New saddle for long tour ??

dannyfrankszzz said:

I'm going to be going on a long cycle tour and I've been thinking about
getting a new saddle for the trip. At the moment, I've got a really
cheap budget one.

I was thinking of splashing out on a Brooks saddle. Has anyone got any
advice on these?

What kind of price range should I go for?

If I purchase one, should I expect to experience discomfort before the
saddle softens up.

--
dannyfrankszzz

It's a bit of a 'How long's a peice of string' question as everyone is
so different regarding what they find comfortable, or are willing to
put up with.

I have recently bought a £26 standard B17 Brooks saddle in Black which
looks smart and seems relatively comfortable (for me) straight out of
the box. Hovewer I'm sure it will take me a lot of faffing around with
to get it into the right position as it's such a different
shape/length/height to the one which was on the bike.

I have yet to ride it far. I don't mind the 'hardness' of the saddle as
my tyres are 28mm which takes some of the road impact/vibration out
before it reaches the saddle anyway. And the firm platform should be
ideal for me on long rides. Leather saddles are generally thought to be
a little more breathable and therefore less sweaty than padded saddles,
which may help prevent saddle soreness realated to sweaty
shorts/chafing etc.

dannyfrankszzz said:

I was thinking of splashing out on a Brooks saddle. Has anyone got any
advice on these?

Try before you buy. If they're basically the right shape for you then
they're as comfortable as anything else out there, but if they're not,
then they're not...

Best of all is if you know someone with one and can get it on your bike
for a few days and see how it goes. David Martin borrowed one of mine
and was a happy customer of Brooks shortly afterwards. At the very
least you want a bike shop to set one up on a bike for you to sit on in
the shop to see if it's at least the right shape and your sit bones are
where the weight is being taken.

Quoted message said:

What kind of price range should I go for?

The basic Brooks is the B17, which is perfectly adequate for most
riding, up to and including transcontinental tours and serious mountain
biking. For more money you can get extra springs (which add a little to
comfort if you don't have suspension, but add to the weight and the
"granny factor"😉, titanium rails to save a few grammes or pre-softened.
The degree to whether any of these refinements are worth the money is
rather up to you, but the B17 in standard trim is a very capable beast
with none of the whistles and bells.

Quoted message said:

If I purchase one, should I expect to experience discomfort before the
saddle softens up.

Up to a point. Assuming it's the right shape you may be a bit numb
about the sitbones at first if you're not used to a hard saddle, in much
the same way as an unpadded kitchen stool gets a bit much after a while.
Padded shorts will help with this, and as long as you don't get
chafing or pressure away from your sitbones (either of which mean it's
not the saddle for you) you'll probably get used to it in not too much time.

As suggested above, you can spring some extra £s and get a pre-softened
one: see http://kinetics.org.uk/html/pre-aged.shtml
I haven't seen one in the flesh so have no idea whether this is useful
or just a way to address the common (but untrue) market perception that
you'll be in agony for weeks or months until the saddle is broken in.
My experience is that the saddle is at /least/ as comfortable as a
typical gel saddle out of the box and rapidly gets considerably better.

But do try one first to check the basic shape is right, which is the
main thing and is independent of hardness.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"dannyfrankszzz" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to be going on a long cycle tour and I've been thinking about
getting a new saddle for the trip. At the moment, I've got a really
cheap budget one.

I was thinking of splashing out on a Brooks saddle. Has anyone got any
advice on these?

Treat it with Proofide once per Brooks instructions, then leave the Proofide
at home when you start your tour. Always have a plastic bag (grocery bag,
etc.) handy to use as a rain cover.

Quoted message said:

What kind of price range should I go for?

What can you afford? Titanium rails on the more expensive Brooks models save
a few grams, the big copper rivets look very pretty, but the basic Broos
models feel just as comfy. If your bike has a very upright riding position
then the big wide sprung models would be very comfortable, if your bike has
drop bars and a more bent over riding position then the narrower models will
work better.

Quoted message said:

If I purchase one, should I expect to experience discomfort before the
saddle softens up.

Some people do, some people don't. I don't recall any particular discomfort
during the breaking in period for either of my Brooks saddles. As with all
good quality saddles, positioning the saddle properly makes a bigger
difference than hardness/softness. If you're already spending a fair bit of
time on a bike your posterior should be accustomed to the pressure and you
shouldn't be too uncomfortable.
--
mark

Quoted message said:

Peter Clinch said:

dannyfrankszzz said:

I was thinking of splashing out on a Brooks saddle. Has anyone got any
advice on these?

