+1 on the Brooks B67 (aged) - loving it so far. The springs make a big difference.

I have tried one - a "Spongy Wonder" - on my Swift for a while. It felt very strange to ride and I switched back to a "normal" saddle. Maybe I didn't give it long enough but it did feel heavier than most other saddles. I ride a specialised saddle with a cut out and channel to protect the male department. It works well and I have no complaints to make about it. Do remember that what you wear on your nether regions will affect your confort.

Something to think about if you're considering a hornless saddle with a Brompton: A lot of what the makes the Brompton so handy is not just how small it folds, but how easily it is carried when folded. It is easily carried because you can grab it by the saddle and take off - indeed, the latest Brompton saddle has little finger indentations in the bottom of the horn to encourage this mode of carrying.

When you switch to a hornless saddle - as I did initially, mounting an ISM Touring saddle - you discover that suddenly it's not so thoughtlessly easy to carry anymore. I switched to a Rido ergonomic saddle in large part so I could regain the horn by which to carry the Brompton.

I've just switched to a lightweight version of Rido ergonomic saddle for my GoBike.
It stops 'numb plum' syndrome :p

I have a Brooks B-17 on my Surly, which I had planned to swap onto my new Brompton. It's carried me many happy miles. But I have to schlep up the Penn Station escalators and stairs carrying the thing daily. The stock Brommie saddle with the finger grips is really ideal, so the Brooks will stay where it is.

Yeah, but that doesn't mean you need the entire nose sticking into your junk all the time.

That's why I like the ISM Adamo line of saddles (not the "Touring" or "Sport" models) because, in essence, it's like a regular saddle with a nose shape that makes it more practical to slide forward to get the nose out of the way when you don't need it. You'd be surprised how often you can get along without the nose forward of your sit bones and how little nose you really need when you do need it. The key innovations which allow this are that the Adamo nose is:
1. Wide enough to sit on the very front/tip.
2. Untapered (ie consistent width) so you can maintain consistent contact as you slide back 1-10mm to get extra control when you need it.

http://www.ismseat.com/Road%20top%20...file%20blk.jpg

Oh, and those concerned about a convenient handle can note that it has one at the back.

Leather Brooks saddles are 100 years old, and the riders had 5 + generations of children even with riding them.

somebody is overthinking., perhaps about their 'junk'

This is probably one of the most often repeated queries on just about every forum and can say what works for me may not work for you.

Most of my saddles are leather, I have Brooks, Ideale, Wrights, and Lycette saddles as well as a few nameless leather ones as well as some very nice synthetic saddles... one of those is a simple Velo ergonomic saddle that has seen a lot of miles and has never been anything but really comfortable and I have ridden numerous centuries on it and used it for off road as well.

What is crucial is that the saddle is wide enough to support your sit bones and firm enough that you stay supported on those sit bones and don't sink into the saddle as this will put pressure on the fun bits.

You don't have to pay a fortune for a comfortable saddle either... but the more you ride and the farther you ride will have a lot to do with what you expect from that saddle.

I use a Brooks Swift Titanium railed saddle on my S-type Titanium Brompton. Really very comfortable..... and as already said, if your sat on the saddle while it is raining the top surface isn't going to get that wet.

Yeah, wouldn't want too much thinking going on. Surely ignorance is the best policy. :rolleyes:

As the medical community has repeatedly warned, not everyone will have have adverse consequences from riding a traditional bicycle saddle just as not everyone will have adverse consequences from smoking cigarettes. But, make no mistake, traditionally designed saddles (such as the Brooks) are, in fact, the cause of problems for a significant portion of cyclists.

Some good thinking went into this...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/brooks1.jpg

There is a use of some doctor to promote sales of a lot of stuff.

I'm following this thread with interest. I'm actually pretty comfortable on the my bike with the stock seat, but am suffering from a little tenderness in the ... um ... area, and wonder if a new seat might fix that, due to my resistance at wearing dorky pants.

My question, if I decide to swap, is how to pick a new saddle. Most of the london cycle shops just have them hanging on pegs, so I don't know how I would work out which one. Unhooking them and shoving them under my arse is both unseemly and probably useless.

bonus comic!
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1300551198

The Rido R2 has the 2 pads on rear of the saddle and a gap down the middle, whilst keeping it's 'nose', I got mine from St Johns Street Cycles (the lighter model with CroMo rails £40 inc P&P)

I had to conciously make sure my sit bones landed on the pads or my tender bits were resting on the nose, once I got the habit of sitting properly, I've been comfortably-numb-free.

