himespau 

Hi,

I'm building up a new bike for my wife and am also thinking about getting a new saddle for myself. I've been thinking leather and was planning on going with Brooks: a b67 for the wife (upright cruiser-style city bike) and a b17 Imperial or Swift for me (drop bar commuter bike with bars maybe 2 inches below saddle to replace a selle san marco regal). Then I noticed how much above budget I was going on the build for my wife's bike (doesn't that always happen when you don't plan things out carefully in advance?) and was thinking that I could get both of the equivalent Gyes saddles for the cost of one of the above saddles (or less). While I like Wallbike's return policy (and the high resale value of a brooks if I didn't go through Wallbike), the idea of saving over $100 seems really good (especially if my wife doesn't end up riding the bike much).

So anybody use a Gyes saddle? Are they worthwile? Complete junk? Somewhere in between?

When searching, I've seen one or two people who've said they didn't like it, but I don't know if that's from a long time ago and they've changed it, if there are as many people who've used them and like them and the noisy few are just outliers or if there really is a quality issue.

How's the dye for honey brown? Similar to a Brooks? I'm planning on gettting a natural cork bar tape and shellacking it to match (or come close), so it doesn't need to be exactly like brooks as long as the same attempts to match work.

thanks so much

ColonelJLloyd 

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ems-with-these

My wife loves her B67. I love all my Brooks saddles, which one to use just depends on the bike and riding style. I tried a Gyes made saddle (VO Model 1) and I don't recommend them.

jeirvine 

My understanding is that they are the same saddles sold by Velo Orange, just without the VO imprint. I have a VO B17 clone and like it a lot, though others may not agree. See the Cols post/link above.

Poguemahone

I've Gyes saddles on a couple of bikes, and like them just fine. I've never had much issue with saddles, though, and have a startling variety on my fleet. Several Brooks, two Ideales, two Wrights, a couple Selle San Marcos, three Somas, etc.

dbakl

I bought a couple of Gyes; they look fine, haven't ridden them yet.

illwafer

i've got a gyes that i've put about 500 miles on. it's just fine. you can also get them in "natural" color, which is what i did.

unfortunately, it doesn't have bag loops! i don't know how i missed that. so, if you are thrifty and need bag loops, then the VO saddles are probably a better deal.

illwafer

i think they are the same piece of leather and possibly the rails, but not the same rivets. the gyes also do not have bag loops.

Poguemahone

? Mine have bag loops.

dbakl

The one I just looked at has bag loops: the swallow. Other still in box.

himespau 

I think it looked like some models did, but maybe not all. That's something I'll have to look into. Sounds like there are at least several people who haven't had problems with theirs. Good to know.

toosahn

Where are you finding the Gyes saddles for so cheap? They seem to be only $20-25 less than a comparable Brooks saddle when I did a google search.

Six jours

I have maybe 10,000 miles on various Gyes/VO saddles. They're not bad, but they're not Brooks, so if you're thinking "Brooks quality for a fraction of the price!" you'll be disappointed.

Long version: I've used five. One is about worn out after maybe 4000 miles. It's a tan, sprung version, comparable to the Brooks Flyer. The leather at the rear is sagging to the point that the rear frame is clearly seen and felt through the leather, and is kind of uncomfortable. Tensioning it has no effect.

Another is the same version but in black. I sold it to another BF user, who reported that a rivet broke shortly after he began using it. (IIRC, he was a bit on the Clyde side.) He was able to replace it with a hardware store item and apparently hasn't had trouble since. (Maybe he'll see this and update his results.)

The third one is a narrow sprung model. It's seen very limited use. So far it's fine, but that's meaningless for a saddle with 100 miles on it.

The last two are the unsprung versions, comparable to the B17. They have a few thousand miles apiece, more or less, and have remained comfortable and attractive.

