, I backed a Kickstarter project from the
3 West Design guys on a saddle that they designed called The Reprieve. Turns out that it has been a hit with me for a long time and pretty much everyone who's tried it on my bike has wanted one. So I'd actually put that down as the exception to the LBS rule and suggest that you try them. They too have some fit guarantee sort of thing too. But so far, no one I know has had to take 'em up on it.
But if that doesn't float your boat, then I'd start with the LBS if you have a good one. If you don't have a good one, find one.
J.