I have been following a thread in another subforum about comfortable saddles for an upright position bike and it seems to me that you folks ride all day, every day in a somewhat upright position. Is there a type of saddle that works best for touring or is it like other bikes and it varies butt to butt?

A very large proportion of touring cyclists, probably an actual majority, ride Brooks B-17 saddles. This has been true for the 40-some years that i have been a touring cyclist.

Having stated this obvious fact, this thread will now be deluged by Brooks-haters. And i of course have not said that all touring cyclists ride B-17s, merely that they are very very popular.

This new $50 Rivendell saddle is the only other one that i have ever found comfortable besides a Brooks.

You really have to be more specific than "somewhat upright position." Sheldon Brown and others advocated for riding with the torso about 45 degrees from vertical. For racers trying to achieve a "flat back" (aka horizontal), that's upright. For people puttering around on a beach path who normally ride with their torso straight up and down, the same position is leaned way over.

So how are you riding now? and what posture are you thinking about trying?

Next, how far are you riding now? and what's your target for daily mileage?

I did not ask the question to solve any problem of my own, just out of curiosity as to what tourers do because I think of you guys as the experts on endurance riding. Personally, I am comfortable on my upright bike riding 20-30 miles a day, 5-6 days a week. I am not a tourer but I also ride a B17.

C17 for my commute/touring bike. Its the same saddle thats on my main road bike, my gravel bike, and on another drop bar bike.

For greater than 25 years, B-17's on all my bikes including my touring bike........but they're not for everyone.

I've used the same Brooks saddle for 50 years and it fits me like a glove. There are times when I can hardly tell it's there, it's so comfortable. But after several hours it becomes more and more uncomfortable and I end up sitting at the very back of the saddle where it's hard as a rock just to put pressure somewhere else. If, when it starts to get uncomfortable, I put on a padded seat cover (like this Rockbros, mine doesn't have the lights), I'm good for another 20 km or so before it starts to get uncomfortable again. Stopping and walking around a bit helps, but that doesn't last.

I don't know if it would be any different with another type of quality saddle, but I'd like to be able to go longer.

I've given myself the summer to see if I can get the Spiderflex horn-less saddle to come to the rescue. It's a strange beast and requires a lot of experimenting and adaptation. The fact that I don't have a wedge jammed between my legs is extraordinary, really unbelievable, but the tradeoffs are significant. I'd say it is definitely not suitable for a fast, drop-bar position (unless you're always under full power which hardly requires any saddle), but that's not how I'm positioned anyway. The more I bring my position upright the better it gets. Yesterday, going up a hill which brings the saddle to a more horizontal position and reduces weight on the hands, things were extremely comfortable. It was like sitting in a comfortable chair as I spun my way to the top. A lot better than my Brooks. But on the flat it's more complicated. Bringing things more upright requires a higher handlebar setting and I'm currently waiting for a new stem to arrive to address this. Each time I go for a ride, it's more comfortable and I can go for longer, but I haven't yet get gone over an hour or so. I may end up abandoning the idea, but it's got the benefit of the doubt for now.

I hate everything about Brooks saddles 😝

… and on a more constructive note: Selle Italia ”Gel” saddles have served me well for decades. I don’t wear padded bike shorts, just running shorts

I've ridden a bunch of miles on Brooks saddles, B-17, B-67, Team Pro, B-17 Imperial, B-72(my favorite) and I rode a Selle Anatomica Titanico for quite awhile. They're all good. The problem I have with them is my pelvis is not symmetrical(old man stuff), and I have to focus on trying to stay straight when I ride. I list to one side no matter how hard I try not to. The leather saddles will conform to your backside, which is good in most cases, but not if your sit bones are messed up. It just makes it that much harder to stay aligned if your saddle is crooked. So now I ride a Bontrager Boulevard saddle that I'm very happy with, but it's definitely a saddle for an upright rider.

The B-17 does not fit me, but the Professional does. I need something a smidge narrower than the 17. The Idéale saddle models 39, 80, and 90 also fit me well. I ride with close to 45º lean.

My favorite is the Terry Liberator. One on each of my bikes

I have 5 bikes, and each one has a Brooks B17 saddle. When I was young and rebellious, I scoffed at Brooks saddles as being for “Freds” or old people. But as one gets older, one (usually) gets wiser, and after getting a B17 and breaking it is, I saw the light, and was converted.

I ride about 200 miles per week, using Brooks B17 saddles, I don’t wear padded shorts, and have no issues with discomfort or numbness. I’ve done a number of centuries this year, a couple in jeans, the rest in ordinary, non-padded shorts, and my butt has had no complaints.

Brooks makes a number of different saddles, the only one which I find completely comfortable is the plain-Jane B17. I haven’t found the Imperial version to be any more comfortable, and the other models, like the Swallow, Swift, and Pro are more designed to be used with padded cycling shorts.

Infinity E1X. Infinity bike seats was founded by a chiropractor. It's the only saddle I can use and I did a 10,520 mile loop around the US with it. Plus no need for padded shorts with it. Pricey, to say the least, but well worth it.
infinitybikeseat.com

I am in the Brooks hater camp. They are definitely not for me. The one and only one I had didn't work out well at all. That said some people do love them and they may be a great choice for some folks.