Try before you buy. If they're basically the right shape for you then
they're as comfortable as anything else out there> where the weight is being taken.

Quoted message said:

But do try one first to check the basic shape is right, which is the
main thing and is independent of hardness.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

I agree. I like the shape of the B17 which is wide at the back, at the
point you sit, which is why some women with wider sit bones can use
them - it's wider than a lot of men's saddles. The nose is a reasonable
length and narrower than most womens sadldles - which is what I prefer.
I find women's saddles generally too short and too wide in the nose
which leads to chafing on my inner thighs. Have a look at some
different Brooks ones and you may be able to tell from just looking
whether it's a shape you like or not - especially if you have another
saddle you know you get on with and like the shape of, to compare it
with.

From 45 years experience of cycling its got to be leather - well for
me that is.

It is of course subjective as a previous poster has pointed out. As an
example the bike that I keep permanently in France had a plastic
saddle on it - result very sore bum after two days of cycling last
month. I replaced it with a Brooks saddle that was in the spares box
that I took down 5 years ago, covered the back protruding rivets with
insulation tape to avoid ripping shorts - result wonderful comfort and
enjoyable two weeks of cycling!

dannyfrankszzz said:

I'm going to be going on a long cycle tour and I've been thinking about
getting a new saddle for the trip. At the moment, I've got a really
cheap budget one.

<snip>

Hi danny,

My Brooks (a B17) was more OK straight out of the box just a bit hard.
It softened up with use. After about 150km (I guess), it was really
good, and doesn't seem to have changed much since then (1300km done on
it in total).

Just be wary of changing for changing's sake. There's nothing wrong
with a cheap saddle if it fits you. The price of a saddle may bear no
correlation to how comfortable it is to you. Is your current saddle
uncomfortable? If so, how so?
A lot of "soreness" problems (saddle, wrists, shoulders, neck etc.) can
be resolved with changes to saddle angle and fore/aft position.

Whatever you do, get the saddle as far in advance of your tour as
possible. This applies particularly in the case of a Brooks, but also
to any other saddle.
If you're attempting, for example, 500 miles over 10 days on your tour,
I'd suggest, as a guideline:
1. Having done at least 500 miles in total on the saddle before setting
out,
2. Having done at least a couple of day tours of at least 1.5 times
your daily average run.

If you can complete 1 & 2 above without numbness, chafing etc., the
saddle is broken in (if applicable) and good to go.

Hope this helps,

bookieb

dannyfrankszzz said:

I'm going to be going on a long cycle tour and I've been thinking about
getting a new saddle for the trip. At the moment, I've got a really
cheap budget one.

I was thinking of splashing out on a Brooks saddle. Has anyone got any
advice on these?

What kind of price range should I go for?

If I purchase one, should I expect to experience discomfort before the
saddle softens up.

I use the Bodyfit Voyager and have used it on lots of long tours and
find it very comfortable.

--
Regards, Kenneth.
www.kmiles.co.uk

[email hidden said:

"]
Just be wary of changing for changing's sake. There's nothing wrong with a cheap saddle if it fits you. The
price of a saddle may bear no correlation to how
comfortable it is to you.

E.g. I recently completed 4 months touring on a mid-90's GT mountain bike.. using the original factory saddle. It was fine.

Unfortunately, I've bent the saddle and now I need to find a replacement. This is never fun and I inevitably buy a few cheapies which don't suit my butt before giving up trying new things and go for a Selle Italia Flite.

I'd love to try a Fizik Arione, but they are a bit too costly just to buy for a few test rides.

hippy

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 16:10:28 +0000, Peter Clinch
<[email hidden]> wrote:

[Brooks]

Quoted message said:

I haven't seen one in the flesh so have no idea whether this is useful
or just a way to address the common (but untrue) market perception that
you'll be in agony for weeks or months until the saddle is broken in.

In my case (a Conquest), it wasn't just a market perception, it was
true.

Quoted message said:

My experience is that the saddle is at /least/ as comfortable as a
typical gel saddle out of the box and rapidly gets considerably better.

It took me about 900 kms; after that, it was fine.

dannyfrankszzz <[email hidden]> of

cyclingforums.com said:

I'm going to be going on a long cycle tour and I've been thinking about
getting a new saddle for the trip. At the moment, I've got a really
cheap budget one.

Whatever you decide on, get it well in advance of the trip and get some
miles in before you go. Nothing worse than setting out on a long trip and
finding your saddle is uncomfy.
--
Judge: A law student who marks his own papers.
Henry Louis Mencken
Steph Peters delete invalid from [email hidden]
Tatting, lace & stitching page <http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm>