I have little real saddle knowledge outside of "racing" type saddles for road, tri, and mtb. I have been doing alot more commuting and basically car free living lately and find putting on padded chamois shorts to be a bit of a hassle. I was wondering if anyone knows of what saddles out there are really good for just regular riding in regular old gym shorts? I know people do it all the time, all day long and seem to suffer no ill effects. All the saddles I have now produce quite a bit of soreness but they are all road bike skinny, hard saddles. I considered putting a gel cover on one of mine, but thinking better it seemed like it might be worse rather than better.

A lot of people swear by Brooks saddles.

What I have found as someone who has bikes with racing saddles is that wearing more casual clothes works better when I ride more casually. I also think that when you ride hard there can be a tendency to slide forward onto the horn of the saddle which is not going to be comfortable no matter what saddle you get.

Make sure you're supported by your butt and that you're positioned back far enough.

Everyone's butt is different.

I have Bontrager saddles similar to this on all my commute bikes



They work well for me and cost next to nothing on ebay.

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I'm not very sensitive though. I rode about 16 miles yesterday in cargo shorts and a stock Electra Amsterdam saddle, which is a fairly uncomfortable wide-butt saddle.

Have you tried riding your current saddle without a chamois?

Some people do; other people can't. Remember that the padding is only part of the reason why people wear bike shorts; another reason (a more important one, at least to me) is to have something next to your skin that doesn't have seams that will chafe you. The saddle will not help you with chafing problems.

Yeah I have ridden my current saddles without chamois ( I have a 5 on 5 different bikes). The one that seems the best without chamois is a Profile Designs Tri Stryke. Its funky looking like most tri saddles are, but has a really wide nose and a gap cut out of it in the middle. I have seriously been considering getting a Brooks B17 now that they are easier to find in shops ( I hate mail ordering stuff). The regular road saddles just are rough without padded shorts, but really great with the right chamois.
I have a couple of soft saddles (one on a touring bike and one on a single speed Bianchi) and one rides nice without chamois, and one just kills me, but appearance wise they look identical almost. Im not even really sure what kinds of things to look for.

Thanks for the help everyone. I guess its really just an experiment and trial and error sort of thing. Once you find the saddle you really like stick with it I guess.

I agree. The reason I wear cycling shorts on my commute is to avoid that huge knot of cloth that always gets put into my jeans and cargo shorts when all of the pieces and seams come together right at the bottom of the crotch. Four different panels get folded over so that the "knot" is actualy eight thicknesses of the cloth. Obviously this could be avoided by being selective about my clothes. If I'm going to be selective I'll take bike shorts. I carry cargo shorts with me and put them on before venturing very far off the bike.

Gotta say I think lots has to do with your position on your bike, too. I have a more upright style bike with cruiser bars that I can be comfy on with anything wide enough and not too soft (Brooks B17 is perfect). For a more aggressive position I get pickier, and I find my chamois goes a long way to just holding my junk out of the way of my pendulum-ing thighs than providing any anti-chafe at all.

I love the Brooks line, in large part because the leather is smooth, and won't chafe without chamois. I still wear compression shorts with my Brooks Team Pro on my road bike, though, because I like the "support." I can't stand getting my nutzack pinched between saddle and thigh

big +1 here also the length of your commute makes a difference...... for me under 5 miles and I mostly use street clothes on my uprightish utilyt commuter with a brooks b-17 if I had a longer commute ie 8 to 12 miles I would use a more agressive position with my other bike and bike shorts/shirt etc just for efficiency

Which brings up a question related to this thread... who wears compression or other lycra shorts without chamois in them?

I'm thinking of trying some compression type shorts... that would allow me to just treat them like underwear when I get to my destination. Just throw on pants and go. I tried that with my regular cycling shorts and I felt like I was wearing a diaper all day.

Besides, baggier shorts don't do it because of the "nutzack effect"!

I usually don't wear bike shorts for rides under 15 or 20 miles, which includes my commute, and I have "road bike skinny" saddles on my commuter and on my road bike (actually, they are both road bikes but with different purposes). For shorter rides & commuting I wear polyester gym shorts over briefs. For me, the chamois is more about sweat and chafing control than padding.

Well, obviously I do sometimes. I haven't found a pair of compression shorts that really provide the support that a pair of quality chamois does, however...and it isn't the chamois itself, but the multi-panel design of a nice pair of shorts. Compression shorts are typically very basic, and not as compression-irific as I would like.

Also, I don't mind the diaper effect, and actually my bibs feel pretty good to wear all day. I also have an OCD thing about waist bands in that they just bug me. The no-waist band of bibs feels downright liberating!

That said, I ride 17 miles one way, so I shower no matter what

I ride without bike shorts most of the time now. My max time/distance has been 160kms in 9hrs on a touring bike in the mountains.

I have a couple Brooks Champion Flyer saddles which are pretty comfy. I also have a Selle Anatomica saddle which is amazingly comfortable. On my last tour I actually got off the bike and checked to see if I was numb because I had no sensation down there...it turned out I was fine the saddle was just so comfy I didn't feel like I was even riding a bike. Sounds crazy, but it's that good.

I have an old Speciaized Body Geometry of some sort on my bike. I like it. It's good and comfortable even with shorts and normal underwear. BTW, as for the seams/chafing thing...I wear these seamless athletic underwear that I got from Target. I think they're from Champion or something. They breathe really well, and are good 'n comfortable even on extended rides. If I'm just out screwing around on a longer distance (25-30 miles) ride on my commuter I wear these underwear and they do fine.

Anything longer distance than that, and I ride the road bike, and wear proper bike shorts.

It's all about not chafing. Some people like having a compression short under their casual clothes or just a boxer brief underwear for the support. I personally find those uncomfortable if I'm just going to ride to work/class (freedom!). Anyway, just find underwear or a baselayer that is smooth and doesn't chafe. I've found that woven boxers are awful (no stretch, seams) and stretchy, smooth ones are best, even if they are loose. I have some boxers from Target (Merona brand I think) that are made of Modal fabric, which is breathable, stretchy, and very smooth. It also wicks sweat pretty well. As for your original question, I have a Bontrager Race Lux saddle - It had a good amount of padding for no-chamois rides, but I replaced it with a San Marco Rolls, which is harder but fits me better. Just make sure you're not sliding forward on the saddle - keep your sit bones supported.

Here's what works for me, Boxer briefs, shorts of some kind (pant when cold) and a Brooks saddle.

I think anything under 20 miles no padding needed.

The fizik tri-arione is a great saddle. there are a few other good ones, but this one is like the brooks in that it will shape itself to you, but unlike brooks it's not leather so should handle weather better.