Ride the bike for 100 miles with the saddle.

If, at the end of 100 miles, you find that you didn't think about the saddle while riding. it's a good saddle.

After 100 miles, numbness should set in so you will be good to go either way.

Maybe, More like Fool resistant?

Singing...
99, saddles displayed on the wall, take 1 down , ride it around ,

98 saddles left to try on the wall..






....

Why do people like hard saddles?

Serious question. I don't get it.

Soft saddle if great for the first 20 minutes of any ride, then you go numb. Hard saddle sucks for the first few rides then is great, if it's the right saddle.

Alright...my Crosstrail came with a harder saddle that I've never liked. I've never gone more than 5 miles on it before putting the softer saddle back on.

I'm going to trust you, stranger from the internet (I'm a risk taker!), and put the stock saddle back on the bike for a whole week and leave it there, good or bad, to see if I get used to it.

Honestly I always give up after 5 miles because I know I have the soft saddle I like waiting for me. But what the hell...I like science. Let's experiment! I'll give it an honest 7 day run.

Coincidentally, I was thinking almost exactly this last night. I ride far fewer miles per ride though, and have got through around 15 saddles in the space of six or so years. Some have been quite expensive (e.g. Selle Italia SLR SuperFlow) and others very cheap (e.g. Charge Spoon).

For my new MTB I purchased a Fabric Scoop Radius Elite saddle to replace the stock saddle on day one.

In getting to know my bike, I never noticed the saddle during any of the rides I've done so far. It's a budget saddle and grips well and I don't need to shift around during the ride.

It's the one!

Do you have a Specialized Phenom on your CrossTrail? If so, I'd stick with it. I had it on my previous Roubaix and ditched it immediately for the reasons you mentioned.

It also came as stock on my CrossTrail so I thought I'd give it a fair chance. What I found was that it is very sensitive to saddle position and height. It's worth spending one or two evenings in getting the saddle height, saddle tilt and fore-and-aft position just right. Then, after several rides it'll feel good.

It worked so well for me on my CrossTrail that I bought one for my fatbike too.

It's a very high quality saddle and highly rated, but it needs to be set up exactly right and you need to stick with it.

I'm not sure. It's whatever came stock on the Crosstrails last year.

I have it at home sitting on the shelf. I'll see exactly what it is when I install it tonight. It's not hard plastic. It's got some cushion to it, but nothing like the low grade cheap saddle I have from Amazon that I carried over from my previous bike. The one I've been riding is very soft.

UPDATE: A quick google search leaves me to believe that stock saddle is the Specialized Canopy model.

The important thing is the "right" saddle. You have to measure your "sit" bones and get the right width. I used the cushy Oasis saddle that came with my 2000 Trek 720 MT for years and years. Eventually tried a cheap Vader saddle from Amazon. It was hard as a rock and better after a week but never got to the point where I didn't think about it. Replaced the Vader with a similar sized WTB Rocket. I swear they made that saddle just for me. Its a firm saddle but just enough padding to be comfortable.

The difficult part is everyone and every saddle is different and you have to try a few.

When I bought my FX 3, just about every reviewer I read said the stock saddle was awful, so I was trying to figure out what to replace it with. In the meantime, I put 850 miles on the saddle in about 4 weeks, and the only time I thought about it was when I was trying to figure out if there was some reason to replace it. I don't get numb and nothing hurts, I can move around on it enough to switch up my posture, and it doesn't impede my pedaling. I figure I could do a lot worse by spending more, and I don't see a lot of room for improvement.

[QUOTEThe difficult part is everyone and every saddle is different and you have to try a few.[/QUOTE]

It's even worse than that--your needs can change as your fitness level changes. I used to need a wide saddle, now I'd be totally miserable on one. I think I lucked into a cheap stock saddle that just happens to fit me perfectly, and is reasonably well-made.

I have to go through a lot of misery before numbness sets in, so that would fail my test, which isn't "do you hurt after 100 miles".

loving it!

There is no foolproof 'test' IMHO. Fortunately local bike shops often have tester programs and that's about as close as you can come. After that comes experience, clothing choices, and ultimately types of bikes...

On my road bike I have the upgraded WTB Volt (found by using the test program at my LBS with several different saddles); on my go anywhere Salsa Vaya is a Brooks B17; and on my Specialized Fatboy the stock saddle that came with it. On my garage sale Raleigh C-50 is some sort of Bontrager saddle that's long out of production. They all work....but I'm not sure one would work on all bikes.

I may put the standard Volt that came on the Vaya on the Fatboy. Or not.

Of all of them, the Brooks is the most comfortable now, and by a long shot, but it sure would not have 'tested' well...the good thing about a Brooks though is if you need to resell it, you can probably get most of what you paid for it.

To be honest, I don't remember the last time I had a leather saddle (it's definitely been decades). My butt does not appear to be picky, and I just don't see (for myself) the use of making myself miserable during a breaking-in period.

I still think my test is foolproof way to reject bad saddles in that any problems are likely to become obvious by 100 miles. Whether it will also reject saddles that would be fine in the long-run is a different question. I don't think there could be a foolproof way of discovering the absolutely best saddle for any rider, there's just too many choices and variables.

Interesting point about bike/saddle match.

Butt numbness or dangly bit numbness?

I picked up a new saddle (Giant Connect, $35) to try out since my stock "Escape 3" saddle numbs the dangly bits and that scares me.

Yeah, numb nards are a definite deal breaker.

Too bloody hot and I've not rode enough this summer but short jaunts around the 'hood tells me the new saddle is harder on the sit bones, but more comfortable on the nards.

Need to toughen up the rump

foolproof test?
Read the back, if it says "Brooks" it is a good saddle.

You can also do it like this fool and spend half the riding season trying different saddles and being afraid of the pain of long rides. Then by chance ride a borrowed bike with Brooks saddle (no fit adjustment or anything) and have the most comfortable 60 mile ride. Instant convert bought Brooks saddle and happy as ever, don't even know there is a butt.

Despite the reputation, I don't think the Brooks works for everyone, but the way you actually got to it was by trial and error. Glad you have a happy butt!

I first misread your post and thought you were calling me a fool. Fortunately, I reread your post before I posted the angry response I had drafted, thus avoiding proving myself a fool.

Ive had saddles for months, even years, before I figured out I didnt like them. You can use science, but it doesnt matter- use what works for you. (are there custom made saddles?)

Interesting. How did you figure out you didn't like them? Did they start bothering you, or did you just try something else and figure out you'd been figuratively hitting your head on the wall that whole time?

So I didn't do this when I said I would. I didn't ride for about 10 days after this due to...reasons.

But I did end up switching the saddle to the firmer one and despite hating it with a passion when the bike was new, now I like it. So I'm keeping the firmer saddle.

I think my butt wasn't properly broken in originally. Now that I've ridden a lot more on a softer saddle I'm used to sitting on one more, so the harder saddle just isn't as uncomfortable.

Probably doesn't hurt that the butt is a lot stronger now than when I got the bike either.

(And now you all know WAY more about me than you wanted to)