A nice comfortable saddle for road bike??? and padded shorts...

hollywoodhoppy

folks, i just got a new road bike a couple of weeks ago and got a Ritchey Stream Saddle with it, i'm just wondering if anyone could recommend a more comfortable saddle from wiggle or similar online store? I'm gonna probably get bicycle shorts too with adequate padding as my old ones have had it so if you could recommend shorts from the same site i'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance

Chips Lovell

Assos FI Uno are a great pair of shorts. As for the saddle, anything with a gel lair will probably be a bit more comfortable than what you've got. Beware though of overly padded and wide saddles. They'll feel more comfortable initially, but less so the longer your spin is.

TinyExplosions

+1 on the Assos, top shorts with top price tag... for a cheaper option, get some boards.ie shorts -they're great!

I have a Selle San Marco on my bike, similar to this one, and have no comfort problems with it, but I think it can be a very individual thing, depending on the size and delicateness of your rear

penexpers

For saddles, I'm a total Brooks convert. Bit hard at first but after some care and a bedding in process, there really isn't any saddle like it. Plus it'll last for years and years.

doozerie

I currently use a Fizik Arione saddle and find it very good. I have used a few other saddles (Rolls San Marco, Selle Italia Flite, some others than I can't recall) and most of them have proved comfortable too.

Some saddles take a while to "break in" so maybe your one will feel more comfortable after a few more rides.

blorg

+1 on the Boards shorts, they are very good quality.

Saddles are a very personal thing and what works for you may not work for the next person.

For long-distance cycling (100km+) or multi-day touring, I would have to swear by a Brooks traditional leather saddle. I have a B17 on my commuter, Swift on my tourer and Swallow on my road bike.



For shorter distances a broken-in Brooks is still best but I have found Specialized Body Geometry (the new ones, older ones= very bad) and Bontrager saddles fine.

I have never tried one but the Charge Spoon is cheap (£20), gets very good reviews, and seems to be held in high regard.

dmigsy

Ive been sitting on a Brooks B17 for 4 to 8 hours per day for the last 2 weeks, touring through France, Switzerland and Italy. No complaints at all from my rear end (Im using cheap Polaris shorts from ChainReactions). Ill defo be buying brooks saddles in future.

paddyb

if your shorts are not good. I would get some good shorts first and then see how the saddle is, might save you a few quid if its feels alot better.

hollywoodhoppy

lads thanks very much for coming back to me, gonna take your advice and stick with saddle for time being, only have 200 miles on bike so far so might just be breaking it in, gonna look into getting some of the boards gear as it looks quite cool and i dont think anyone down my neck of the woods would have it so happy days, gonna sift through other threads and get prices and details!! if the new shorts dont work out i might look into the new saddle. and i'm not just sure about bib shorts, would probably take too much stick off the missus if i got them :P

blorg

Bear in mind with bib shorts, the straps go under your jersey so they don't look quite so ridiculous; a casual onlooker can't tell the difference.

TBH there generally isn't any "break in" on modern saddles, they stay pretty much the same. "Break in" occurs with traditional leather saddles as the leather, stretched over a frame without any padding, stretches and moulds to the shape of your bottom. With padded saddles there is nothing to mould. You may get used to the saddle however, which is a different thing entirely.

doozerie

blorg wrote:

I have never tried one but the Charge Spoon is cheap (£20), gets very good reviews, and seems to be held in high regard.

I have been using a Charge Spoon for a couple of months now, on my commute bike, and I find it good. As it is on my commuter I've not spent more than 45 minutes or so on it at any one time so I can't say what it is like for longer spins, but I have been impressed so far, for the price.

As regards "break-in" it's certainly a phrase that applies mainly to the likes of the Brooks saddles, but I find it also applies to some modern saddles although to a lesser extent. The padding in my Rolls saddles in particular has always been very firm to start and softened a little through use. By comparison, my Fizik Arione has remained its comfortable self from day one.

And a quick note on bib shorts - amongst the advantages of the bib are that the shorts don't gather/slide down at the back as can happen with non-bib shorts during the course of a ride. Also, if you find that your saddle catches/tugs on your shorts when you slide back onto the saddle, that is less of a problem too with (well-fitting) bib shorts.

youcancallmeal

Anyone got any other recommendations for a reasonably priced saddle for a commuter bike? I was going to get the Charge Spoon thats already been mentioned but wiggle don't have it back in stock till late August

blorg

Do you have a saddle now that is working at all? What sort of bike is it? What sort of distances are you thinking of?

I have a surplus saddle off a Dawes hybrid that you are welcome to gratis, it's a sort of big wide soft thing that is plenty cushy for relatively short distances. Tends to soak up water in the rain which is why I replaced it.

Alternatively I have four other saddles I'd sell reasonably cheaply (€10-20):

- used Specialized Body Geometry (€10), cycled a fair few thousand km fine with this on my Specialized Sirrus, found it fine until I got the Brooks and then changed my mind; still fine for shorter distances; has a bit of scuffing but works fine;

- new Focus Concept Extreme (€15) - light, racy, but didn't suit me, some people find it fine though;

- used Bontrager Select (€15), found this one very comfortable all round, did the W200 on it last year without any difficulties in the rear; good condition;

- new Specialized Body Geometry (€20), different (newer) type to the other one, this one is very comfortable at least up to 30-40km or so.

Most have been replaced with Brooks so I'm not in need of them any more! New= only a couple of hundered km/under a week on the saddle, perfect condition.

I'm happy for you to try any of them out for a few weeks and you can swap or get a refund if they don't suit.

kcools

Sorry to cut in an ongoing thread but blorg, do you still have any of the saddles left for sale (particularly interested in the Bontrager Select)?

blorg

Hi, yes, I do, there are plenty to go around- have to get back to youcancallme>al about him coming out to have a look but I think there will be enough for everyone!

Pj!

While we're on the issue of saddles, I was on on my new Giant yesterday (just 9 or 10 miles, first cycle in years) and have some slight arse issues today! Now I didn't have any padded shorts but do I remember reading somewhere that Giant saddles are muck anyway??

If so, I'll order a new one, or else I'll wait to try it out with padded shorts.

So is it true they are muck?

blorg

I would try padded shorts first- what sort of bike is it?

Chips Lovell

Yep. No road saddle is going to be that comfy without proper shorts.

Pj!

Its the FCR 2.5.

Yeah I have shorts on the way, so I'll see how I get on with them.