So am I the only rider who is more comfortable on his tri bike than his road bike? I am very comfortable with my San Selle Marco tri saddle. I haven’t had much luck finding a comfortable road saddle. I have been using one of the Specialized Body Geometry saddles with the split in the middle for a couple of years, but I have never been thrilled with it.
I am 155 pounds on a good day and I just need a saddle to log a lot of miles in. It doesn’t need to be light or anything other than comfortable. I never race on my road bike. I have heard some Kobi (sp?) saddles might fit the bill. Any suggests for a comfortable saddle for a 73 degree seat angle, long distance kind of guy?
i have to start with the disclaimer that saddle are personal, blah blah. after that, the selle italia pro link is the best thing i ever parked my butt on. i recall the head of selle italia once saying it was the product he was most proud of making - that dude knows a thing or two about saddles. it is unfashionably 65 gms or so above the norm, so you can find them cheap. looks good, too. i had two of thos spec. jobs - no comparison, IMHO.
I don’t know the actual model number but I purchased a saddle made by Trek that has “contoured relief zone” inscribed on the back. It actually came with a guarantee that if it wan’t the most comfortable saddle you’ve rode on then you could bring it back for a full refund. I could ride for days on this thing.
I’m about your size and have in my basement a box full of saddles that I just couldn’t get comfortable on. This Trek really did work for me.
Welcome to cycling. Unfortunately no saddle is 100% comfortable. Sometimes people have unreasonable expectations of what the saddle should feel like. Some degree of numbness and discomfort is inevitable. using excellent quality shorts, using chamois cream for training rides, gradually easing into longer rides so your body gets acclimated to sitting on the saddle and also trying different quality race saddles is probably the best set of recommendations. I have used saddles with holes, ridges and slots in them and have personally had no success. You may notice that NO ONE (not even a single one)of the Tour de France riders use these split rail saddles or saddles with holes. Once, Frankie Andreu cut a hole in his saddle to relieve pressure on a saddle sore during the tour, and I know other riders have done similar things. However, once this problem heals they go back to a normal saddle.
I’ve tried the Specialized Body Geometry series (liked them OK), Trimatic (came on a bike I bought, didn’t like the saddle much), ProComp (OK), and Flite Gel (Pretty good comfort, EXCELLENT position possibilities because of it’s shape), Split-seat and non-split seat Syntace (All were too cushy, not firm enough), I finally stumbled upon the TransAm Flite Gel with a split seat.
I had settled for inevitable bouts of temporary numbness with any saddle I’ve tried, but I’ve NEVER had that with this TranAm Flite Gel. Also, I don’t HAVE to change positions every so often in order to stay comfortable…I can just sit still and pedal away. It’s the right shape for me, (a little wider in the middle, but not very wide in the rear) so it gives me several seating position options. I like to sort of hang on to it with my thighs as I slide almost off the rear of it when climbing, many saddles are too wide in the rear for that style.
I’ve always loved the “original” Flite (Selle Italia). Right now I have a Flite Trans-Am with a cutout in it, which I got because when I bought my bike (used) it had a women’s Terry saddle and it was killing me - so I rode into a bike shop and bought whatever they had in stock. The guy at the store did tell me that if I wanted a regular Flite he could special order one in for me and he’d swap it, but for some reason I never got around to it.
I don’t mind the Trans-Am at all, but if I had a choice between it and the old fashioned Flite I’d go with the old skool one.
over the last 6 months i’ve used the selle italia SLR saddle. This thing isnt for comfort so I’m writing to not tell you what to buy , but what not to buy. Plus, the leather is so thin, that it wore away and now theres a huge hole in the leather and the foam’s exposed and it looks bad. And it happend not long after i bought the saddle, selle italia had pretty bad customer service towards me, so i’m on a selle italia boycott now.
i have to disagree with jeremy (while acknowledging that saddle preferences will vary greatly). i have an SLR which i absolutely love (though perhaps i just like a little pain as i would never swim in anything other than swedish goggles either). it feels as good or better than any other saddle i’ve owned. the leather does wear easily, though, so i had to add some black electrical tape to the two areas that were thinning. i now have an SLR evolution (carbon only) as well, which is perfect. feels great and can’t wear.
