Need a new saddle - suggestions??
 

I ride a 2015 Scott Foil 30. My bike has the original seat which is a Syncros saddle. Two months ago I crashed... a broken rib and collapsed lung resulted! I’m back to my old self and back riding but my seat was ripped up pretty badly in the crash. It still works but is now pretty ugly and has one side ripped up badly enough that I need to replace it.

I want to get a new set and don’t care if it is Scott / Syncros or another brand as long as it is nice. What would be a good replacement? I’d like something similar to what I had as I’m used to it.

I ride 3x a week mostly for fun and excercise - I usually do 15-25 Mike’s at a time and occasionally longer rides. I have done a century but only once..

I was going to order a new Syncros seat - I figure I’m used to the seat I had and if I get a similar brand it’ll be a similar shape but maybe a more expensive one will be more comfortable??

but if there is a better option out there I’m all ears.

im glad to be back on the bike and glad I’m still in one piece

thx!!

Saddle choice is about as personal as a bike component can be. If you can get the same saddle that worked for you before, then that's the safest and most logical choice. More expensive will likely mean less weight and better materials, but will have little bearing on comfort - that's entirely up to your arse, which doesn't care about price tags

Find out the measurements of your current saddle and buy a new one that has the same measurements and shape at a cost that works.

Thats a way better process than having randos on a forum suggest saddles that will feel like asshatchets or be hundreds too expensive for your budget.

Go to a Specialized dealer and get your sit bones measured. Usually you get a saddle that is at least 20mm.

Fabric makes great saddles. I have two Scoops. I used to think that saddles and rear ends needed to be matched but I honestly think that is a myth. There are good saddles and bad saddles.

I have been riding the Specialize Romin 143mm models for about 10 years and recently moved over to the Bontrager Verse, but in a 135mm width. It is really comfortable and really made a difference on long rides. Worth a look.

As LiteSpud said saddles are very personal. If you like the one you ripped up can you not get another? Having said that I agree with Mulberry20 that Fabric make great saddles; I have a Scoop and a Line. I think I prefer the Line but they're both very comfortable. I also had a Fizik Arione for years that I loved - sadly the back broke and I couldn't afford to replace it which is what lead to my trying the Fabric.

So, I had to look up the Synchros RR2.0 saddle and find its specs to answer the OP's question. It turns out that it is a moderately narrow, long-ish and very flat saddle. And it weighs in the 225 gram range. So, find any saddle like that, or buy a take-off on eBay for $40. I have ridden dozens of similar saddles. Before Performance folded its retail outlets, they had a Forte saddle that was a striking copy of the RR2.0. And it weighed only 185 grams. There are many in the Fizik line, Sella Italia, Ergon. Heck, the old E3 Form saddle was wonderful, if you can find one. Folks who know hoard them like a Leprechaun's pot-o'-gold.

. Fabric Scoop Saddle

I actually thought about looking for a leftover off eBay but I can’t find any and honestly I think to see if they came on my bike while acceptable is nothing special. It was color matched the frame but aside from that it’s nothing fantastic.

i’m guessing if I find something with similar specs I could find something easily in the 100 to 150 range that would be just as good if not lots better I’m just curious if I should stick with the flat seat or try something that slightly curved.

given how much variation there are in seats I wonder if some of the bike shops will let you take one home try it out and bring it back and swap out a handful of different seats before you actually buy one I don’t want to buy for five seats only to keep one!!!

well I don’t have any problems with my current seat for all I know I’ve just gotten used to a mediocre seat and there’s something out there that’s different than if I tried it I would love it and the only way to know is to try a whole bunch of them..

I looked up the fabric scoop it looks like a very popular seat quite a bit different from what I have made is very flat the scoop is curved.

Find a store that has a lot of tester saddles and try them. I tried about a dozen of them blind, and what I thought I wanted and what my butt wanted were very different. I was really surprised. In the end I got a Selle SMP Glider and it has been great. Your butt knows!

