Been riding a longish time and never have found a saddle that does not cause some degree of discomfort after a while. I think my position is okay, and have tried various saddles. So, when I hear that some riders feel zero discomfort, well, I don't believe it. Not saying it's not true, just saying, I don't believe it as in "what am I doing so wrong that I feel some degree of discomfort", don't believe it.

Your Back side has to adapt if the saddle is Unchanging ..

if you are new to riding, it will take a couple of weeks of riding to condition your butt....even if you have the "right" saddle for you.

Gilles berthoud aravis saddle ....I have not been far yet using this, but it's as good as it gets straight out of the box .... not cheap though

if you are uncomfortable on short rides (even when you start riding) , you need to adjust your saddle position (height, forward/back position etc) in small increments until you hit the sweet spot

once you go on longer/far rides, and you have set your saddle to be comfortable on the short rides..., you will know if this saddle is the one for you





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Saddle comfort is HIGHLY subjective and despite what a previous poster said, there are NO absolutes. If you can compress the foam down to the seat pan with your hands, then the saddle won't break-in to become more comfortable. If it is a dense padding, then like most foam, it will break in to soften to some degree. Some of us prefer some padding. I am one of those who like a densely padded saddle. Irrespective of what type of saddle you ride, your body will have to acclimate to the pressure points.

+1 To put another way, the saddle doesn't "bed in", the rider does. Even saddles that supposedly break in like the Brooks, I think it's more a case of the rider getting used to the saddle than any change on the saddle's part. I have several including one that has about 17,000 miles on it. They all look like they did the day they came out of the box and they are all solid. I don't see any "dimples" in it at all. Here is is after about 10,000 miles. No dimples.



Personally, I've never found a Brooks to be uncomfortable out of the box...including the one I put on my touring bike last year about a month before a 5 week tour. But I'm also pretty insensitive to any saddle. The only ones I've found to be uncomfortable are the "junk saver" saddles.

I bought an old Brooks B15 Professional for £10 .... this one is as hard as a plank and I have fitted it to my daily commuting bike . My LBS has my bike as he is fitting new brifters (one stopped working (internal gears messed up) so I'm having a new set fitted).

He tapped the saddle with his knuckles and said that it most probably had water damage in the past and advised me to add lots of proof hide (top and bottom) a few times, and it should sort it after a while (with perhaps a bit of tensioning)

Hope that it works out, as it looks good on my roadbike and it was cheap

I've found Brooks to be like jeans, mostly comfortable at first but very comfortable with a little wear.

well, my jeans are a little too tight and perhaps they were starched

but as I said, my brooks saddle is old and need some TLC

however, my new Gilles Berthout Aravis saddle seems ok so far ... new and have not put many miles on it yet ... (I am going on a long ride on the weekend and will know by the end of the ride)

Ive got a cheap seat that came with the bike and after 3 years its just started to bother me.