Isn’t the SLR that saddle that weighs approximately nothing? Is this thing actually comfortable? Hard to believe it would be much fun on a century ride.
I remember Dan was going to review this a while back, but I don’t think he ever did. I guess he like the Azoto so much he didn’t bother.
The Brooks all leather saddle (with the brass tacks in the back) was legendary for comfort (once broken in). I’ve seen a few shops stock this model recently, my guess is to appeal to all the retro grouches out there. I’ve known roadies who hoarded Turbo-Matics in their basements, too…
yeah the SLR is more comfortable than it looks, but the durability is pretty low, and in my view Selle italia shouls step up and acknowledge that. Take a look at the Selle San Marco Aspide Composite thats even lighter at 100g and its got a little groove to maybe help with some comfort
Totally agree. The SELLE ITALIA 3 SPOT GEL ‘PROLINK’ is the best i’ve used.
Find a shop that has saddles for ‘TESTING’.
Every bum has a different comfort zone, and we offer a 14 day exchange on saddles, and i think all the good shops should offer this sort of thing.
The SLR is by far the most uncomfortable i’ve used, But for the weight freeks, it’s a good choice. I think i prefer comfort over weight, i wanna enjoy the ride.
I’d have to agree with a couple of gentlemen’s reply and say that the Selle Italia Prolink Gel is the most comfortable saddle I have ridden by far. The combination of the gel pad and carbon fibre rails really make for a comfortable ride. Road shock is soaked up. The saddle is also great for those that have a tendency to ride on the nose as the nose slopes down and is really flexible due to the carbon fibre rails.
The only point against this saddle I can think of is that because of the increased thickness of the rails at the rear of the saddle, you are unable to fix a behind-the-seat water bottle setup. But if the saddle is for your road bike then this is not a consideration.
OK- Here it is- The best saddle ever, currently on the market, is the Fizik Aliante. With all the money we fork out on bike equipment, this is well worth the cost. After the second time on this thing, I forgot it was even there, and it wasn’t because I’d gone numb!
HOWEVER- Do not even attempt to use this saddle if you are the type of racer/rider who sits far forward on the seat, or just on the nose (good luck having kids if this is you!!!), but if you train and race where your bum sits where it should (towards the rear of the saddle) you’ll be ok.
Previous saddles used were Avocet O2 Kevlar, Sella Italia, CODA (which is made by Sella), Serfas, San Marco ASPide. I’ve used this saddle for over 200 miles since Christmas, and I’m loving the New Year!
Oh, and this saddle also has received alot of talk on RoadBikeReview- Check it out.
I like the Selle San Marco Rolls on a road bike. It is old school, it is classy looking, and very much like a Barcolounger. Many pros STILL ride this saddle, particularly on the three week long tour-type races. I weigh around 155 in the season, and I weigh around 165-170 in the pre-season.
I ride a Flite Evolution on my tri bike (Samantha), and I even lasted 100 miles on it. It flexes like the old Brooks saddle. It was surprisingly comfy on the aerobars.
But, with any type of saddle, it takes time and experimentation. Happy hunting.
Seriously, I had gotten so busy preparing for my three week vacation in England that the Forum was reduced to non priority status. I am still going to be less active than previously for awhile, but I will be on here more than I was.
I found one I like a bunch and I stick with it. I ride the fi’zik pave. I have it on a tri bike, my road bike and two mountain bikes. The one on the tri bike has the twin tech… softer center core - that is the bike I do my longest rides on. I founf what works and just stick with it.
I just got a Fizik Aliante saddle for my road bike (Italian steel, baby!) Anyway, it is indescribably comfortable. I hihgly recommend it for a “road” bike. I’ve put like 200 miles on it since Xmas and like it more every day.
after that, the selle italia pro link is the best thing i ever parked my butt on. i recall the head of selle italia once saying it was the product he was most proud of making - that dude knows a thing or two about saddles. it is unfashionably 65 gms or so above the norm, so you can find them cheap. looks good, too. i had two of thos spec. jobs - no comparison, IMHO.