Recommend Saddle

I got a Selle Viper (used to be the stock seat on the 2004.5 Giant OCR 1) from ebay for $2.75. Very comfortable seat. Biked all day on it and never got sore working as a bike messenger for 1 month. Worst job I've ever had.

The Specialized Toupe has been very comfortable to me. Make sure you get your sit bones measured using Specialized's sit pad so you get the proper width seat, though.

If you can, find a LBS that will let you try different saddles.

I understand that leather saddles have to be worn in just like leather shoes. They don't get comfortable until you've worn them for a while.

With my recent Selle Italia SLR XP, my first long ride gave me a 2 weeks bout of saddle neuropathy. But since then, it has been extremely comfortable. I would hate the thought of having to wear in another saddle. Maybe buying secondhand and let others suffer is the smart thing to do. 😉

I have a couple friends that use Koobi saddles. The nice thing about them is the cutout goes all the way to the nose of the saddle. their site is www.koobi.com

sogood said:

I understand that leather saddles have to be worn in just like leather shoes. They don't get comfortable until you've worn them for a while.

With my recent Selle Italia SLR XP, my first long ride gave me a 2 weeks bout of saddle neuropathy. But since then, it has been extremely comfortable. I would hate the thought of having to wear in another saddle. Maybe buying secondhand and let others suffer is the smart thing to do. 😉

Bad idea. They would wear to someone elses shape. Then you would have just as much of a break in period, if not more. And the extra conforming may break the saddle, like a Fizik. The extra wing flex cracking may crack the saddle. I am thinking of going a San Marco Rever next, the arione is looking sad (never get the white one) (and I can get a greeat deal on the rever).

Where are you getting all these "deals" from? :eek:

MitchFrank said:

I know bike seat choices are a subject of personal preference, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good "junk saver" men's racing seat. I'm using a Terry model now that has a small split up the middle but I'm still getting numbness after 1 hour rides. Thanks.

Check out Selle SMP 'Strike' saddles. They look pretty extreme with a very anatomical design which serves it's purpose well.
These saddles seem to be the most effective at preventing numbness, prostate infections, bleeding etc.

sogood said:

I understand that leather saddles have to be worn in just like leather shoes. They don't get comfortable until you've worn them for a while.

With my recent Selle Italia SLR XP, my first long ride gave me a 2 weeks bout of saddle neuropathy. But since then, it has been extremely comfortable. I would hate the thought of having to wear in another saddle. Maybe buying secondhand and let others suffer is the smart thing to do. 😉

Brooks solid leather saddles need break-in, but modern saddles made with a plastic base covered with foam or gel don't really change shape as you ride them (at least until they start breaking down with mileage and age).

IMO, it's the butt that does the breaking in when we get a different saddle since they tend to apply pressure in slightly different places. Everytime I switch saddles, it seems to take some fiddling with tilt and setback and several hundred miles to get everything comfortable again.

Quoted post said:

I recently changed from a Sella Marco ERA to a Fizik Aliante and found it to be a huge improvement.The Aliante does require some experimentation to get the best position but its worth the relative high cost.

sogood said:

Where are you getting all these "deals" from? :eek:

It takes some looking around and asking. The trick is not to buy anything in Aus, way overpriced. The distributors margins are insane.

Comobike.com sells the Rever for $176AUD. With post, that is still less than half the cost here. I can actually buy it from there for less than wholesale. Also, Arione for $120 (I did get mine for $150 so it evens out)

Nice, keep those good mail-order URLs coming... 😄