Saddle recommendations?
 

I am about to get back into riding after several years of non-use following a medical emergency. My old saddle doesn't work for me any more; it hurts. I'm looking to get a plain old touring saddle, upright and comfortable, with a 2-digit price tag. What are my best choices, and why?

NTG

Saddles are a very personal choice; what works for one person may not for another. Your best bet it to try some and decide what works for you. Many bike shops have test saddles you can use while making your mind up.

My town's shop has Take-Off saddles at reduced prices , they are stock saddles from new bikes ,
the buyer of the bike just chose a different saddle.

Often they wanted a wider one .. Pleather covered foam saddles will be affordable..

Brooks saddles are mostly higher than you budgeted... 3 figures..

Saddles prove that human bottom ends are almost like finger prints. Some saddles will work for some bottoms but not all. The only way to pick one is to try a few.

I think the SMP TRK and Phorm S310 saddles are a good place to start - and they are well under three digits.

Increasing your fitness might be the best place to start. Figure out how long you ride before the saddle starts to hurt, ride 5 minutes less than that every day for a week, and try again. Repeat as required.

The Adamo peak Is the only Wedgie saddle I can ride on. It matches my 'Sit Bones',, matches the distance between them perfectly.
And best of all It does not have that useless nose that kills me,,
It was time for me to move to a modern saddle...

ISM

They have a trail and error program so you can ride different models..
They cost more than 2 digits but I am through learning that old lesson over and over,,you know the one... 'You Get What You Pay For"

Did it always hurt, or is this a new development? How long have you been back to riding? Is it possible you just need 20 or 30 hours of saddle time to become reacquainted with your old saddle.

Everyone's different. I found one I really liked many years ago after much worry and, old school or not, continue to use it. Don't envy you the search.

When it comes to saddles and your butt on a bike... don't let a budget be the deciding criteria. A lot of people have spent a lot of money buying many saddles trying to find the one that fits best. I guess I'd start with the ones that come most recommended. I'd have to say that the brooks saddles have more recommendations than any others. That's what I have on my touring/commuter bike... ZERO complaints - I don't even think about butt comfort when I'm riding... it's not an issue. I was fortunate to buy a brooks B17 champion special for $50 (I bought two)... However, I think you would be fortunate to find one for under $150. Touring cyclists (people that put 100 miles or more in the saddle day after day) have been riding brooks for decades. I think it's a good place to start.

If you don't get a comfortable saddle, you'll find plenty of reasons not to ride your bicycle... then you have your 2 digit saddle and your 3 or 4 digit bicycle just sitting in the garage.

Upright 60° angle look up the "selle royal respiro moderate" a wider seat might feel better at first but might rub more. And you have to play with seat adjustment. A little change in the seat can make a big change in riding.....going though the same thing.

I have a Brooks B-17 which I love. I also have a Selle Anatomica NSX which I love.

The AnAtomica really was comfortable right out of the box. The Brooks took quite a bit of time.

Hard to say which one is best; but, I think the Selle AnAtomica wins!

RESIST THE URGE to adjust/tighten either one, and use only Proofhide, once a year, to maintain it!

The other saddles that I like are the leather saddles by Gilles Berthoud. There are a few things in common with the saddles that seem to come most recommended: They are leather and none of them are available for under $100. I really like the looks of the Gilles Berthoud saddles. However, I don't believe that I'm not going to live long enough to wear out my brooks saddles so that I can have the opportunity to try something different.

I love my Brooks B17 standard. Recently bought one for my wife with the thought that if she didn't like it, could always use it as a backup to my current Brooks. Fortunately, she seems to like it.

But they don't have $$ models, only $$$ models. If you hit an REI 20% sale, then $115 with tax and free shipping.

Try the WTB line, good value for the money.

If you really want a Brooks saddle, watch ebay for the sales, and such. I've been tempted to pick up either a new Professional, or a Swallow/Swift.

Bill

As you can tell, everyone has a favorite and as stated above, the search is a pain in the butt (pun intended). I have a Selle Italia Turbomatic and my butt likes it a lot.