The Scoop comes in three profiles from flat to quite a bit of curve for upright riding. I have one flat one and one mid curve and I like them both. They are very durable and well engineered, and very reasonably priced.

Not sure if that's entirely true, but I've yet to meet anyone that's not liked their Selle Anatomica saddle, and thought it wasn't comfortable. I'm sure there will be some on here to disagree, but like I said ...no one I've ever met that actually has one.

To answer the question: no one can "recommend" a saddle for you. Finding a saddle that works for you is one of the great searchs for most cyclists.

Having gotten that out of the way, for me saddle choice doesn't matter much. I guess I'm weird but in 30 years of riding bikes I've rarely encountered a saddle I couldn't use. Cheap saddles that came with complete bikes, worn in saddles from used bikes I've purchased, expensive saddles I bought etc, they've always worked just fine. I do have some favorites:
1. Selle San Marco Regal. This is the saddle I grew up racing on and I still use it on my gravel bike.
2. Selle San Marco Concor supercorsa, the original "swoopy" saddle that's still great today. Gives you something to push against.
3. The Terry Fly: very comfortable for longer distance riding, the first saddle I used with a cut-out. A bit narrower than the above but works well.
4. Specialized Romin Evo: love the flex and scoop in this saddle great for riding in an aggressive position. Nice narrow nose. The Fabric Scoop has a similar shape.

I couldn't get the Selle Anatomica to work for me. I had to angle it pretty far nose up and I felt like I was riding the horn of a horse saddle.

I might describe a Specialized Toupe or the discontinued Alias in that way.

I just went through this. Though I am a joyriding commuter, over the years I have preferred wedgy racing seats, so went looking for one for my new hybrid. On Ebay I discovered and bought an SHC DRT, which is a narrow, flatter, near-wedge-shaped MTN bike seat so it has some bit of padding. 205 gms, titanium rails, nearly $200 10 years ago and discontinued but there are a few there for $25, new. Put it on and it has disappeared . . .I don't feel it at all. If you're like me and like all black, a black Sharpie fixed that problem.

It would be way under your budget to give it a try.

Been hearing good things about the Fabric saddles. For now, the Serfas Dorado is working for me on my road bike, and a Terry Liberator on my mtn.bike. But if either gets damaged or stops working for me, I may have to give a Fabric saddle a try. (or Selle Anatomica).

That is one saddle that had me in intense pain. It was picked out by my custom bike maker because it matched so well and looked great, and I was reluctant to take it off, but when I did it was like the feeling you get when you stop hitting yourself in the head with a hammer. Except not my head.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...68ea3cd37a.jpg


I had a B-17 (with copper rivets) on this for several years, but am now using a Berthoud:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...58ce67f940.jpg

I first purchased a H1 and played with the tilt several times before getting it right. Since the saddle is designed to cradle you, the nose will be tilted up. I simply laid a level across the saddle from the nose to the rear. Got it completely level and it's been perfect ever since.

After purchasing another bike last year, I purchased a X2 saddle because I am less than 190 lbs. Not sure if it's because I haven't ridden it enough to break it in any, but it doesn't seem to be quite as comfortable as the H1 yet. So, I'm going to put that one on my Roam hybrid, and have ordered a H2 with a carbon rail for my road bike.

But, the nose will be tilted up even if the saddle is perfectly level. For me, I've always like the nose up on all saddles and it doesn't seem excessive to me at all.

You can buy ~30 dollar, 90-110 gram carbon saddles on ebay or aliexpress. That's my vote. I have three of them. Fantastic value and the gram/dollar weight savings is second to none.

This. Our butts are as different as our faces. (No, I have not looked. But Ive been observing what works for people 50 years.)

My city has a bikeshop with a saddle "library". 25 different saddles on the shelf. Pay $25 for a "library card". Take out any seat for a week. As many times as it takes. If you find one that is "it", they sell you a new one in the box and refund your $25. Many other shops here will take back any seat that has not bee abused for full credit towards another one or if none work, store merchandise.