I will add one caution... Reading here you may get the impression that they are in the large majority among touring riders. This leads to folks thinking it is an automatic choice. I definitely didn't get that impression looking at riders I met on popular routes in the US (Trans America, Southern Tier, Pacific Coast, and so on).

I have been a long-standing rider of Brooks B-17 saddles (and still have them on two bikes) but have now switched to a Selle Anatomica on my latest bikepacking bike. I feel that there are better alternatives (lighter, better quality leather, more easy to maintain) on the market to the Brooks, hence my decision to switch. Each to their own of course.

Use the saddle that is most comfortable for you. The bike doesn't matter so much it is what works for you. The important thing is making sure the saddle is adjusted properly for you. A lot of people skip this and then complain and buy more saddles or even worse they buy seat diapers that slide around and squish and otherwise do nothing or even worse than that stop cycling. Fore and aft position, tilt and saddle height is of the utmost importance and is something that people really need to get right before doing anything. Everyone's body is different and everyone's bike could be a little different so getting the position dialed for that bike is key, that way you know ok the saddle is in the right spot now I can give more accurate feedback after some longer rides. In the end though I would avoid heavily or extremely soft padded saddles because you want a saddle that gives you good support. In the end if you have a bunch of soft squishy padding you have to compress that to get support and compressing that means you are creating pressure points and pressure points lead to pain.

My butt personally likes the Brooks C17 and Ergon saddles but that doesn't mean it is for everyone.

As this is turning into a popularity contest thread, I'm a Brooks B17 fan too. I wasn't too happy when the last one I bought seemed to be thinner leather, so I decided to try a Berthoud Aubisque (still a leather saddle). I still like the B17s better, since I managed to pound the rivet flat on an older saddle.

If Brooks was like Specialized, they'd come out with a foam fitting saddle you could sit on, and then analyze the shape with a computer to decide what Brooks saddle would fit you best. They might even have a "go buy something else" for people whose bottoms don't fit their (Brooks') tops.

At least as important for me is riding all year round - I sold my car in 2001 to go bike touring for a year - and haven't gotten around to buying a replacement yet - so am on my bike most every day. So there is not much of an adjustment from that to being on a longer tour with more hours in the saddle.

With that said, I've put Brooks B-17 saddles on my touring bikes and updated at least two of them after they wore out. I haven't done much comparison shopping along the way, so I wouldn't know if there was another better alternative or one that works at least as well.

I've just discovered (had to work it out though I'd heard it here before) that the relation between saddle position and the BB axis (arrived at indirectly through saddle to pedal spindle distance at an ideal leg extension/power application) is the most important adjustment as everything else is derived from it. Everything (rider, saddle and hand position on handlebars) then rotates around the BB axis. I believe that saddle tilt would be the last thing to adjust since it's what counters gravity to adjust the weight on the hands.

Can you expand on the relation between saddle position and BB axis, or give a link to something that explains it?

Given the (amazing!) amount of riding you've done, do you have an idea of how long it takes to wear a B-17 out? Miles of riding, days, months, years?

It takes decades at least, not years, to wear out a B-17. I have known of folks getting 25+ years use out of one- I currently have a roughly 13 year old one going strong.

They can of course last less long than that, if often left in the rain uncovered. I always keep a plastic shopping bag scrunched in the rails of mine to use as a rain hat.

As far as wearing out, I suspect it is at least as much exposure to elements as riding. For example, one saddle I had new ~2001 I replaced in 2016. In between it went on a twelve month trip in 2001, a 10 month trip in 2007. Also shorter tours in-between and some use in commuting or other scenarios. I didn't always protect it on the rain. It wasn't completely worn out but was starting to develop some cracks and made sense to replace prior to a long trip in 2016.

I can't speak for distance covered, but timewise my Brooks is 51 years old and still going strong. Old and wrinkled, but still fully functional. It hasn't gotten wet very often. There was a four-year period during which it wasn't used much, but regularly three seasons of the year for the rest.

I'm no expert, I just like exploring how things work (and I may be way off in left field). I drew some pictures to get an idea of what was going on. I left gravity out but it does play a role, especially if you're standing. I only looked at being seated. I presumed that there is an ideal leg extension power-wise that gets applied to the pedal spindle. You'd want that maximum power to be applied 90° to the line going from the pedal spindle axis to the BB axis (so that line is tangent to the circle described by the pedal spindle) . The distance from the pedal spindle to the BB axis is the crank length. You have two sides of a right-angled triangle and the third side is then the saddle to BB axis distance.
(casual position)

The leg extension for maximum power shouldn't vary, so you can rotate everything around crank.

(road position)

(recumbent)


I haven't looked at reach, but I imagine that there is some sort of ideal arm extension, then the angles between arm and torso and between torso and legs which would dictate the position of the grips (handlebar shape being pretty much irrelevant). Gravity probably has more effect since rider weight is totally shared between saddle and grips (if not pedaling) and the rider's center of gravity is also rotating around the BB axis.