Not according to the New York Times:

how a saddle is adjusted matters a lot ..angle and setback ..selle An atomica
goes into a log sheet to take your own data and then journal your reactions to the change.

Does it? I've not seen any studies which found that the risks can be eliminated via saddle adjustment; just the claims of anti-intellectual yahoos on the internet.

You'd think that the pros would know how to adjust their saddles properly, yet they seem to be just as much at risk, if not more.

That's the right saddle for you, which is great ... but how do I know it's the right saddle for me? People can have vast anatomical differences** so unless you can sit on a saddle it's just a hopeful (and possibly expensive) stab in the dark.

I've heard of shops in US that have saddles mounted so you can try in the shop, but never seen anything like this in the uk

** as you are a "welshman" and I definitely fall into the XX chromosome category, I'm guessing that we have different saddle needs.

I totally agree. I really wanted to like the stock Brompton saddle - the little finger indentations are fantastic and genius. But, experiencing discomfort in less than 30 minutes on the bike forced me to switch. I'm loving my new B67 but I do wish it was lighter and had the built-in 'horn handle' thing.

I have seen many of these studies and you have to include the benefits one gets from cycling... improved cardio health and reduced risk factors for things like heart attacks and strokes and being in better physical health can greatly improve the odds that the equipment keeps functioning well.

When I got the Brooks B17 with the cutout I could not ride a standard saddle due to excruciating perineal pain stemming from a back injury and through a long rehabilitation period that was the only saddle I used.

It stems from a much older design that Brooks used and many older leather saddles had cutouts as well which rediuces pressure to the perineal area... probably the most comfortable saddle I own and it lives on my touring bike which often gets ridden 100 - 160 km at a time.

Many of the tourers we work with at our shop (we build touring bikes) choose Brooks saddles because of experience in knowing that these will keep them more comfortable over the tens of thousands of miles they ride.

Indeed. I also recall reading one particular study which concluded that the restricted blood flow caused by bicycle saddles is canceled by the increased blood flow due to the exercise incurred with cycling. In other words, although cycling is worse for your prostate than other forms of exercise it's not any worse than being a couch potato.

But my stance is, why not have your cake and eat it too with a properly designed ergonomic saddle? No sense in giving up those health advantages to saddles designed before the risks were fully understood.

And I'm most comfortable when I have a cigar to open up my lungs, but that doesn't mean it's good for my body.

Like Chop!, I've fared well with the Rido R2. (The key is to adjust the angle so that your sitbones fall naturally on the pads at the back, as Chop! indicates. Adjusting the saddle slightly nose-up is counterintuitive in a man-parts-friendly saddle, but it makes Rido R2 numb-proof for me.) However, I'm intrigued currently by the Rideout saddle.

Chicago police bicycles sport the ISM Touring saddle, incidentally.

Seriously? You know tobacco is a drug, right?,

Leaving drugs out of it, pain and discomfort a very reliable warnings of injury. Sure, it's possible to be injured without pain (eg smoking) and it's possible to have pain without injury (eg the first time I cycled 26km to work) but on average avoiding things that hurt is a good principle to avoid things that will injure you.

Hmm, That looks a little too soft for my liking, tried one similar and was not at all comfortable with it. But then there are an infinite number of different bums out there in Foldyland.

Basically, as I understand it, and to a lesser extent, how I have experienced it :-

Your 'sit bones' should be supporting your weight, hence the rear pads.

Your perinium should not have the bloodflow restricted or you get that numb tingly feeling when you get off the bike, hence the gap down the centre.

When it comes to the sexual bits, it didn't save me from having to get 'the snip' :eek:

One time, when I'm in London, you'll be welcome to meet me for a try out of my Rido R2. Mad that I missed the Origami this month, especially as I was only in Wargrave, near Henley. I had intended to come to Hyde Park but I had band & crew members asleep on my bus overnight, so I couldn't get into London early enough to find a coach parking space. Really dissappointed to miss both rides.