I'm under 200lbs now but I absolutely wasn't when I got really into riding a few years ago (through about last summer) so hopefully this slimmed down dude is still allowed here!
Originally Posted by
DrIsotope
The takeaway as that your buttocks do not know what things cost. I don't own a saddle that cost less than $100, and this is absolutely not by choice. This is money paid so that I don't get murdered by my own backside.
Rumor has it that there are folks out there that can just put anything saddle-shaped on a bike and ride it. The width and the shape almost don't matter. I am not one of those people.
I'm in the same boat. My personal favorite BY A MILE is the Gilles Berthoud saddle on my Norther. It's... Extremely not cheap but I can do 100 miles on it and still feel totally fine when I get off. When I started riding, my first ride over 20 miles was on a hybrid with a super cushy sprung saddle and I couldn't walk the next day. It took three days before I could walk without limping. About a week to stop hurting all together. Breaking in new leather saddles is no fun (and the GB took longer than the Brooks I had been using, though I suspect my reduced weight might have something to do with that) but it's worth damn near any price to be a function human AFTER riding.