I would like to hear what seat ( brand - style ) you have / or are using for Ultra Cycling.
Thank you.
one of my roadie teamates rides about 16K/year and does all of the brevets/ultra stuff (Paris-Brest-Paris, etc.). He rides an old tried and true Flite saddle.
A very successful local 24 hour mountain bike racer has been quoted as saying, “sit on your sit bones,” implying your position on the seat is probably more important than the seat itself. Just get one you like, and position yourself on it properly. I did 304 miles during an urban 24 hour race on a cheap seat I bought from Chuck’s Bicycles with no discomfort. The seat fit my body well and I was positioned well on it. (I basically bought it because the color matched the bike, but it has worked out very well.)
Go to a fast century ride. Out of 500 riders you might 2-3 on Brooks leather saddles. Go to a 600K brevet. Well over 1/2 the riders will be on Brooks saddles.
Day one my racing saddle is fine for any length when I’m in shape. Day 2 ouch on a racing style saddle, almost unnoticeable on my Brooks.
Styrrell
Thank you kindly.
Yep thats them. Ebay is a good place to start. The normal saddles (without springs) are what you want. Most use the bottom of the line model B68 I think. With careful shopping you can find them new for $80 but price will vary a lot from place to place.
The break in the proofhide used as directed will help, they are also leather so water will shorten their life. I oiled mine and never use a color. Roade about 500 rainy miles on it total maybe 5000 so far. I suspect it good for 3 time that. A cover would definately help in the rain, but…
The leather is hard but has quite a bit of give.
Styrrell
the one that fits your tush - as described by the ischial tuberosity above.
More important are bike shorts that do not contain a string that magically rip your ass open and leave a permanent branding effect of a bike seat impression - not that I would know first hand or anything.
The above combo was brought to you by a perfectly solid sella italia and the accused shorts by LG. Suggest the seat not the shorts.
+2 on the brooks leather for anything over 200 miles or a few days.
People either love Brooks or hate them. Personally, I get on fine with an Airone (most recently I’ve done a 2x 12hour TTs and a 16hour ride) and like the fact that it’s a part on my bike that doesn’t need maintaining. Also, it’s nice not having to spend weeks of discomfort whilst your arse mounds to the shape of the saddle!
I’d agree with Eileen that shorts (and a really good chamois cream) are as important as a saddle that fits.
Personally, I’ve raced 24-Hour MTB events on a WTB Silverado and been just fine.
Good luck,
Puskas
I have done a few (2) double centuries and some brevets 200k,300k. In all of these I used a selle italia SLRxp which I have also used for 3 IMs with no problems, this year though I will do my IMs with a SLR t1 which is pretty sweet. also, I have done a few 12 MTB rides using an SLR gelflow. again, no problems.
+3 on Brooks.
You want to choose a saddle that is wide enough to support your sitz bones (ischial tuberosity). Brooks makes models of saddles in different widths. The saddle should also narrow down as fast as possible so it doesn’t rub on the inner thigh. If you sit on a Brooks for a ride around the block and it fits your shape, it will only get better as you break it in. If you end up buying a Brooks, use ONLY proofhide on the leather. Don’t let yourself get talked into something else. If you ride in the rain a lot, get a waterproof cover for it. In the cold of winter, some people cover the underside of the saddle so the wind won’t chill it. Using those plastic pillows like Amazon ships everything with suffed under the saddle will do the trick.
I found mine to be very comfortable from day 1, then it got better. I still use a racing saddle for most riding, less maintenance and about a pound lighter.
Styrrell
Bisaddle.
Bonus: you can still have children after using this for a few hundred miles.
