Road saddle required

[Parrot of Doom]

One of the rails on my Selle Italia saddle cracked straight through today, right in the middle of a ride. I solved it by sliding the saddle forward so the seatpost clamp was holding both ends of the crack.

So I need a new saddle, and preferably this time, something with steel rails, and not "crappy lightweight metal that breaks if you shout at it in a loud voice" rails.

Any recommendations? I don't want to spend a fortune, not on this bike. I was looking perhaps at this combo:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Kits.aspx?Model...

Edited by Parrot of Doom on Wednesday 8th June 15:26

[Synchromesh]

The Madison Flux is quite good, and good value @ c. £17

[option click]

I find fizik saddles very comfortable and pretty durable. The antares or aliante models are both good.
I think they are both available without carbon and/or hollow rails.

[dubbs]

+1 for Fizik - I've got an Arione Tri 2

[Parrot of Doom]

What about the Brookes saddles? They look quite nice, and I have a big arse.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

Those that use them swear by them.

Beware the breaking in period though.

[amnesia182]

For a road bike / commuter you'd be hard pushed to beat one of these

[Randy Winkman]

amnesia182 said:

For a road bike / commuter you'd be hard pushed to beat one of these

Agree 100%

[DrMekon]

Parrot of Doom said:

What about the Brookes saddles? They look quite nice, and I have a big arse.

Depends on what you do on the bike - if comfort and distance are more important than speed, go for it. I have a B17 on my commuting/audax bike, and wouldn't be without it. The take a few hundred miles to break in (ie mold to the shape of your arse), and after that, they get get better and better. Mines done just shy of 20000km now, and it is wonderfully comfy - you just forget it is there - so much less sweaty than normal saddles. If you ride on the drops a lot, a team pro or swift/swallow are a better bet than a B17. Team Pros require an arse of iron to break in, whereas the swift and swallow are both meant to be immediately comfy.

[Parrot of Doom]

I tend to ride along at about 13-14mph, 20-35 miles usually, six days a week.

I think I'll give the spoon saddle a go for now, seeing as I've just pulled my front hub apart and noted that the bearings on one side are a nice bronze colour, and have mashed the hub up properly. Think I'll slap my 20-year-old 105/Mavic wheel on until I decide what to replace it with.

Modern components are absolutely crap at the cheap end of things - I still have some gear that's positively ancient and that was pretty cheap, and still going strong. The 105/Mavic wheelset on my old Mercian is a case in point, tens of thousands of miles and not a single problem.

[Synchromesh]

Randy Winkman said:

amnesia182 said:

For a road bike / commuter you'd be hard pushed to beat one of these

Agree 100%

Which, other than in name, is the same as this...

Synchromesh said:

The Madison Flux is quite good, and good value @ c. £17

I bought the Flux in the end as I preferred the look.

[Chicane-UK]

I've got Charge Spoon's on both of my bikes and rate them highly..

[The Walrus]

Parrot of Doom said:

What about the Brookes saddles? They look quite nice, and I have a big arse.

Just because you have a wide rump does not mean you require a wide saddle, I am 100kg and have a 38 inch waste so you may think I need a bigger saddle but it is the opposite, I know this probably has been said but try your LBS mine let me have a couple of test saddles after giving a refundable deposit and I settled on a Specialised toupe 130mm after trying both the 143mm Toupe and a fizik gamma and selle italia something or other.

[Fume troll]

Another Charge Spoon owner here, it's good. I found it needed to be tipped forward a smidge compared with my old saddle though.

Cheers,

FT.

[clonmult]

Do those Charge Spoons have any irritating little ventilation holes on the top of the seat? The sort of things that happily let it absorb water and turn into a most wonderful sponge?

The standard seat on my Trek FX is comfy enough, its just that I sometimes leave it outside, forget to put a bag over the seat, and then when i next come back to it, sit down and .... squish. One wet backside, due to the seats wonderful ventilation system.

[paranoid airbag]

amnesia182 said:

For a road bike / commuter you'd be hard pushed to beat one of these

certainly looks the part. How many here ride on a saddle before buying? I'm probably going to need one, bit worried about buying on the 'net without checking, although I suppose a ride around a car park isn't going to tell you much about how you'll be feeling after 90 miles either.

[The Walrus]

paranoid airbag said:

certainly looks the part. How many here ride on a saddle before buying? I'm probably going to need one, bit worried about buying on the 'net without checking, although I suppose a ride around a car park isn't going to tell you much about how you'll be feeling after 90 miles either.

Maybe not but you would be suprised how wrong a saddle can feel after you had one that fits you well.

[walm]

clonmult said:

Do those Charge Spoons have any irritating little ventilation holes on the top of the seat? The sort of things that happily let it absorb water and turn into a most wonderful sponge?

The standard seat on my Trek FX is comfy enough, its just that I sometimes leave it outside, forget to put a bag over the seat, and then when i next come back to it, sit down and .... squish. One wet backside, due to the seats wonderful ventilation system.

They do have those holes, but don't seem to absorb that much water in the rain. They really aren't very squidgy at all.
I love mine - 6k miles in and it is still going very strong.

[Parrot of Doom]

I bought a tan-coloured Charge Spoon, and I've also ordered one of these:

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/23824/Ho...

I tried to reinstall new bearings in my knackered wheel, it sounded like a set of keys in a biscuit tin and rotated as smoothly as a chicken's neck, so I think I'll bin that wheel

[amnesia182]

Parrot of Doom said:

I bought a tan-coloured Charge Spoon

Good job !!!

;-)