With a plan to ride a lot more this year I want to change my saddle. I’ve got a specialised BG saddle at the moment which has seen a fair few miles and is no longer as comfy as it used to be. I’ve got a Spoon on the road bike which is nice but a 4hours max saddle. I don’t really know where to start on other saddles. I’ve previously just bought saddles and coped. What influences your decisions?

Which Spoon ?
Some will disagree, but I find the Ti railed one comfier than the Cro-Mo one.
Always liked WTB for longer rides, Speed V I think it was. Ti railed one of them might be nice.

Charge Spoon. Brother swears by Fixik but I find it harsh.

Buy another Charge saddle, the Knife is lighter than the spoon and the same sculpted shape. No saddle will be comfortable if you’ve been sitting on it continuously for four hours, you will need to stand or get off to relieve the pressure.

I have a Knife on my roadie and a Spesh BG on my CX and I find them equally comfortable though the Knife is much lighter.

*Mountain bike
Road bike.
*(**)SLR saddle not broken in yet so can’t be sure of how comfy it is. Gets good reviews though.
**The Romin is the best saddle I’ve ever used. Very comfy and can easily do **6 hour plus road rides in it and still feel fresh at the end.

**Saddles are a very personal choice though.

if it works for 4 hrs it fits you (especially on a road bike where you spend more time in one position/seated). Loads of “what saddle” threads recently (asee search function) and its too subjective for advice to be bang-on. I love WTB silverados, but the almost identical looking something-V (killer? speed?) which I also have is nowhere near as comfortable. Silverados are quite flat, thin and light, but the comfort comes from shell flex and tne fact it fits me (wings are exactly where my sit bones are).

Unfortunately there just isn’t an answer – the only way to be sure is to try. I can recommend Specialized saddles but only because they suit me and tend to seem to suit more people than other brands IME (when correctly sized and adjusted) but there will equally be people who hate them.

It is also worth noting that for some, there may never be such as thing as a completely comfortable saddle. There are plenty of pros who still suffer from saddle soreness. Some people are just more succeptible to it, it seems.

My Fizik Gobi is good for 5 hours, others on here swear by sdg bel air.

I’m contemplating a knife as I know I can cope with it. Probably better out there for me but I don’t know what.

Saddles are a very personal choice though

That’s exactly the question, how do you, walking into a shop or shopping on-line choose the saddle you walk away with? Given that a saddle may get some awesome reviews on the net or in a mag that doesn’t mean it will suit your ass. MM you’ve just shown a saddle which is top end price but no guarantee you’re going to like it. Do you lump it?!

A decent LBS should look at your bare bottom and match accordingly, some will even feel.

A decent LBS should look at your bare bottom and match accordingly, some will even feel.

You normally have to pay for that kinda action… sounds fun

MM you’ve just shown a saddle which is top end price but no guarantee you’re going to like it. Do you lump it?!

They’re just the saddles I have. The Romin also comes in cheaper guises. I also have the gel version on my winter bike which is just as comfy but a bit heavier. Like people have said, your choice is subjective. Personally I prefer the curved profile type saddles as you sit in them rather than on them, but that’s just me.

A decent bike shop should have a supply of test saddles that you can try for a few days.

You just pick and hope – trial and error. Specialized (and others’) measuring helps at least get an approximation of the correct width for you but really, ask any cyclist and most will have learnt over the years what works and stick with that. Second hand is a good way to do it.

And some shops do have demo saddles to try out.

Seriously though, a good LBS will have a 30 day return on a saddle.

Eh? 30 day return on a used saddle? I’ve never heard of that! Fair play if some are but with saddles costing £50+ these days, I’d be suprised if they’d give back the full value for an item that’ll be noticeably second hand after 30 days.

Go to a good LBS and they’ll have test saddles, or will allow you to bring it back after a week or so for you to try out.

Specialized certainly supply test saddles to shops. Usually in a different colour and with test saddle written on them. My LBS leant one to me when I was waiting for my last saddle to be delivered.

Edit; Fizik do too.

how do you, walking into a shop or shopping on-line choose the saddle you walk away with

1) borrow saddle/bike of a mate. Took me 10 minutes to hate a $$$ fizik
2) buy a cheap one off here. Like it goto 3, hate it goto 4
3) keep it, or buy pimpier version of it (new or used)
4) sell it for what you paid for it

I got as cromo railed Silverado on here for £15 (atill weighs <250grm), a Ti-railed absolute minter for £25 (just withdrawn for sale ad as I’ll keep it in my spares box).

Selle Italia provide demo saddles to some dealers (in fetching “no you wont nick it” pink and yellow) similarly to Spec and Fizik stated above.

don’t mess around buying saddles to then find out you don’t like them… waste of money..

as above a number of shops and manufacturers do loan saddles..

*if* you like the shape of a spoon you will like the Fizik Aliante very similar shape but the aliante is a fraction narrower and without the stupid spoon stitching – fizik also do a newer one with a pressure relief channel as well

Brooks B-17 😉

I’m off to a LBS later, will ask to see if they loan saddles and see what they say. Failing that I will ask Hargroves, they’re bound to do something being Spesh dealers.

Saddle group test in MBUK, mine just arrived today. Spesh Henge Comp came top.

Yes, saddles are a subjective and individual thing and yes there’s no alternative to some trial and error testing and yes a good bike shop with test saddles makes the whole process less time- and money-consuming.

But you still have to test. From my experience it helps to narrow the choice of potential saddles down by realising that it’s not only the actual shape which makes a difference but also the padding. Furthermore and maybe most crucial is the type/area of discomfort that one has experienced before.

In my case it’s rather the crotch than the sit bones which ached after a while. Based on that I focused on saddles with firm padding and a pressure relief channel. Padding which is too soft bulges up between your legs. More so when they are old which maybe a reason why saddles become uncomfortable over time. I also found that saddles with a very round surface, i.e. an arch from left to right had a similar effect on me maybe by spreading the sit bones/hip apart (or simply being higher in the middle than on the sides).

In the end I found the perfect saddle for me (SQlab 611). It comes in 3 width, has very firm padding, a flat surface and a “step” in the profile in addition to the channel. The bike shop helped with measuring the right width (without touching 😉 ) and offered to take it back within 14 days of testing. Perfect!

Cheers!
Hendrik

By the way: sitting more upright can also be an (easy and cheap) option to improve on (seemingly) saddle induced ache.

My crotch aches too but then realised it was angle. Got a channel in my current MTB one but think with age its deformed hence the need for a change. Will look into that saddle

Brooks B-17 – isn’t that the plastic one? Got one of those in the shed!!

It’s well worth getting your sit bones measured. I killed the Intake saddle on my Enduro today and toddled off to the local Spesh dealer for a replacement. I had considered the Charge Knife or Ti Spoon – I’ve a Spoon on the missus’s bike which is truly excellent, but I opted to spend £80 on a Phenom…and after 20 miles this evening on it, it’s really bloody good.

Whether it’s worth £30 more than the equivalent Charge is another matter entirely.

Oh and Spesh do test saddles if you ask nicely.