Cycling UK Forum

Any suggestions on a comfy road saddle? One that came with my bike is like a rock of plastic with thin cover of vinyl

I use leather saddles, eg Brooks. I find them comfy

Try a Charge Spoon.

Daft name but I've had a couple of them, very comfy.

Just remember that something firm will, in the long run give better comfort than big padded things!

The Charge Spoon is a fairly classic shape much like the old classic Unicanitor. My current favourite is a Ti railed, carbon based Selle Italia SLR - hard as rock but I can sit on it all day.

But everyone is different in regards to what they find comfortable - the Fizik on my CX bike is comfy but I find it too soft for all day rides, it makes my bum ache!

Selles Bassano ... superb comfort ... all 5 of of my bikes now have them fitted ... sold the 2 Brookes B17's ... these are better... £14.99 from Decathlon.
And yes the sale of the 2 Brookes sales bought all of these +1.

I can't understand why anybody would want to sit on plastic. Don't you sweat?

Think you must be cycling at a very comfortable rate ..... Always sweat when cycling .... could be the exercise aspect .....lol
No doubt every car you have owned had leather seats ...
Oh ..my *** sweats on Brookes leather ... trust me .....

Saddles are very personal,what suits one doesn't suit another,I can't ride Brooks for a a couple of reasons.
If Brooks type saddle suited everyone,everyone would be riding them,but as we all know that's not the case hence the great choice,some of them weird and wonderful .
I've found a certain shape suits me best,and I've tried a good few,non of this helps the OP,but recently I bought a couple of Charge Spoons and found them comfy,so for £25 or less it's worth a punt for the OP.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/charge-spoon-sa ... omo-rails/

Proper seat

There are a few that seem to work for most, although it is a very individual thing. Here are some good options:

Charge Spoon: cheap, definitely a very good starting point
San Marco Rolls
San Marco Regal: the Belgian sofa, ridden by many pros over the Classics cobbled races
Selle Italia Flite
Brooks B17 (personally I can only abide the narrow version)

531colin wrote:I can't understand why anybody would want to sit on plastic. Don't you sweat?

While leather does "breathe" to some extent, it's only up to a point, Lord Copper. Give it a dose of Proofide and it'll go from not much to even less, and it's no problem out-sweating it. Comfort against sweat is mainly about choice of clothes IME.

I favour a Brooks on the upwrongs, but not because of sweat issues. It's about shape and the right degree of flexibility, and the B17 shape and the give (not too much or too little) from the hammock-style and thickness of leather work for me. But they don't work for e.g. my wife: wrong shape.

For the OP, the way to get the right (or rather, a right) saddle is to try a load out. That I like B17s is mainly relevant to me, and while it's an indication that at least someone really likes them and thus someone else might, it doesn't go much beyond that. But for every, "oh, you want the Brand X Super-Luxe!" you'll find someone who thinks they're torture implements.

Pete.

[XAP]Bob wrote:Proper seat

You hire them at the seaside to try out

And one too many wheels

pjclinch wrote:While leather does "breathe" to some extent, it's only up to a point, Lord Copper. Give it a dose of Proofide and it'll go from not much to even less, and it's no problem out-sweating it. Comfort against sweat is mainly about choice of clothes IME.

I agree,

I favour a Brooks on the upwrongs, but not because of sweat issues. It's about shape and the right degree of flexibility, and the B17 shape and the give (not too much or too little) from the hammock-style and thickness of leather work for me. But they don't work for e.g. my wife: wrong shape.

It's the opposite for us,Mrs R2 wouldn't ride anything but her Brooks Flyer S,whereas I can't get them back far enough and the hammock is too much like a Hammock.

For the OP, the way to get the right (or rather, a right) saddle is to try a load out. That I like B17s is mainly relevant to me, and while it's an indication that at least someone really likes them and thus someone else might, it doesn't go much beyond that. But for every, "oh, you want the Brand X Super-Luxe!" you'll find someone who thinks they're torture implements.

Pete.

Spot on.
As someone else posted some saddles suit most riders but it isn't a guarantee that one sort suits all,and there's absolutely no guarantee that an expensive saddle is the answer to all the OP prayers.Try many to find one,a fair few frogs need kissing to find a prince.

The OP IIRC is a newish cyclist,so I feel a need to remind s/he that riding position needs to be right first for any saddle to be comfy.If that's sorted things will be less troublesome

SDG Bel-Air. Choice of steel, cromo or titanium rails depending on your budget.

+1 for the Charge Spoon. I have them on 2 bikes.

-1 for the San Marco Rolls, I find it's like sitting on a house brick!

Some bike shops have a saddle "library", which allows you to test a selection of saddles before choosing the one that best suits you.