jeff williams

-they hurt your butt so damn much you ride faster to finish and get the agony over.
Selle Italia must be run by a sadistic bugger.
He must get booted daily to develop some thick butt callouses.

Looks great, hurts like hell....'OW! oh hurt me more -you slim leather clad beauty!'
Man I hate the thing.
Sure is light...but my workboot upside down on the seatpost would be more comfortable.

gwhunt23

Yeah, that's kinda the way I feel with my 160g FSA seat. A word of advice, from personal experience: never buy a seat without an extensive test ride first!

Portis

Watching some of the Tour of California on TV, i wondered if some of those saddles were actually surgically implanted into the backsides of some of those riders. In the time trials there were literally riders, with the nose of the saddle pointing right into their "you know what."

caloso

You need a skinny hard seat to ride a skinny hard seat.

Actually, I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuvvvvvvvvvvv my Selle Italia Flite. I've got one on my commuter and I rarely wear padded shorts on it. Like a favorite old leather chair, just mounted on a post.

SpiderMike

I have the picture of a Wolverine Durashock Wellington ontop of a seatpost stuck in my head... thanks.

Which type of Selle Ilalia A$$ Hatchet do you have?

spunkyruss

That's a very appropriate term for those damn things. I'll have to remember that one.

Nermal

Okay, but if you want to go really fast, put a smaller wheel in front - stupid bike thinks it's going downhill all the way.

jeff williams

I need new laces for my saddle.
Other boot is used drive side.

derath

I used to think that as well. But my new bike came with one of those tiny saddles. Surprisingly I find it extremely comfortable.

apparently the key to comfort is matching one of these saddles to the size of your backside

-D

SpiderMike

Oh I see what your problem is. The toe of that boot is point too far up.

SpongeDad

You just have the wrong saddle for your butt. I like Selle Italia saddles, but I wouldn't think that any saddle is perfect for everyone.

Unfortunately, saddles are very hard to shop for. Try to articulate precisely what it its that bugs you and folks here can probably give you some good suggestions. I figured out that I don't like any curve to my saddle, which is why I'm liking my nice flat Selle Italia saddles. You might have other issues.

Sprocket Man

I'm another Selle Italia fan. My Maxflite Gel Flow saddle is very comfortable, albeit a bit heavy at 285 grams.

Another thing that may help - don't be miserly when it comes to shorts. That doesn't mean you have to buy Assos stuff (which is very good, but also way too expensive in my opinion). In my experience, a good chamois can make the difference between a great ride and a miserable one.

bbattle

Selle Italia Filante is what came with my Orbea. Works for me.

jeff williams

Nice.
It looks wider at the back than the one I have.
I was kidding about Selle Italia must be run by a sadistic bugger.
I'm sure they do make nice saddles.
The cheaper ones hurt enough to motivate you towards the higher end models though.
I'm going to keep it on for a few days and see if I get used to it.

I was thinking riding -'this must be what prison feels like'.

stapfam

For the last 10 years I have used a Flite Titanium- almost with pleasure but it does get uncomfortable after about 6 hours on the thing. 5 years ago I had to get a new saddle thanks to a medical problem and for a year used a wider saddle. Then it started to get awkward to sit on so tried several new saddles. Then tried the new form of Flite Titanium with a little gel and the cutout- Best saddle I have ever used.

Mind you- If I want to ride for longer than 6 hours then it is a Selle Italia- Trans Am. Can't get them anymore but a comfy saddle if you sit all the time it is ok. Just not suitable for rides where you wriggle about a lot like mountain biking or aggressive rod rides.

Best Saddle I ever had was an un-named one that came with my new GT Pantera in 93 (Showing my age now) No pain from day 1- but it broke after 3 months.

Velo/Garden

I've been riding on a flite titanium for a little over a year now.... very nice seat IMO.

Eggplant Jeff

I had that problem test-riding saddles at the LBS. If you have one that's narrower than your sit bones, it's major wedgie time. Major wedgie + a long ride = bad combination.

Unfortunately I have very wide sit bones so almost none of the saddles fit me.

If it feels like it's trying to fit up your butt, you definitely need a saddle with a wider sit bone area.

SSP

Saddles are a very personal thing...one man's Barca-Lounger is another man's splintered split-rail fence.

Finding the saddle that best supports your "sit bones" is the key to saddle comfort (extra padding will not help).

In my case, the totally minimalist Selle Italia SLR saddle (95 grams) fits my backside perfectly. I've ridden around 4000 miles per year for the last 5 years, all of them on the SLR, including last July's "Death Ride" (129 miles, with 16,000 feet of climbing).

Also, if you're a newbie and haven't ridden very many miles, most all saddles will feel uncomfortable until you get in enough miles to toughen up a bit.

jeff williams

2.5 years of riding daily. 40% offroad.

Can you have narrow hips and wide sit-bones?

Maybe I'm an anatomical freak!!!

Edit: Went for a little spin with the nose pointing down a degree or 2.
Seems better, still a hard saddle -butt the weight is better distributed now.
And less chance of getting a saddle nose up the wazoo bunnyhopping.

SSP

That's a possibility.

You might find this e-book useful (I haven't read it myself):

https://www.roadbikerider.com/pbs_page.htm

BlazingPedals

Speaking as a recumbent rider, I am having lots of fun reading this thread! Although I had a couple of Avocets that were bearable, I never found a saddle that was remotely comfortable.

jfmckenna

I found the Terry Zero after testing about 8 different saddles. My B17 is finally breaking in on my touring bike and I think that ultimately will be the best saddle. I like the idea behind a leather cover. Instead of finding a saddle that comes close to your unique fit the leather saddle conforms to your fit so it's perfect.

They need to invent something like they do with ski boots where you are fitted to the boot and they pump this foam like material into it that conforms to your foot.

SSP

Like many recumbent riders, you seem to believe that your experience with saddles is everyone's experience, and seem to need to laugh at upright riders (perhaps you're self-concious about your choice of bike?).

FWIW, I've ridden many, many miles, and passed many recumbents in the process , without undue saddle discomfort.

BlazingPedals

Not at all, it's just that these saddle threads seem to generate a lot of posts from people who DO have problems. Hey, I didn't start this thread! As for passing bents, don't blame the machine for the engine. This year at age 50 I'll be gunning for my first sub-4 hour solo century. You may or may not be faster, but I ain't exactly slow.

bbattle

Specialized dealers have an "assometer" that you sit on to determine what width saddle is right for you. Others say to sit on carbon paper to transfer an image of your sitbones onto some paper.

Some saddles are "horizontal" to the ground but look tilted. If the saddle is tilted down enough, you'll slide forward. This will put more pressure on your hands, arms, and shoulders as you are pushing yourself back onto the saddle.