Roadies..what seat do you recommend for comfort?

[slow&rusty]

Hey Guys - Just got back from a 70mile ride and its definitely time to upgrade the Serfas seat on my Cannondale..what do you recommend?

I have a fairly narrow frame (6'1", 175lbs).

I have heard good things about the Selle Italia Flites.

Thanks.
Yasin

[John Rogers]

When I was racing back in the 70s and 80s I had Brooks seats on all my bikes, even my Vitus aluminum frame model. I guess they are pretty old school but they do conform to your sitting position on the bike over a little time. I would have to ask if the bike is adjusted exactly as you should have it? I remember that when sitting only the two points from the hip bones should actually have any contact with the seat so there should be no numbness or pain even after a 100 mile ride?

[vash]

I love cheek hugging my selle Italia gel. Lemme snap a pic. I need a second one since I moved this to my off road ride.

[Nostril Cheese]

Bebe Buell

[Jim Bremner]

Which Serfas seat? Are you having Tissue pain or bone pain? What are you wearing for shorts? Are you chaffing? How is the seat angled? how are your wrists and hands? How are your feet?

[wdfifteen]

Watching this tread. Biking is very uncomfortable for me anymore. I've got hemorrhoids, so my ass is tender and my wrists get a tingling sensation after about 20 minutes. I've got an old school road bike with wide, high handlebars and a gel seat of some kind.

[jyl]

Agree, check saddle set-up first. Default should be saddle is level. Your weight should be supported by the wider part of your pelvis (see "ischial" on the linked pic) resting on the wide rear of the saddle, rather than by the central part of your pelvis (the "pubic" part) pressing on the central spine of the saddle.

http://www.lollylegs.com/images/pelvisposterior.jpg

Saddles are really personal, hard to say what will fit whom. One man's feather pillow is another man's butt hatchet.

Generally you want no or minimal padding. With a thickly padded seat, the bones of your pelvis press down through the padding, leaving the padding to push up harder on the parts of your butt that are not bony. Like the nerves going to your ahem ahem.

But some need a wider saddle, some a narrower, to line up with our pelvis.

I have a couple of leather tensioned saddles (Brooks and a Taiwanese knock-off), a Selle Italia Flite, a Selle Italia Turbo, and an Avocet. The leather seats seem to carry more of my weight on the ischial tuberosity, but the othe saddles are lighter.

[Jim Bremner]

1-2mm up in the nose is how most pros ride.

[crb07]

All 4 bikes have a SMP Evolution.

[nzporsche944s2]

Specialised Phenom Team Saddle works for me but everyones butt is different.

Specialised were really helpful. They have a kind of gel pad that you sit on so your bones leave an indentation and they can measure the right width. Then they give you loan saddles to see what works for you. Really professional service all the way.

[jyl]

What do you guys think about saddles with cut outs? I've never had one.

[Jim Bremner]

Originally Posted by jyl

What do you guys think about saddles with cut outs? I've never had one.

Beats the hell out of riding on the seatpost. Try it!

[John Rogers]

I noticed the original poster is in Colorado and there used to be dozens, if not more, very professional shops there? The bike needs to be adjusted correctly and the seat is generally the last item to pick. Here is how we used to do it "back in the day".

- Wear the shorts and shoes you'll be wearing.
- Set seat height initially with 3 or 4 inches out of the seat tube.
- Support the bike well and get on it and run pedal to the bottom of the stroke and there should be 10 degrees or so bend in the knee and the same with the foot pointing down about the same. If not then move the seat up or down.
- Adjust the seat front to back so a plumb line falls through the knee joint to the pedal axle when the pedal is at the front and horizontal.
- Now bend over and put your hands on the bottom of the bars and your back should be nearly flat and the elbows bent 25 to 30 degrees. This acts as a shock absorbing part for your body and keeps the hands from getting numb.
- Now sit up some and grasp the top of the bars and with elbows bent some you should be sitting fairly straight. This is what we used to use when climbing hills and I was TERRIBLE at it, I was a road race sprinter and track racer!
- If you can not be comfortable then try raising/lowering the stem/bars and you might have to switch the stem to one that is shorter or longer and has a different angle?

Back in 1983/1984 Penn State spent tons of $$$$$ checking all this stuff as a work up for the olympics and after a lot of time found these steps, which the Italians had been doing for many years were pretty much exact! I guess now there are computer programs that can calculate all these settings but when I was getting some mtn. bike tires last year the sales person in the shop still had a potential customer stand over the top tube to size the bike! Yikes!!!!

[crb07]

Originally Posted by jyl

What do you guys think about saddles with cut outs? I've never had one.

Will never go back. SMP Evolution for 5 hours and as comfortable as can be expected.
Find a shop that lets you test saddles.

[Joe Bob]

Mid $200....not a good candidate for naked bike day, just sayin.....

[vash]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Mid $200....not a good candidate for naked bike day, just sayin.....

why? cuz it's white?

[jyl]

The bits slip through the keyhole, then you do a sudden dismount?

[John Rogers]

Is that a "rear view" of how the seat sits? Hummmmmm

[slow&rusty]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I am no longer living in Colorado, so no convenient place to check seat height and overall geometry. I guess I could go to a local bike shop here in Houston.

My hands, feet and legs all feel great after the 70 mile ride this weekend, the soreness is pelvic for sure. No chaffing at all, shorts are 7 panel I bought from Performance.

Thanks for the detailed reply John Rogers.

Yasin

[Joe Bob]

Review.....

Selle SMP Evolution Saddle

Selle SMP's saddle range is scientifically designed with two things in mind- performance and comfort. Thanks to their patented unique design, Selle SMP has washed away the myth that performance and comfort are mutually exclusive variables.

Starting at the front, the dropped down nose is designed to provide a comfortable, flat base for those times when you find yourself shifted forward such as when staying seated for a long climb. The other upside to the dropped down nose is that the chances of snagging your shorts when getting out of the saddle are greatly reduced.

Then, the wide central channel prevents the crushing of all your tender bits. And when SMP says all, they're talking about parts of your anatomy you probably haven't even considered. From tip to tail you're going to be protected.

The last variable primarily focuses on proper weight distribution. SMP's swoopy profile just isn't for looks; it helps evenly spread the load between the buttocks and the ischiatic tuberosities which are commonly referred to as the sit bones. Additionally, the design rotates the pelvis into its most efficient position for maximum pedaling power.

The Evolution is a narrow racing saddle with a width of 129mm and is best suited towards smaller, lighter riders (175lbs and under). It's 7mm narrower than the Glider saddle and has proportionately less padding.

SMP saddles use a standard seat rail design that will fit any seatpost and offer a whopping 8cm of fore/aft adjustment. However, due to their unique design, SMP saddles have some very specific, yet easy to follow, directions regarding proper set up. Be sure to read the manual when installing your saddle.

Selle SMP Evolution Saddle

Dimensions: 266 x 129mm
Weight: 230g* (manufacturer's listed weight)
Rails: AISI 304 Tubular Steel
Padding: Foamed elastomer
Cover: Leather

PLEASE NOTE: We weighed the black saddle and it tipped our scale at 263g, white at 241g, however, SMP's website states a gram weight of 230 for both.