I have been a long time follower of a particular brand, but am about to give up on them due to the fact they last 1 season at most before they deform to the point where I compress it to the rails. And no I’m not that big;)
Please let me know what your fav saddle is, but it needs to be one with a channel relief type design. I also prefer a firmer saddle as opposed to a gel or padded. Tried Fizik b/c of all the rave, but I cannot ride without some kind of relief channel. Thanks for the input.
I have tried riding my VFlow on a road and just can’t get comfortable. To sit back on it on my roadie sits bits doesn’t work b/c it’s not wide enough, but even with it slammed all the way back and riding it like my tt rig it still puts too much weight on my hands. Not been successful in finding out how to make that kind of saddle work on a roadie.
The cobb cycling SHC road seat is really comfortable. I just got it the other day and my first ride was 2 hours on computrainer with no discomfort as well. There customer service is TOP NOTCH as well!!
I’ve got the Specialized Romin on my road bike at the mo, which I really like. It’s not been on the bike for long though, so I can’t speak for the longevity of it.
i have two Selle SMP evolutions, one on the roadie and one on the tri bike.
the fit is very good for me coming from the Selle Italia Flite Ti(original from 1991) and Flite TT.
purchased one used for $99, and the other is a demo model from a LBS closing sale(also $99.)
they can be found at somewhat reasonable prices on ebay and CL.
be sure you find the ones with NO stitching on the leather as the stitching tends to ‘eat’ your shorts.
i am tempted to try their carbon only saddle when i find myself with $300 to blow on a saddle.
i also have a Selle Italia Signo Gel Flow on my commuter which seems pretty good too.
I went from Fizk Arione to Specialized (3 models) to Cobb VFlow…finally found a perfect fit with Adamo Race. Took some time to tinker with the position and develop calluses in certain spots, but HUGE relief on the package and I love being able to get superforward.
i have two Selle SMP evolutions, one on the roadie and one on the tri bike.
the fit is very good for me coming from the Selle Italia Flite Ti(original from 1991) and Flite TT.
purchased one used for $99, and the other is a demo model from a LBS closing sale(also $99.)
they can be found at somewhat reasonable prices on ebay and CL.
be sure you find the ones with NO stitching on the leather as the stitching tends to ‘eat’ your shorts.
i am tempted to try their carbon only saddle when i find myself with $300 to blow on a saddle.
i also have a Selle Italia Signo Gel Flow on my commuter which seems pretty good too.
SELLE SMP x 2 for me as well… I have the really hard one labeled “composit” Love it and want one for my MTB (maybe a little padding)
However, I can’t ride a 130mm saddle for the same reason say Chris McCormack rides a 155mm Romin. My sits bones are wide…130’s are great if they fit you. I fought this for years until I sat on one of those butt-ometers at a Specialized dealer and found out why it felt like the saddle was ripping my ass apart. A 143 barely gets it done, but a 155 is slightly too wide…so I’m between the two.
My inclination is to suggest that, if a wider saddle is a trend that seems to work for you- I would proceed in that direction.
Now, the interesting thing is that the link between the proximity or width of the tuberosity bones- the tuberosity of the ischium- and the dimensions of a bike saddle is a relatively recent… what should I call it… thought.
In other words: Let’s take that off the table by going back to the days prior to this concept. Effectively, all saddles shared very common dimensions, shape and geometry- especially fairly common width. My question:
How did people achieve saddle comfort? They did… How did they do it? Brooks saddles… San Marco Rolls saddles… Selle Italia saddles…
The recent trend in saddle design departs from the pre-1990 paradigm of what a saddle was- but cyclists in droves still achieved adequate saddle comfort.
How?
I ask this because I want to challenge this notion that there is one best saddle for a person and that finding it is an ad nauseum process of trying different saddles to find the one that “fits”. Now, in your defense, you don’t mention doing that and you seem to have a developed understanding of what saddle works for you and why.
Yea I think if you will re-read this…I indeed found the perfect saddle years ago. The problem is that I’m sick of buying one every 12 months b/c it falls apart. I know through experience 2 things I must have:
Some type of taint relief channel in play
Something around 143mm wide in the sits bone area where the manufacturer designed the saddle to be sat on.
"How did people achieve saddle comfort? They did… How did they do it? Brooks saddles… San Marco Rolls saddles… Selle Italia saddles… "
I’m not sure if you are making a statement or posing a question. I think you are asking a question. However if by chance you are inferring that people historically across the spectrum were all somehow comfortable I believe that is wildly inaccurate. If there is one consistent mantra I have heard over the past 25+ years it’s that they can’t find a saddle that feels good. To that end, in the past 5 years or so is the first time I have heard people come out and rave about how nice their saddle feels…ESPECIALLY in the tt saddle discipline. I rode smaller saddles for years and my ass and pelvis ached constantly. Finally one day I sat on a wider saddle by accident and said WOW. For years I rode a Flite Titanium b/c it looked cool. It hurt me to no end. Once I got on a saddle that was wide enough for me it not only increased my pleasure factor in riding, but allowed me to ride all day long when I had been looking to park it after 2 hours.
I for one will never subscribe to the thinking that everyone should fit on any given particular saddle.
+1 on the Romin. I’ve had in on both my race and rain bikes for over a year now. It does take some getting used to if you’ve never ridden a zero padding saddle before. I couldn’t sit down after my first ride on it. Now it’s awesome for everything, including rides of up to 110 miles.
Selle SMP on road bike.
Adamo on TT bike.
Specialized body geometry something on commuter.
I have found that any saddle with a nose limits my ability to rotate my pelvis forward (comfortably), so I am very upright on my road bikes even with the channel. The Adamo allows me to rotate forward comfortably in the aero position. If I were racing road bikes and wanted more drop I’d probably try an Adamo.