Nt,
As you can see you open a can of worms when you ask for a reccomendation. There is a big difference between highly recommended and most popular. The big heavy leather saddles have their fans and spread the word almost like the gospel. Except if you live where there are a lot of people riding bikes you will see very few compared to other saddles. Are they comfortable? For some. Do they have a break in period? Depends who you ask. Are they comfortable for everyone? Not a snowman's chance in Death Valley.

What most of us have done is try a saddle before they buy a saddle. Most shops will let you try one even if they don't have test saddles. You might have to leave a deposit. But until you have some miles on you bike now you are shooting in the dark getting reccomendations from us.

I'm sure that you can see that brooks saddles are both popular and highly recommended. I'm sure there are a lot of good saddles out there and probably some that are better than brooks. If I were starting my search, I'd start with a saddle that many people are satisfied with. I remember my search... I started with Brooks, it was a short search. I didn't care for the look on my carbon fiber road bike... so i've gone through some different saddles on it. I settled on a specialized s-works toupe' gel. It's fine for 50 mile rides... beyond that, I put the brooks on the road bike... I don't care how it looks.

Yes, we are all different. Ask at your shop(s) about seat trial and return policies. Good shops allow you to return the seat you bought after you have ridden it long enough to know if it is the one for credit toward another seat or merchandise. There is a shop in my hometown of Portland that takes this a big step further. They have a seat library. Literally. Pay $25 for a library card. This allows you to take out any demo seat and ride it for a week. You can come back as many times as you like and take out others. Find one that is it and your $25 goes toward the new one of that model. (Gladys Bikes)

I ride Terry Flys. I rode decades and many thousand miles on Selle Italias in the ' 70s and '80s. My body changed. Discovered the Terrys a decade or so ago, approximately the same seat but with a cutout and shallow center rear. (A blessing for my broken tailbone.) I've had a happy butt for a while. Not pushing the Terrys, just pointing out that we have to find "our" seats. Odds are it is out there but the only way yo know for sure is to sit on it (for a lot longer than a test ride).

The post above demonstrates just how different we are. I would consider another sport if I had to ride Brooks seats on my bikes. (I spent 4 years with a quality Brooks copy on my commuter. "Best" seat I had ever had on a city bike, by a lot. When that bike got stolen, I was upset and sad until I realized I didn't have to ride that seat anymore.

Ben

Intherain: I said most popular not just popular. my point comes to fruition when at least two of us didn't find Brooks suitable for sitting on. A saddle is one case where one size doesn't fit all.

it may be a different where you live and with who you ride with but I know very few people that ride a Brooks. I have seen a lot like 79pmooney on Terry's and other perineum relief saddles.

I have nothing against Brooks and I was glad that Selle Royal (I believe) bought them to save the design. Just like I am glad they still make gum wall 27x1:1/8 tires for that retro look. But to me Brooks was a bottom hatchet.

If I sounded too confrontational I only meant he should try any saddle back to back to see what works. Spend a few days with each and then decide don't count on our bottoms to be like his.

If at all possible, find a local shop or club where you can try out saddles. Also, when you try the saddles out, be sure to fiddle with the angle and forward/back. My el-cheapo Schwinn Comfort saddle was insanely uncomfortable, till I tilted it nose-up, and now it's insanely comfortable. It creaks like an old bed, though... :)

Still, any saddle is better than the alternative, of lubing up the seat post, and sitting down very carefully, Vlad-The-Impaler-style... :eek:

I stopped at a local bike store and one of the many toys they had was a special tool you sat on, it measured the sit bones in your bottom and from that they could make a good recommendation of what may work. I have been to several and cant remember what brand this one was selling, we went there to see if my GF could do a Cattrike. I sat on it and from that they recommended a saddle that was only $45. Best fitting saddle I had until I sold that bike. Only just this year have I gone back to upright bikes for a while due to a knee injury that is keeping me off my recumbent until I feel my knee is stronger.

Selle Anatomica for me on both bikes . You can usually catch a holiday sale for $99 at the end of the year but they are about $159 now