When you put on that new seat, carry the wrench(es) to adjust it. Stop as needed and tweak. (I have 2-bolt seatposts on all but one bike, They are wonderful for allowing systematic small changes in tilt and fore and aft position.)

Bicycle saddles - the single most important "fit" item on a bike. Done right, the seat should be something you never think about. (Well, "never" is a dream but you should have rides where it never crosses your mind.)

The N1 and the X1 are made for the same weight of rider, but the N1 is not as soft due to the fact the leather top is solid with no cutting-out. The X2 and N2 are made for the next heavier weight class according to S-A. I have an X1, N1 and a pair of H2. The H2 are a little stiffer, but it feels like they have a better shape. The X2 is stiffer than the X1 because the light-brown leather laminate on the bottom is thicker on the X2 than on the X1 and it covers the entire bottom.

I went for the C rails, as well on my H2s. The reason is that a long-setback (highly slammed) position is often what I need. The early and X-series saddles with steel rails have very long rails that extended quite far forward. The H series frame comes standard with Ti rails which are about 3 cm shorter at the front. That cutoff messes up my seating position. The carbon rail designed to lighten the saddle also has the same rail length as the original steel frames. An expensive fix for a problem that I don't think is necessary, but that's the way it is.

The "N1" in my post was a typo. I've only had a H1, X2 (which I bought because I'm under 190 lbs), now the H2 with the carbon rail.
So, I can expect the H2 to be stiffer than my H1? I got the carbon rail for the same reason, plus I don't care for the looks of the stainless steel on this particular bike it's going on. Plus, should be a slightly better ride. :rolleyes:

You got the tilt right after several tries! Good job! For my only long tour about 10 years ago I set up a SA Titanico (precursor to the X1) on my Woodrup frame to go on a 300 mile 50day group sagged tour in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. My overall training goal was to have all endurance, performance, and equipment issues resolved two weeks before the start, to be able to ride a metric century two days in a row with an off day before riding more of them. The biggest bike problem was not performance or endurance, but saddle comfort. As I worked up the distance from 20 mile days to 60, I found I could develop a Selle AnAtomica position that was good for several 20 milers in succession. Then I changed to 30 and I found I didn't really have a pedaling or aerobic performance issues, but that some new little saddle pains emerged as I passed the 20 mile mark. By now pretty good at resolving little pains I fixed it pretty quick, sometimes having to iterate a few times. This pattern of having to mess with my set up in very small ways continued into the event riding. By then I pretty much didn't need it, and since I was riding with my older cousin (our history of familial love involves constructively picking at each other, but we would give each other anything the other needed!) it's good I didn't need to display those skills. She's a rider who settled her position 30 years ago and thinks everyone else should have done so. Needless to say she did build a bike specifically for this event.

In any event, having yourself set after only a few tries is commendable and enviable. It often takes me a lot more to get sorted out.

BTW, I don't strong trust in the weight ratings SA uses. That old Titanico was made before they really had a rating system, and I weighed about 180 when I started using the saddle. I've used in on and off since then and my weight has gone up to about 205 and recently down to about 195 to 200. I still ride that saddle, it is really comfortable. I may be over stressing it, but I've now had it for nearly 12 years. I don't think it will break, but when she's gone, she's gone. Maybe at that point I'll have Rudi Mayr make it into a wide-bottom Swallow without cutout.

The "trust" point comes in because after so many years the weight ratings seem to be coming down numerically. Are the really based on stretch rather than actual durability? Even with this "lightweight" rated early Titanico, it stretched to a certain point, and seems to have stopped.

I think Selle AnAtomica is an adventure all by itself, and I recommend them! But they are not the only fine saddle out there. And I cannot claim that we heavier riders, borderline Clydes, will "be OK" with long term use of the SA saddles currently identified for lighter riders. My good experience might just be an outlier. But for someone who wants to experiment with it, the dual-hammock concept can be very comfortable.