Thulsadoom

Sounds like your saddle is set up too far back. Doesn't seem like there should be much weight on the middle of the saddle, you're sitting too far forward on it.


I'm a big fan of the Avatar. I went round and round with saddles a few years ago and after a dozen or so I settled on the Avatar. It might not have the sit-bone comfort of the leather saddles, but it's the most ergonomically saddle I've found. At least for me. I ride it with unpadded shorts as well. I've done double centuries on it and also toured across the US with one.

oban_kobi

Unfortunately the shop was sent the wrong size of the Avatar. :/ I ended up buying bibs. The seams on my compression shorts are right under my sit bones, which isn't noticeable on softer saddles I would have needed them soon anyway, compression shorts are only comfortable for a couple of hours, manageable up to 4 or so. Then it's bleh.

Thulsadoom, how much of the saddle can you sit on? I tend to scoot around a bit, like an inch or so, on long rides to avoid being in one position for hours on end. The pictures online made the Avatar look rather curved, like there was one specific spot for your sit bones. Is that the case, or are the pictures misleading?

Thulsadoom

I suppose that everyone moves around a little on the saddle. But all saddles are designed to have the sitbones on the wider, rear part of the saddle.

warpig

Could be I suppose. They made some fairly big changes when I had a pro fit, but by then the saddle had sagged.

It may also be too wide for me, causing the same effect (sliding forward until the width is right). I'm trying a thing called a Selle Royal Spook at the moment: never heard of itand found it in a sale bin. It is as hard as billet, but damned if I can even feel the thing it works so well. Up to 1500 km now: we'll see how it lasts.

oban_kobi

Indeed, I meant for climbing, and just having a bit of wiggle room on long rides, up to 20 hours, in theory. I'm only at 6 at the moment. The Alias is actually working out quite well. I had a bit of pain on my left man-bit today, but I believe it was caused by the saddle being angled about 10 degrees to the right. It looked straight from behind, but lining it up with the stem made it's misalignment very apparent. Not sure how I missed that lol. Hopefully the pain won't happen again on Saturday's ride.

esldude

Try the Specialized Henge. MTB saddle, but has the basic Body Geometry dimensions of the other Specialized saddles yet with a bit of high density padding. Much more comfortable than the Toupe or Romin in my experience. I agree with the idea the Specialized saddles flexed more in the middle, the wrong place. The rails seemed to support just the area where the sitbones are. Making them stiffer than you wanted in that place and flexible in a place that really doesn't help.

ilike3bikes

I haven't had any problems out of my toupe after 3 or 4 hours in the saddle. In fact, I like it better than my Brooks.

Road Fan

My favorites are B17 Imperial, and the Selle Anatomica. I've heard ratings all over the place for the Toupe. My own experience is that (the models of four years ago) could be set to be very comfy for up to say 40 miles, then I got some kind of sit bone abrasion issue, which I think has to do for me with the surface texture of the saddle. The padding on the T is extremely thin. That of the Alias is a little more, and it helps to cushion the bones without perineal pressure due to the pretty good cutout. It has, however, seams and textures that are worse than on the Toupe.

I'd take a good look at today's Specialized saddles and see if you can try one out on an exchange basis. Be sure to get the width selected correctly - I think their measuring system works very well.

roundout

I returned all 3 Specialized road bike saddles. They suck. I love my Specialized cheapie MTB saddle - I forget the model, but it was about $40. I am currently rocking an AnAtomica Titanico on my road bike, but it sounds like that won't work for you. Adamos look interesting, but they're expensive.

I think I'd shop for a padded MTB saddle in your case. Cheap, comfy, vegan.

mtnroadie

I've had good luck with the Specialized Romin. I move back and forth on it with no problems. The flat nose and wide channel work well for the sensitive areas, and the roundness helps to prevent sitbone pain. I am a meat eater, but it should work for vegans as well.

bernmart

Anyone hear anything on the Kontact anatomical saddle? Here's a link:

https://www.kontactbike.com/

It's quite new, but by a respected designer. Can't find any reviews yet.

Carbonfiberboy 

That does look pretty good. Only you can review your saddle.