after a 40mile cycle last night i feel that i may be in need of a new saddle. Problem is i dont know where to start.

i have a sella italia on my SS and a WTB on my full sus, both of which are not the most comfortable.

I know everyone has their own saddle preferences and what works for you wont necessarily work for me, but has anyone any recommendations to a comfortable padded saddle?

one of these babies:

PS most of the tape has worn off now…

Specialized via the arse-o-meter in shops – I have them on all five of my bikes and I’ve recommended them to several people too, all of whom so far have found them really good though I know that there are people on here who don’t like them.

If you can’t demo one then try a Charge Spoon as they’re cheap enough if you end up binning it. But a few LBS will have demo saddles available so worth checking

i demoed some before but that only lasts for 5mins in the shops.

on my current saddles they only start to give me pain after 2hrs.

I use a Fizik Gobi which looks quite hard but is remarkably comfortable, more so than a better padded WTB saddle I had before. Main downside is the price.

Old faithful….SDG Bel Air

Bel Air

Yeah by demo I meant let you take one for a day or so, as you say you need to spend some time on a saddle to properly test it.

sfb class..

I was a bel air bum until I got a charge spoon, as suggested, cheap enough to give a go, and you will get most of your money back in the classifeds if your not happy with it.

A lot of people swear my SDG Bel-Air’s, i never got on with them despite trying them on various bikes and keep going back to a very old Selle Italia Flite.

If you’re anywhere in the midlands you’re welcome to borrow either for a few hours (so long as im not using them!) to see how they are.

SDG Bel Air for me and Selle Italia Flite was fine too.

Merlin had some good deals on the SDG saddles a few months ago.

SDG Bel Airs are popular because the width (140mm) matches the average for the population’s sit bones which is also the middle size for the spesh ones (143mm).

SDG Bel Air or Charge Spoon, both comfy after 40 miles on my hardtail.

hum,
I’ve found the bel air I tried seemsed to somewhat ‘spread’ my cheeks and felt a bit splayed… I got used to it eventually but always notice it after hoppin off fizik nisene and or flite… Maybe I’m just narrowed boned down there!

Charge Spoon

i used to be a WTB only type of guy but decided to give these charge spoons a punt and my god they are good. get one, get one now!

Everyone’s arse is different but I really like this:

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=822&categoryId=43

Prefer it to my different Flites of old and Bontrager efforts anyhow. Mags liked it but say you could snag on it when you’re over the back. Haven’t done that myself yet and can’t see how…

IMO asking for saddle guidance is almost pointless, as each person’s arse is different and for all practical purposes you cannot even compare, moreover, you will probably only find out if a saddle suits you after it is too late to return it 🙁

That’s part of the reason I’m hanging onto my knackered but comfy saddle-wreck :o)

Shouldn’t anyone replying usefully give their height, weight (or arse size?)

67kg 5’10”, Fizik Gobi, best I found after trying a few.

Watch the shape in cross section as well. Many have gone flat with gimicky slots, so as to sell more to folks who believe they are protecting their tackle, whilst actually causing arse boils and pressure points. (Hey, just my opinion)

SDG have always been my favorite the Grand Prix was the most comfy but the Bel Air is pretty comfy.

OK, 6’4″, 15.5 stone ish, just over medium size backside on the Specialized measure.

I still haven’t found anything better than a Selle Italia Flite, the Bel-Air was ok but not perfect and i found WTB saddles ok for 2 hours then not comfortable at all.

Shouldn’t anyone replying usefully give their height, weight (or arse size?)

I don’t think this even starts to address the complexity…

.. Agreed, but I didn’t want to get too anatomical!

Best advice otherwise for giantjason is never buy a brand new saddle because you’ll probably end up putting it back on Ebay anyway..

the thing is, your feet are designed (metaphorically) to be load bearing, your arse isn’t, particularly not on a narrow wassname shoved up your crotch 🙁

thanks for all the replies…..looks like i will go for a SDG Bel Air RL Ti saddle.

Can anyone confirm if Chain Reaction SDG and Merlin SDG are the same saddle except for the colour options?

The Chain Reaction one has a rrp of £80 while the Merlin one has a rrp £58…..is one a newer improved model?

clubber – Member

Specialized via the arse-o-meter in shops

He is right you know – at least this way you will be fitted for one suitable for you arse bone size and riding style

I’ll give another shout for both the Fizik Gobi and Charge Spoon….. both great saddles and both comfy (for a saddle). Fizik Aliante is also a goodun!

It’s very comfortable…honest!

As Tinsy says, but in the opposite. 4 years ago I ended up with a SDG Grand Prix which was instantly comfy (it is/was the softer version of the Bel Air I presume), After it fell apart last year (pic above) I tried the Charge Spoon and it was far too hard on my boney arse cheeks, but easy to resell. I then had another SDG on loan, the Bel Air, and it fitted nicely, no discomfort, so I got a new Bel Air. I bought the cheaper RT @ £20 and it’s nice, I’m not sure what the difference is between the RL and the RT other than £20+.

WhatWouldJesusRide is spot-its comfy but its pricey £100+-

You want a saddle from the spesh BG range

clubber – Member

Specialized via the arse-o-meter in shops

TandemJeremy – Member
He is right you know – at least this way you will be fitted for one suitable for you arse bone size and riding style

does this “arse-o-meter” flash up pics of gnarly trails and measure sphincter pressure too 😕

Just in case anybody missed it,some WTB dealers have(bright yellow)demo saddles available for you to take out for a decent test ride.

I switched from WTB Pure/Rocket etc to Charge Spoon recently. I find WTB’s comfy up until about two hours after which I get sore, but the Spoon is much better 🙂

I think you’d be mad to spend £80 on a saddle you might not like, the Spoon is £20-£25 or better with a Wiggle voucher.

I find the SDG saddles too rounded, it feels like I’m sitting on a drainpipe and its spreading my sit bones! If you sort of get on with the flattish WTB I suspect you may find the same.

Just spotted Merlin has the SDG Bel air on sale £15 for the steel rail and £27.50 for the Titanium rail version

San Marco kit carbonio flow. light thin comfy.

GW – its a fairly simple calculation based on distance between your sit bones with corrections based on riding position ( which might be more accurate than style I suppose) 5 possible riding positions depending on how upright you sit.