road saddle help..please

Serfas RX Mens or Ladies 😄

sambo7 said:

I ride about 20 miles per trip and I need a COMFORTABLE saddle with a cut out to prevent crushing my plumbing. I would like to find one with a good gel insert. Any suggestions?? Thanks

I've been very pleased with my Selle Italia Max Flite Gel Flow. The name is ridiculous, but the saddle is terrific: real leather cover, cutout w/o sharp edges, just enough padding under the sitbones.

sambo7 said:

I ride about 20 miles per trip and I need a COMFORTABLE saddle with a cut out to prevent crushing my plumbing. I would like to find one with a good gel insert. Any suggestions?? Thanks

Brooks B17. Racers will try and talk you out of this all leather, relatively heavy saddle. But don't listen to them; they all ride on plastic based seats which never conform to your rear end. A Brooks saddle will conform to your rear end. A Brooks is the most comfortable saddle that there is. It does take a break in period which is best done in warm weather.

As a guy who likes doing long rides, I like the B17 model because my sit bones are well supported by the width of the rear part of the saddle.

If you are concerned about weight, you can go with the titanium railed, brass riveted version which goes for about 170 to 200 dollars. The standard version is below $100.

There is no cut out on these saddles but you really don't need one. You need to make sure the saddle is set up so that the rear end is at the same height as the nose (leveled). The middle part is lower so that you can leverage your rear end off the higher back end part of the saddle.

Finally, I must tell you that these saddles are not mass produced pieces of [censored]. A Brooks saddle is beautiful and represents a tradition of British craftsmanship.

sambo7 said:

I ride about 20 miles per trip and I need a COMFORTABLE saddle with a cut out to prevent crushing my plumbing. I would like to find one with a good gel insert. Any suggestions?? Thanks

I have 2 different versions of the specialized saddle, alias and toupe I think, both are great the toupe is a v light version but still great the alias is a little more weighty (not heavy) and is excellent. Thye are slightly different as they are designed for you to sit directly on the sit bones, butt (get it?) once you have them sorted they are v nice..

A lot dislike the Bontragger sadles, but the race lite that came on my 05 Lemond served me well for almost 10K miles. I just changed it out last week. It does not have a cut out, but does have a lot of cushion compared to most saddles. Easily had on ebay for about 40 bucks.

If you have a performance bike in your town go down their, pick a saddle and try it out. As long as you don't trash it you can return it and try another no questions asked.

If you are experiencing butt soreness after 20 miles, it is probably more an effect of your position on the bike, not your saddle. That said, there are saddles which are extremely uncomfortable and hurt after 10 miles. Selle San Marco Rolls are cheap and apparently comfortable. Don't spend $$$ on a racing minimalist type saddle, they are designed for comfort, at the extreme minimum weight possible. You can usually get a very comfortable saddle cheaply, but the weight might be on the steep side.

Very good are SMP Strike: all4cycling.comindex.phpOpen ↗

I asked the same question once and later found out that gel foam and cutouts weren't the answer at all (although these are common misconceptions). What you really need is a saddle that fits your butt properly and this just takes some experimenting. I went through about 4-5 saddles from the LBS and ebay before settling on a Fizik Arione (which has neither of my original criteria).

sambo7 said:

I ride about 20 miles per trip and I need a COMFORTABLE saddle with a cut out to prevent crushing my plumbing. I would like to find one with a good gel insert. Any suggestions?? Thanks

Remember how comfortable the saddles on the old Schwinns were? They were Brooks saddles. Brooks still makes the best. For my money the Classic Flyer is the very best. Have a look at www.wallbike.com

I have the Serfas RX and it is working out pretty good for me but it is not perfect. I'll have to look into the Brooks saddle, sound interesting. good luck.