Gilles Berthoud saddles - any users care to comment?

[Tompsk]

Not slotted - I have 5 of them in use. I bought an Aspin (at the time , bottom of the range) about 10 years ago as an experiment having had too many Brooks fail. Obviously I liked it since I now have 5. For me they work straight out of the box. Superb quality, all parts replaceable, good service from the factory. Cosmetically, they suffer in the rain when the polish from riding it gets blasted off the nose area by the rain. It comes back in a few hundred miles. Sorry, no experience with slotted.

A suggesting - Lepper B17 equivalent, does not have a slot but has a long indentation. On sale at the moment at a price that is almost throwaway if it does not work. Brown and natural finishes are the cheapest https://hollandbikeshop.com/en-gb/bicyc ... er-saddle/

This looked tempting and Holland Bike Shop seem to have lots of odd items not available elsewhere. However I checked on trust pilot and now having 2nd and 3rd thoughts as many people there report poor service from customer support if (when) something goes wrong and orders accepted for out of stock items. Any experience from users here on Hollandbike shop as I am tempted by that saddle.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/hollandbikeshop.com

[tatanab]

I've used hollandbikeshop a couple of times for lights. Never a problem, so I have no experience of customer support.

[MrP]

I use a Spa B17 copy .. 'Nidd',, not slotted, but as comfy as I can be. Did venture into the GB range a couple of years back, with an Aravis, non slotted. Had a lovely feel, but I think it was a tad narrow for me, and / or it made me numb , 'down there' in about 15 mins of riding. I tried all fore and aft and nose up/down scenarios , but had to move it on, as were weren't suited. Did think about a Mente, which is wider, but my Nidd is fine.

Glad you found something that works for you, but the excessive pressure from the ridge can be addressed by use of a bit of pipe used like a rolling pin to flatten the offending bit of ridge and effectively lower it by a few mm. Worth trying if you ever have that problem again. It worked on my Aravis.

Yeah thanks, I wasn't sure tho, if was too narrow, allowing my sit bones to be further out, on the downward curve more, thus putting tackle dangerously close to the saddle.

But this leads me to an interesting discovery. I was getting a teensy weensy bit numb on the Spa Nidd before I bought the Aravis. I'd fettled n' fecked about for years, with the saddle and a 2 bolt layback post. Then I had a light bulb moment. I had always read that B17 type should be slightly nose up, but assumed this would be to stop the slipping forward that occours, and to allow one to sit on a flat bit. BUT there is more to this. If you are getting numb on a B17, the last thing you would think of doing , would be to tilt it more 'nose up', but its true. the old sages were right after all.

I think I've mentioned this before, but,,, Imagine a hard boiled egg, balanced on its big end, between 2 books, so it can only fall forward or back..Now then if you slightly tilt the table down at one end, the egg will roll forward, and if you raise one end the egg would roll backwards. Now your sit bones ARE this egg x 2, so if. the saddle is not sufficiently tilted up, your pelvis 'rolls 'forward naturally, and squashes bits that would rather not be squashed. BUT if you tilt the saddle more nose up, you naturally roll backward a tad, away from the saddle. I'm talking only 5mm ish+/-, but I can now get my smallish finger twixt saddle and.....shorts, for a lot further than I could, before being squashed. I had to 'modify' my seat post with an angle grinder to allow this extra tilt, that is why i had never discovered it before.

Thanks for posting this - its far from obvious, and I would never have thought of it. Now I realise why I've seen saddles nose-high. Not saying it will answer any of my issues, but its a useful tool to try out.

[markjohnobrien]

Not slotted - I have 5 of them in use. I bought an Aspin (at the time , bottom of the range) about 10 years ago as an experiment having had too many Brooks fail. Obviously I liked it since I now have 5. For me they work straight out of the box. Superb quality, all parts replaceable, good service from the factory. Cosmetically, they suffer in the rain when the polish from riding it gets blasted off the nose area by the rain. It comes back in a few hundred miles. Sorry, no experience with slotted.

A suggesting - Lepper B17 equivalent, does not have a slot but has a long indentation. On sale at the moment at a price that is almost throwaway if it does not work. Brown and natural finishes are the cheapest https://hollandbikeshop.com/en-gb/bicyc ... er-saddle/

This looked tempting and Holland Bike Shop seem to have lots of odd items not available elsewhere. However I checked on trust pilot and now having 2nd and 3rd thoughts as many people there report poor service from customer support if (when) something goes wrong and orders accepted for out of stock items. Any experience from users here on Hollandbike shop as I am tempted by that saddle.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/hollandbikeshop.com

I’ve used Hollandbike shop around 5 times and always been fine: bought Philips lights previously and Spanninga recently.

They are a small firm but do a good job.

[mmcnay]

I believe a circular hole is require at each end, to prevent tearing.

Which makes me think slow, careful drilling might be the start point, making the two circles that can then be joined by cutting. Anyone tried drilling holes in leather? Does any particular type of bit work best?

I drilled some lace holes in a B17 using a 5mm wood bit, the type with a pointy end. The pointy end made sure the bit was steady, and went in where I wanted it to. Worked a treat.

[Tompsk]

I’ve used Hollandbike shop around 5 times and always been fine: bought Philips lights previously and Spanninga recently.

They are a small firm but do a good job.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll give them a try for some of the hard to find bits I'm looking to get.

[Tompsk]

I’ve used Hollandbike shop around 5 times and always been fine: bought Philips lights previously and Spanninga recently.

They are a small firm but do a good job.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll give them a try for some of the hard to find bits I'm looking to get.

Ordered the saddle, came in a few days so worked for me too. Slight issue was packing, 3 items in a big box with no bubblewrap or wrapping whatsoever on a sprocket and shifter with the saddle. Shifter slightly marked from bouncing around.

[StephenW]

Any experience from users here on Hollandbike shop as I am tempted by that saddle.

I bought some things from Hollandbikeshop, including a stem. They sent me the wrong stem. They said, "Keep that stem, we'll send you another one".

This stem was also wrong. They said, "Keep that stem, we'll send you another one".

Finally, it was the right one! So it took a while, but now I have two free stems!