river251

It's ridiculous buying saddle after saddle trying to find a fit. Can we create some kind of saddle exchange, where if you send a saddle to a group member, then you get a credit, and can get a saddle from a group member. I know I have a few saddles.

I would be happy to create a web site where people could list their saddles, with a pic maybe, and a chart or table or some way to keep track of who has credits or such.

This is just a beginning idea and I could use help to figure out how to make it work out.

Whacha think?

Jim

1nterceptor

I like the idea, I'm behind you
on this one; with full support

max power

i've got a Specialized Romin in the closet that i've let nearly all my cycling friends try out at one point or another that i can contribute to this project

Rancid

Or we could all just continue to use the saddle swap thread thats been around for 5 years or so:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...68-saddle-swap

just sayin

Gluteus

There is also a road bike marketplace subforum with a for trade thread not just for saddles, but for any bike parts.

jrobe

They already have this - it is called Ebay. I have bought and sold about 10 different used saddles on Ebay for little expense except shipping. I remember even making a little money on a couple of them. I eventually found the best one for me.

waynesworld

You beat me to it.

ravenmore

yep - we're already doing this.

river251

Huh, well a romin and selle smp are next on my list. I have a specialized avatar 143 and avatar expert 143 and WTB comfort, if you'd like to swap for a while. Or I'd be willing to buy that romin. Or something!
But since there is a thread for this already, I'll try visiting that and see how that works out. Thanks much for your interest....

Shoulda known there would be something in place. I never have the idea first :-).

Jim

river251

Thanks for the link to the saddle trade thread. That looks l like individuals looking to trade, not so much a group. I am not sure this is a great idea, or will work, but I had in mind more of a get a credit for sending a saddle, use a credit for receiving one. This means you don't have to find somebody who has what you want and wants what you have. So should I pursue this?

Jim

foresthill

Any decent shop should let you return an undamaged saddle within a few weeks if it didn't work out for you. If yours won't, I'd recommend looking elsewhere.

rangerdavid

No, they won't. Not around here.

cricket1116

Shops around here don't let you return saddles after use. Myself, I would welcome a website of the sort that river251 proposes.

todayilearned

I guess it depends on the shop... ask first.

My shop lets me return/exchange saddles. Then again I've spent hundreds if not thousands there already.

river251

OK, well it so happens I'm working through tutorials on Adobe Master Suite CS5, to learn current methods for creating websites. I'll go ahead and set up an initial draft within a couple weeks, or so, and let people know here. I still think I'll need help on details of making it work.

In the meantime, thanks everyone for all the great saddle recommendations, I've bookmarked them all. I hope I don't have to try them all before finding something that works.

Thanks much,
Jim

Looigi

This is a great idea, however, since saddles vary in quality and condition you need a way to equalize any exchange. How about if you created saddle bux. Then, if you make an uneven exchange, you could make it up in saddle bux. If you had enough saddle bux you could simply exchange the right amount of bux for a saddle. Even better, make saddle bux equivalent to the US dollar. Then you could make up the difference in uneven exchanges or simply exchange dollars outright for a saddle....wait...

river251

Heh, saddle bux seems like it might work, once I get things up let's explore it further....

I wonder if it will be hard to assess saddle bux on a seat that is less than perfect tho....

Would we all start out with 0 saddle bux, or enough to get a saddle? Would the web site give you interest on your saddle bux? Would saddle bux value vary with your local currency? Saddle dollarbux and eurobux and yenbux... Heh heh...

river251

Yeah, I just have my paycheck sent directly to my LBS. That does tend to get me special privileges....:-)

abikemechanic

do you have to send in a saddle to get saddle bux? Or!!!! what if you bought all the saddles no one wanted and then you could sell them to the people who want them in exchange for saddle bux or a different saddle or a combination of both!