I had a stock velo saddle that was really comfy but it was stolen. I bought a new velo with gel, but its not as comfortable, and my butt goes numb after a little while.

My commute is 11 miles each way, so 22 miles total per day. This will be used on my road bike. Suggestions please! My budget would be around $50.

Your saddle type will vary on the wideness of your sitting bones, stay away from GEL saddles or super-cushy ones... they tend to cause more numbness

WTB Rocket V is a good saddle i find.

+1, But I still like my Brooks B17 better. I commute 24 miles a day on both types.

Brooks worth the money?

Maybe, but don't bother trying to break in leather in the winter...seriously. Tush heat plays a part in the process if you have a Brooks butt.

I think so. Got a B67 on my cruiser and a B17 on my folder. Love 'em both.

e3 Form works well for me and can be found <30 bucks.

The more popular saddles seem to be Brooks, Terry, Body Geometry, and WTB. Really hard to say what would work for you. I have a Brooks Flyer pre-aged on one bike and a Rido 2 on another.

I agree with staying away from gel saddles and gel covers. Gel seems so promising in the beginning, but ends up being painful in the end... literally.

The $50 price tag is going to be pretty limiting for new saddles, unless you can find something in good shape on ebay, but even then, the $50.00 is going to be gobbled up in freight.

For a commuting saddle, I suggest the following:

Choose a smooth surface over a plush surface. You want to be able to slide back and forth on the saddle
Choose a springer saddle Your back will appreciate the shock-absorbing qualities.
Choose a saddle with a solid firm cover rather than a soft foam or gel.
A wider back with a shorter nose is good for commuting as opposed to long nosed saddles or other strange geometry.
Leather is an ideal saddle cover material if you can afford it.

My favorite saddles for commuting are probably Lepper saddles

Most of this advice is terrible for someone on a road bike, particularly the saddle you recommended.

$50 is not a budget for this unless you intend to hunt around the second hand market. Heck, you already wasted close to that with your gel purchase. Sell both your old saddles on CL/Ebay for what you can get, suck it up, buy something decent and only cry once. If this issue has motivated you to post here, you are motivated enough to find a lasting solution and the few extra $$ it takes to get there.

Saddles remain a very personal choice. I'm an absolute fan of Brooks. They break in far faster than 98% of the horror stories you hear, and then you are set for life. The key about leather is it conforms to you, so if you got it close you'll eventually be great. i.e, close counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, AND high quality leather saddles.

Non-leather you need to get completely right because it ain't changing, but if you get it right they can be absolutely great. It takes some test sitting and usually one or more of: lots of luck, lots of money, a good LBS. No need to spend lots of money on Ti rails, but you do need to spend some on the rest of the saddle. Edited to add: you might find a great fit in a $30 saddle, but it might take you 6 $30 saddles to get there. Or your $150 saddle may be miserable. Money is an odd variable here.

Cheap leather is bad.

+1.

"Commuting" means I am using my bike as transport for work/school/etc. It implies nothing about the type of bike, rider, position, etc. Mike's advice is fairly solid for your upright cruiser / town bike, English 3 spd / Amsterdam grocery getter. I don't commute on one of those.

This is all good advice. OP, it's more trial and error than anything else. For $50 I'd try to find maybe a used B17, or one of the WTB saddles mentioned or the Terry Fly.

Rumor has it the Performance Forte brand road saddles are surprisingly good for the money.

+1 on Brooks saddles. I have a B-17 Champion Special on my Allez, and though it adds a little more weight to the bike, it adds tremendous enjoyment to my rides... specially when I'm on it for longer periods of time. I still have a cushiony saddle on my Trek Hybrid and I find it far more restricting... specially around the private parts area. You do have to get your rear initially accustomed to the firmer leather saddle, though, if you are migrating from one that is heavily padded.

Brooks is great but I also like the WTB SST. You can probably get one online for ~40-45$.

There's nothing wrong with a sprung saddle on a road bike. So long as you don't care about loss of pedaling efficiency incurred from using springs (which is the only reason sprung saddles don't show up on road bikes, because they're supposed to be sporty).

But of course if you're using anything with low handlebars, you'll want a longer narrower saddle. A wide saddle is only comfortable with upright riding positions.

Definitely...in my opinion

I recently bought a Brooks B17 based on all the recommendations that I have read here. After installing the saddle and the first ride (9 miles), I was a little let down. But now after 80-85 miles this saddle is becoming VERY comfortable. Some say the it takes time to break in the leather, some like them from the start. For me it took a few rides.

Check out the Real Man saddle. Sheldon Brown's Real Man saddle. Your ass will thank you.

A saddle with a seat warmer!

Just kidding, I can recommend Planet Bike saddles: https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-Co.../dp/B000K2L2I2

Are you sure it's the saddle? I had some numbness problems, but they were mainly due to poor bike fit... stretching too far to reach the handlebars, which were positioned too low, and I had the seat up too high (also caused me ankle troubles). The end result was to put too much of my weight in the saddle, and also had me tipped forwards, not letting my ishia take enough of the weight. Seat angle and forward/aft can also play a role. Bike shorts help.

My bike fit was not obviously wrong... the numbness would only set in after an hour or so, and the ankle pain took most of the season to become obvious. I suggest making some subtle changes to your fit and see if that helps over the course of several rides, before you try a new saddle. Your body can tell you a lot about fine-tuning your bike fit.

One last thought; your body will adjust to some degree as well, as you spend time in the saddle. I used to get terribly numb on the balls of my feet and my palms (again, only after an hour or more)... then it went away on its own. After taking a few weeks off from long rides (but still doing short rides every day), I went for a couple long rides this week, and the numbness in my feet was back! I'm not thrilled, but at least I know that I will re-adapt soon.

Plenty of good choices in your price point.
Here is a WTB Shadow for $29.99
https://www.bicyclebuys.com/seats/SeatATB/0900133

FSA for $34.99
https://www.bicyclebuys.com/seats/SeatRoad/0900975-CM

Selle San Marco for $40.00
https://www.amazon.com/Selle-San-Marc.../dp/B000O6ARM6

Shop around. All depends on what you want.

Bike shops often have a pile of stock seats that were taken off of bikes and might have one that fits for cheap. Can't hurt to ask. The prevalance of $75+saddles reflect a market willing to pay for it and isn't an indicator of comfort as you discovered with your Velo saddle. Once you're butt is conditioned there are lots of cheap seats that can work. Ask around.

I beg to differ. I ride nearly 10,000 miles per year on a road bike with the leather springer saddle I recommended. I have tried all kinds of saddles and believe that for commuting and touring that this is a good choice.

It's obviously not the spring that's the issue, it's the saddle with a short nose that's eighteen inches wide. Recipe for major chafing on the huge majority of road bikes.