What’s your favorite saddle?

[wheelsONfire]

Tim, a pity you don't live close to me. You could have tried saddles. If you would ask me, the one thing that is the most crucial.... well you got it, - saddle(s)!
I've been into saddles for many years so i guess i have developed some hate/love relation to the subject.

[Beancouter]

I have tried a few saddles, typically WW. Consistent with many above, the lupina padded is awesome (albeit I have chewed through 2 round rail ones, I think from being on my turbo).

That said, I am currently riding an EC90 power saddle from AliExpress - 123g and £25. I have a bad back and it just seems to work for me, I would say more so than the Lupina.

Horses for courses I guess.


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[Papey]

Whats the go with the shorter and wider saddles like the prologo dimension? I just measured sit bones at 10.5cm, have been riding a prologo scratch 2 with cutout for a few years but find I still get a bit of numbness and soreness on the sitbones - its definitely setup correctly though.

[AJS914]

TimF, when I want to try a saddle I look for slightly used ones on ebay. I figure at worst I can resell it and get most of my money back.

[Schadenfreude]

TimF, when I want to try a saddle I look for slightly used ones on ebay. I figure at worst I can resell it and get most of my money back.

You could also try Facebook bike specific buy and sell groups. There are some pretty good ones in Australia, with all sorts of saddles being sold. But there are several brands that do either a money back guarantee (Specialized, Bontrager, Pro) or a test saddles (participating retailers - SMP Selle, Fizik), so I've tried to exhaust those first.

[Schadenfreude]

This SQLab saddle is just brilliant.

I'm planning on trying the SQLab Ergowave 612 Active soon. Someone mentioned BIGGRIDE in Australia, funnily I just ordered the fitting kit from them.

What do you sit bones measure at? I have had mine measured on an Ass-o-meter at 100mm - I don't really want to order anything to wide as I have found wider seats uncomfortable in the past. e.g. the Fizik Aliante - the wings just dug into my thighs.

Mine are just over 130mm and I went for the 150mm (as Mr Gib says above they suggest going for the widest you need as slightly too wide is better than slightly too narrow). 100mm would suggest a 12cm version which is damn narrow but if that's where you are....

See what the fitting kit says (also to be honest you can measure them easily enough with any sort of card etc.)

Cool thanks. Yeah, I'll give the fitting kit a go first. I have tried to use some corrugated craft card, but the sit bone positions weren't too obvious.

Biggride.com.au mention a 60 day guarantee on the SQ Lab saddles, so I guess I could swap if the 12cm size saddle doesn't work out. Not sure if the guarantee applies for overseas customers.

[Ringo]

Ι stuck to smp full carbon and bought it!
What can I say? I tried my fair share of saddles and I forgot the rest when I rode this beauty.
Best parts on a bike are those that you forget they exist and “fc” is the last thing I’m thinking when I ride.
Like most I was very skeptical about the design, price, weight and most of all comfort .
I bought a cheap replica from China to try. I was thinking: If a knock off is so good then I can’t wait for the real deal!
It’s not WW but 100g is a decent weight for such a good saddle.

[kgt]

[zefs]

Everything in this thread tells me to buy SQLab. Price in the UK is very high though

Quick q. I've tried all of these sit bone measurements, these seem to be all over the place. Some sitting upright, others attempting to get in a ride position with a skateboard. My results vary by CM's so aren't helping. What is the most effective way to measure this (outside of going to a shop)? I've done the A4 paper over a wet paper towl and cardboard!

Cardboard gave me the same measurement as the bike fitting tool, sitting upright with knees upwards to assist with pressure.
But even with the measurement, you could be between 2 sizes. I found that with 143mm saddles I was trying to move as far back on the widest part of the saddle which was causing a few issues so I moved to a 155mm one (125mm sitbone measurement) and it fixed this, so it's a good indication about saddle width.

Here's a good video that covers a lot about saddle choice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B94mvr3mQec

[3Pio]

If u dont care too much about weight, consider Selle Italia Novus Carbonio Flow S2. 190 gm Actual weight, and i have it few rides, but seem like most comfortable saddle i ever had... It's 137mm saddle width and 5 mm wider then my standard SLR Carbonio Flow...

[Sojodave]

I was on a Specialized Power Expert Saddle 155 for 2 years, but I got in a crash and chewed it up. I tried to use it indoors on Zwift, but I started getting uncomfortable. I tried the Specialized Power Arc saddle, but I couldn't stop slipping on it.

I then tried the Pro Stealth saddle and I was comfortable on it, but I got a saddle soar. I don't know if the Pro Stealth was the reason for the saddle soar, but I wanted to try something else.

I went nuclear and tried the leather Selle Anatomica H2. It weighed 530 grams, it looked beautiful, but I had to have the nose tilted 3% in order to stop slipping. I feel like I was sitting on the horn of a horse saddle. I then tried the Selle Italia SLR Max. Great looking saddle, but it is completely flat. I am 6'4" with 130 sit bones and the SLR Max is 145mm wide. It wasn't painful, but I always felt it was too narrow.

I decided I was going to go back to a Specialized Power Saddle and I was going to get the Pro version. I went to the local Specialized dealer, and they had the Power Pro Elaston for the same price as the regular Power Pro. The guy at the store said he has the Elaston Power Pro on his bike and he raved about it. He said that Specialized has figured out a way to get a soft cushy saddle to work for distance by adding individual pads instead of one big pad. I have 30 days to try it out, but I must admit, it is super comfy. I've done about 150 miles and I've been pain free. I've got high hopes that this is the one.

[tarmackev]

After back surgery and dropping saddle height by 30mm and raising the bars my old saddles aren’t comfy anymore.
Been through my collection and ended up on a Fabric Tri Elite saddle, now on all my road bikes.
Similar to the specialised power saddle.
Does the job for me, no numbness in the man bits and just as comfy after 3 hours.

If anyone’s struggling the SMP, Specialized Power saddle, Fabric Tri saddle are certainly worth a try.
The battle cage mount on the back does come off.

[TheKaiser]

Ι stuck to smp full carbon and bought it!
What can I say? I tried my fair share of saddles and I forgot the rest when I rode this beauty.
Best parts on a bike are those that you forget they exist and “fc” is the last thing I’m thinking when I ride.
Like most I was very skeptical about the design, price, weight and most of all comfort .
I bought a cheap replica from China to try. I was thinking: If a knock off is so good then I can’t wait for the real deal!
It’s not WW but 100g is a decent weight for such a good saddle.

I have a leather covered-nylon shelled SMP, which I like, and a full carbon SMP replica from China, which I also like, except for that it is stiff as a board. I've ridden and liked full carbon saddles before, but they all had some give and flex to compensate for the lack of padding. What I've been curious to know is, does the genuine SMP have substantially more flex than the Chinese replica? The genuine SMP is insanely expensive, so it would be great to confirm how rigid it is, and you're the first person I have come across who has both models. In general I've found Chinese carbon saddles to be very rigid, whereas Euro ones are generally fairly flexy, but the SMP shape is so unique, that I could imagine it being its own animal in that regard.

[kgt]

I have never tried an SMP replica but I can assure you that an SMP with carbon rails is more comfortable than an SMP with inox rails. The inox rail SMP has almost no give, the carbon rail version has some but not a lot.

[bikeboy1tr]

I have been able to get out on the full carbon SMP more lately and cant really tell any significant difference between it and the Composit SMP as far as stiffness goes. They feel very similiar. I know I run the nose down more on the Carbon then on the Composit to get the same feel but other than that not much.