ChrisN83

What are some suggestions for nice looking yet comfortable saddles? When I ride right now dont wear cycling shorts...just cruising around with normal shorts but would like a much more comfortable saddle....

non-fixie 

I almost never use cycling shorts (only for C&V events, and even then only wool) and prefer smooth leather saddles. They work well for me, whatever I am wearing, pants-wise.

SJX426 

@ChirsN83 - General question will get general answer.
For comfort, you need to know your sit bone distance. It will vary depending on the position on the saddle. Narrower when leaned over and wider when sitting upright. Once you know the measurement, you will be on your way to a plethora of options!
Do not get lulled into soft cushy saddles. Even a hard leather saddle can break into the most comfortable saddle you will keep for years. I have one that is almost 50 years old and I don't know that it would be any less comfortable at 300 miles than it is when I get on.

If you haven't read this yet.....Brooks saddle questions... - Bike Forums

rando_couche

Brooks B17 works best for me, regardless of what I'm wearing. (And I've NEVER needed to "break one in" - they fit just fine right out of the box.

ollo_ollo

Any well broken in Brooks. I'm partial to the B15 or B17 or Professional, but most comfortable I ever sat on was the B72 on the Raleigh Sports that was my commuter bike back in the early 80's. Bike was used, cost $35 (going rate for a campus bike back then). Its saddle was well worn, with deep depressions that just happened to perfectly align with my sit bones. The B17 and Professional are both comfortable right out of the box, but show noticeable improvement after 300 or 400 miles on those(less expensive, that have thinner leather. The more expensive models have thicker leather and can take several thousand miles of riding to fully break in.

randyjawa 

A comfortable saddle for one person might be the saddle from the underworld for another. Male or female makes a difference also. For my money, a Brooks B17 is probably the most comfortable saddle that I have used and I have used lots...


This saddle and I are old friends and have shared thousands of kilometers together. It is mounted on my early eighties Bianchi which I keep in Jamaica, where I used to spend the Canadian winter months riding...


This is the saddle that I use the most these days, mounted to my daily rider, a turn of the century Marinoni. I can honestly feel safe recommending this saddle but that still means little or even nothing...


But for you, those suggestions might prove to be misleading. Sorry that I cannot be more specific. In fact, I bet that there are lots of different answers to what is or is not comfortable, when it comes to bicycle saddles.

One thing that I know for sure, your behind must toughen up a wee bit for any saddle to be truly comfortable. At the start of each riding season, last year's comfort saddle does not feel all that comfortable simply because I am not used to it, thanks to a four or five month lack of bike riding during the Canadian winter. Had the bike out several times this year and the comfort factor has improved each ride. My butt is getting more accustomed to the ride, now that the warm weather has finally arrived (did not go to Jamaica this year due to the pandemic)...

genejockey 

One person's "like sitting on a cloud" is another person's "ass hatchet", so my suggestion is to find a saddle you like, that you can ride for hours without pain or numbness, and then buy a bunch of them. That's what I did. The thing is, I only have 5 of them, and they stopped making them 15-20 years ago. So bikes #6 and #7 have the saddles they came with. The Rolls on #6 is not too bad, but the Concor on #7 might need replacing.

seypat

If we're talking still in production, the Selle Turbo 1980 is my choice. I can do a century on one of those straight out of the box. Otherwise, something similar like an old Vetta, Kashimax or Avocet will do.

https://www.statebicycle.com/product...addle-3-colors

Shrevvy 

My two favorite are the Concor and Turbo. I buy those when I see one at a reasonable price. The Rolls works for me as well. A couple weeks ago, I put a Brooks Cambium C15 on my Zunow. I don't have a lot of miles on it yet, but I like it so far. Everyone is different though.

PugRider

If you're not steering clear of modern saddles, I can second the Brooks cambium endorsement, and my butt has never met a WTB saddle it didn't like. I seem to gravitate toward their "Rocket" model.

scarlson 

I'll echo what's been said above. It's a very personal decision and unfortunately you may need to figure it out via trial and error. I say unfortunately because good quality saddles can be quite expensive.

I will add one point that I think hasn't been addressed. Leather topped saddles, whether Brooks type tensioned leather or other plastic/foam/leather, are often tanned or dyed or painted, and the dye can rub off onto your shorts, especially if you are sweating a lot. I've ruined pants this way, with Brooks (honey brown color ruined blue pants) and Terry saddles (black color ruined khaki pants). That's the main reason I switched to wearing cycling shorts. I don't find them any more comfortable, but I do find that they manage my sweat better. For commuting in hot weather, I make damn sure I am wearing something dark colored!

Another thing to add is that you can often at least figure out whether you're a person that likes a more "triangle shaped" saddle, or if you like a "narrow nosed" saddle. Some saddles taper more quickly down to a long narrow nose, whereas others are more shaped like a triangle, tapering over a longer region of the saddle. If that makes sense. Not sure if I'm explaining it well. I personally can't stand the triangle shaped saddles. The backs of my inner thighs get pressure from the saddle and after about 50 miles what started as mild discomfort becomes excruciating pain. But under 20 miles I have to try to notice it.

