I think a mirror is required, to take a good long look at yourself, for anyone that is considering paying £290 for a saddle (doubly so on a mountain bike that’s going to crash from time to time.)

I’d never hears if trypophobia, so consider me educated

Good watch.

Trypophobia

Ah, you say the damndest things, Marina.

I’m not saying to go with a £7.99 saddle (though I would if comfy). But I see a distinct difference between £100-150 which I have paid for comfort + made in Europe not China, and £290.

With saddles, it’s more about the ‘profile’ and how it suit’s your ass.

Selle Italia work for me, as do some Fizik’s and the Charge Spoon. I suit a ‘flat’ saddle, cut out’s or not. Two saddles with cut outs, and 2 without.

I too am having issues with a) scary holes that hide who knows what, b) price and c) HOW MUCH MUD collection?

Charge Spoon or Madison Flux under £30 job done 😎

I’ve got the s-works version, seems comfy enough no complaints on rides over 100 miles and seems well supported on the front when “pushing on” and shifting position to the front, but it’s a saddle, very person specific

As a fan of Spesh saddles I get that some will resent this much money on one. If however you’re riding epic long rides where an ache free bum would benefit I’d get one (an investment so to speak). I have to say I run the Spesh Mimic Phenom (which I believe has a more forgiving platform for female riders) and it’s so dam comfy it’s not true. The guy at Spesh said he gives most male riders these saddles now and they’re less than half the cost of a mirror one.

Normally when you pay a lot for a saddle you paying for it to be light weight – with this one, unclear what you’re actually getting for your money – a pretty heavy saddle for an awful lot of money?

But there are loads of really nice comfy saddles at around the same weight for under £50?

But there are loads of really nice comfy saddles at around the same weight for under £50?

You’ve never had any kind of discomfort on a road bike after any number of hours in the saddle? I suspect you’re in the minority if so.

I’m not saying it’s good value for money, necessarily, but like most expensive stuff – if you have the money, why not?

But seriously, i don’t get the fuss.

There isn’t any fuss except from people like you complaining about how expensive something that you don’t want or need is.

I’d pay that much if it was guaranteed to be a comfort revolution. If Specialized offered a deal whereby e.g. you could try it for a month and get a full refund if you decided it wasn’t worth it then I’d happily try it. I’d be happy to do a trial on a used test one.

(Road bike) saddles are a bit like mattresses – it’s totally plausible that spending a big chunk of money could be the best value ever, but it’s impossible to know until you’ve tried it for a month. Test saddles are a great idea, but not that easy to come by in reality.

And here’s me having to ride home stood up after 20km on a B17… (that i didn’t pay anything for, thankfully)

@gray I believe Spesh do this, you get a 30 day period in which time you can swap it for a saddle of the same price.

Yeah, not every saddle suits every person. Bummer.

I see what you did there…

You’ve never had any kind of discomfort on a road bike after any number of hours in the saddle? I suspect you’re in the minority if so.

I’m not saying it’s good value for money, necessarily, but like most expensive stuff – if you have the money, why not?

But seriously, i don’t get the fuss.
There isn’t any fuss except from people like you complaining about how expensive something that you don’t want or need is.

I’m not complaining. And I haven’t ridden a road bike since I was about 12. But no, I don’t get discomfort from bike seats. I don’t know why.