So the final verdict, for me, is "meh". They're cheap. They look decent. The quality isn't quite up to Brooks level. They might not last too long, but that seems to be very individual with both Gyes and Brooks these days. The only thing that keeps me coming back to them is that they're more comfortable than Brooks, for me, because the surface does not have as significant a "hammock" shape as the Brooks.

Fenway

Gyes makes Velo Orange & Cardiff's saddles. I've seen all three in person and each is different per whatever specs are sent to Gyes. The leather quality has varied between all three and the rivet material is different. Both VO & Cardiff seem to spec better quality control than standard Gyes. Initially it appeared than VO had better leather specified than Cardiffs, but the most recent Cardiff's Ive handled had leather more comparable to Brooks saddles. Of course these were the premium Cardiff ones with the copper plated rails. Cardiff also has smooth leather where VO has textured. Gyes seems to have both textured and untextured depending on their production runs. I almost wonder if the straight Gyes branded ones are the saddles which didn't meet the standards for a VO/Cardiff bulk order?

Anyway, I find my VO saddles to be superior to any vinyl or foam ones I've ridden. They are worth the money, the question is whether or not you want to pay slightly more for a Brooks for a saddle which likely will have longer longevity from thicker leather.

Peter_B

Could you please cite some reasons why you don't recommend them?

himespau 

at crow cycle, you can get the b67 clone for $60-70 vs. they're now going for $120 most places I've seen and a swallow clone for $60 as well. so that's a pretty big savings. vs a b17, less so.

ColonelJLloyd 

The saddle I had was rock hard and had more the feeling and appearance of hard plastic than leather.

himespau 

So in the end, I decided that I'll give the gyes saddles a shot. With wanting two leather saddles and the build costs going so high for my wife's bike (that she might not end up riding all that much), I thought I'd take the gamble.

Plus, for my bike, I'm going with their swallow knockoff that has the cutout. We'll see how that works. Losing the leather from that small of a saddle might make it too weak, but for ~$70 shipped, I thought I'd give it a try. I like the size/shape of my current selle san marco regal that has the same rough dimensions, but have wanted to try a leather saddle and also have been considering trying a cut out, so this will give me the option at both. And with the saddle for my wife's bike, at ~$70 shipped it's a good $30 cheaper than the B67 it's a knockoff of, and given that she doesn't ride much now (the build is an attempt to give her a good bike to change that), if she doesn't ride it, I haven't wasted another $30 (only a few percent of the total build, but still).

I'll post more when they arrive and/or when I put them on and take the for their first few miles of rides.

Six jours

I've considered that model myself and look forward to your review.

Michael Angelo 

Have a saddle with no Bag loops?? No problem just use these. Cyclo Bag loops, from SJS Cycles. I have a set and they work great.


https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/carradice...air-prod16431/

himespau 

yeah, I'm pretty hopeful about it working out.

himespau 

wow, that's a cool idea.

himespau 

Well, my Gyes saddles showed up in the mail yesterday. The b67 clone looked nicer than I expected. The leather on both of them looks pretty uniform. I'm not sure I like the texture on the b67 clone, but it was pictured so I knew it was going to be that way. The swallow clone with the cut out doesn't appear to have quite as thick of leather and the cut out is pretty large for the narrow saddle so the leather does have a bit more flex than I'd like around the cut out area, which is something I worried about when I bought it. Don't know if that'll affect the life span of the saddle or not, but it's definitely something I'm going to keep my eye one. Overall, I'm satisfied with the way they look. Will report back when they're actually on the bikes and have been ridden a bit.

mkeller234

Thanks for keeping us all updated.

peter_d

I have two of the Velo Orange #6's, the Brooks Swallow knock offs. The black one seems much stiffer initially than the honey so there is some variation in the hides. I've been using them on the trainer all winter so they're broken in for spring. Comfort isn't bad but i can't imagine them working well for larger or heavier people. The #1's may not cost much less than a Brooks B17 but the #6 is about two and a half times less then i've seen Swallows selling for.

himespau 

Why's that? Leather easily broken in?