I really like the older Terry saddles. I think they are good quality and used ones can be had quite cheaply. I also like the Brooks Professional and the (unfortunately discontinued) Team Professional. They fit me right out of the box, with a wide supportive rear end, tapering quickly to a long nose. Newer Terry seem more triangle shaped and don't work for me. Same with later Idéale, which is why I haven't worked with them.

zandoval 

The industry standard when you can afford it... Brooks B-17, but your talking $$$$ €€€€ ...

You can also try these for a start: Tioga Spyder Twintail, Origin8 Classic Lite, Planet Bike A.R.S. Classic...

And the search goes on...

tcs

The saddle has been the number 1 changed/upgraded part of a bicycle for over 130 years.

From Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome, first published in 1900:

“Then there are saddles,” I went on—I wished to get this lesson home to him. “Can you think of any saddle ever advertised that you have not tried?”

He said: “It has been an idea of mine that the right saddle is to be found.”

I said: “You give up that idea; this is an imperfect world of joy and sorrow mingled. There may be a better land where bicycle saddles are made out of rainbow, stuffed with cloud; in this world the simplest thing is to get used to something hard. There was that saddle you bought in Birmingham; it was divided in the middle, and looked like a pair of kidneys.”

He said: “You mean that one constructed on anatomical principles.”

“Very likely,” I replied. “The box you bought it in had a picture on the cover, representing a sitting skeleton—or rather that part of a skeleton which does sit.”

He said: “It was quite correct; it showed you the true position of the—”

I said: “We will not go into details; the picture always seemed to me indelicate.”

He said: “Medically speaking, it was right.”

“Possibly,” I said, “for a man who rode in nothing but his bones. I only know that I tried it myself, and that to a man who wore flesh it was agony. Every time you went over a stone or a rut it nipped you; it was like riding on an irritable lobster. You rode that for a month.”

“I thought it only right to give it a fair trial,” he answered.

I said: “You gave your family a fair trial also; if you will allow me the use of slang. Your wife told me that never in the whole course of your married life had she known you so bad tempered, so un-Christian like, as you were that month. Then you remember that other saddle, the one with the spring under it.”

He said: “You mean ‘the Spiral.’”

I said: “I mean the one that jerked you up and down like a Jack-in-the-box; sometimes you came down again in the right place, and sometimes you didn’t. I am not referring to these matters merely to recall painful memories, but I want to impress you with the folly of trying experiments at your time of life.”

merziac

@scarlson, Headsup,

The Team Pro's are in stock right now on the Brooks website.

https://www.brooksengland.com/en_us/...o-special.html

70sSanO

You’ll need to figure out is best for you. I went from a Brooks Team Pro to a WTB Pure V on my road bike. The logic was pretty simple... if it worked well on trails riding a hardtail, should be as good or better on pavement.

John

seedsbelize 

Just to drive home the point. I cannot comfortably ride a B17. Too wide. B17 Narrow is the most comfy saddle out there. I also cannot ride a Team Pro. It just doesn't fit me. I also had to send my C17 to a new home, but very much enjoy the C15.
I very rarely use padded shorts.

canklecat

For riding without padded shorts it's hard to beat a memory foam type saddle with Lycra fabric covering. It basically puts the same material as padded cycling shorts on the bike rather than your body. Really comfy in hot, sweaty weather and rough roads.

My favorite for my upright hybrid is an older Bell, probably from the 1990s, and it's still in great shape. It's wide and well suited to an upright bike (my hybrid has Nitto albatross swept bars), with a slight depression for perineum relief. It's been fine for leisurely rides up to 50 miles or so. I mostly ride that bike on casual group rides, with lots of stops.

I also have one from Terry, but it's shaped for a woman's anatomy and doesn't suit me. The padding and Lycra fabric are fine, but the saddle shape doesn't suit my narrow bony butt.

Serfas still makes a few in their Tailbones lineup. Some of those saddles have been discontinued but are still available as new old stock online and in some shops.

If I ever get around to either flipping the albatross bar on my hybrid, or switching to drops for gravel rides, I may consider an ISM or comparable saddle with short nose/no nose and split for perineum relief to accommodate the more aggressive forward-lean.

If I wanted a more conventional leather saddle I'd consider a Selle Anatomica with pre-broken-in leather for a hammock type ride. Several local riders use those. I've test ridden their bikes around the block and the saddles are immediately comfortable. The owners say they're great for longer rides too. The only catch with Selle Anatomica is choosing the model appropriate for your weight. Occasionally I see complaints of bent rails but those appear to be due to riders choosing saddles intended for lighter weight riders.

Korina

This seems timely.

Chombi1 

You have to consider that a good part of riding comfort is avoiding as much as possible, the amount of seams on your cycling shorts. Seams are where a lot of pressure, friction and chafing can happen against your skin. That's why cycling shorts are designed they way they are with the minimum of seams and what there is, is finished in way to present the lowest profile and located in strategic areas on the cycling shorts so they are mostly away from the high pressure areas against the saddle, while "regular" shorts or pants never take this into consideration.