# Comfy Saddle



## gelfy666 (8 Feb 2014)

has anyone any recommendations for saddle that wont cripple me after a couple of hours... got a budget of £35.


----------



## Crackle (8 Feb 2014)

Charge Spoon. I find a saddle less important on a mtn bike as you spend more time out of it (I'm assuming off-road here).


----------



## Cubist (8 Feb 2014)

You'll need to be more specific about the problems the old one is causing you, ie, all the time, at the start of a ride, at the end of a ride, more than five miles or so, only when you complete a century, on rock gardens but not bermed singletrack.......

Do you wear padded shorts? 
What sort of riding?
Does the bike fit and is the current saddle set to the right height and tilt?

I have Charge Spoons on all my bikes as they appear to be Cubist's Arse shaped. *OAMV.


(*other arses may vary)


----------



## smokeysmoo (8 Feb 2014)

Many will recommend the Charge Spoon, I won't recommend any as saddles, (BTW I hate the Spoon though), are such a personal thing IME, one persons armchair is another guys razor blade!

Best bet IMO is get along to a retailer that has the facilty to measure your sit bones, (many Specialized retailers offer this service).

Alternatively there is a CC saddle library HERE, but bear in mind the last post was April 2013, so how much it will may be is debatable


----------



## Roadrider48 (8 Feb 2014)

Selle italia bodymatch for me. Like sitting at home from day one. Not sure it's in budget though.


----------



## gelfy666 (8 Feb 2014)

recently i did the Marin Trail, and after an hour or so i found the Btwin saddle very uncorfortable and ended up with a nasty sore between my 2 delicate areas lol... even with padded sorts, could be ive just gone soft with not cycling for a few years.


----------



## goody (8 Feb 2014)

If you haven't ridden for a few years then no saddle will be comfortable after an hour. Give it a bit more time, a couple of weeks riding for about an hour a day then decide if you need to change. (as long as the saddle is setup correctly).


----------



## Herbie (8 Feb 2014)

gelfy666 said:


> has anyone any recommendations for saddle that wont cripple me after a couple of hours... got a budget of £35.



A Brooks if you stretch your budget a little....your bum will thank you


----------



## SatNavSaysStraightOn (8 Feb 2014)

Herbie said:


> A Brooks if you stretch your budget a little....your bum will thank you


mine didn't! 
hated brooks saddles but then I have no issues with +100km days in the saddle on my stock saddle on my rockhopper.


----------



## Mo1959 (8 Feb 2014)

I wasted a fortune trying different saddles and ended up sticking with the cheapest one!

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s81p2570


----------



## Cubist (9 Feb 2014)

gelfy666 said:


> recently i did the Marin Trail, and after an hour or so i found the Btwin saddle very uncorfortable and ended up with a nasty sore between my 2 delicate areas lol... even with padded sorts, could be ive just gone soft with not cycling for a few years.


I'm going to hazard a guess you were wearing baggies, and had the saddle at roadie height? On rough ground, especially rocky stuff like the Marin, (great trail by the way!) you're going to get a lot of bumping and grinding. I find with baggies that there is almost always a seam, and that gets rolled backwards and forwards on your perineum. I get sores if I ride an XC ride for any distance. The choice is either to ditch the baggies and just ride in padded tights or shorts and/or get a dropper seatpost that gets the saddle out of the way (or of course stop and change saddle height depending on terrain) and gets you into the habit of standing up on most of the techy bumpy bits.

Folk talk about padded saddles being a no-no on long rides, but to be fair that really only applies to long road rides IMO. WTB saddles have padding and perineum channels, and are very popular on MTBs. The Rocket V is a good value starting point. I had one on my Canyon-framed susser, and it never caused any problems..... you don't spend enough time sitting down to be ground away by squishiness.


----------



## shouldbeinbed (9 Feb 2014)

I like Brooks saddles but they are more expensive & invariably require a breaking in period before you start to 'get' the hype, so wouldn't be instantly to your liking probably.

Before you start spending money on accessories hoping to find 'the one', make sure you're fitted properly to the bike. Little adjustments in saddle height or tilt or fore/aft adjustment, bar height & rake if possible, even pedal crank length could turn a torture device into an armchair overnight.


----------



## gelfy666 (9 Feb 2014)

yep i was in baggies ... and the saddle was up quite high


----------



## numbnuts (9 Feb 2014)

Herbie said:


> A Brooks if you stretch your budget a little....your bum will thank you


I did 27,000 miles on a Brooks and it was still a pain in the arse


----------



## Psycolist (9 Feb 2014)

SMP-TRK every time. However, what Smokeysmoo said. Very personal things saddles. But the TRK can be bought brand new for your budget, and if it dosnt suit, you will be able to re-sell it on fleabay very easily, without losing a significant ammount of money.


----------



## Herbie (9 Feb 2014)

numbnuts said:


> I did 27,000 miles on a Brooks and it was still a pain in the arse



thats a lot of miles and suffering...was it on trial then?


----------



## numbnuts (9 Feb 2014)

Herbie said:


> thats a lot of miles and suffering...was it on trial then?


No everybody told be that Brooks is the best saddle to have and I persevered with it, it was OK for 30 miles, but after that it was a real pain and was told it would bed in to the shape of my bottom, but it never did. Over the years I have tried many saddles but every one is a pain in the arse, last year I tried this one, it's still a bit of a novelty and the jury are still out on is as yet.


----------



## Herbie (10 Feb 2014)

numbnuts said:


> No everybody told be that Brooks is the best saddle to have and I persevered with it, it was OK for 30 miles, but after that it was a real pain and was told it would bed in to the shape of my bottom, but it never did. Over the years I have tried many saddles but every one is a pain in the arse, last year I tried this one, it's still a bit of a novelty and the jury are still out on is as yet.


Sorry you were unsatisfied with the Brooks...some folk just haven't got the bum for a Brooks...i'm lucky that i have one...my Brooks was comfy straight out of the box


----------



## JohnClimber (11 Feb 2014)

The new Charge Scoop will be on my new build after Several Charge Spoons
http://www.chargebikes.com/parts-collection/scoop


----------



## Salad Dodger (14 Feb 2014)

If your local bike shop stocks Madison, then the Madison Flux saddle is virtually a clone of a Charge Spoon and may well come in a bit cheaper than a Spoon....

I use a Flux on my MTB, and have been very well pleased with it. Maybe my backside is just Flux shaped!


----------

