Query Regarding Selle Bike Seats

[PedalUma]

It all Depends (tm). Vanity aside, using an Adult Under-Garment outside of your shorts might be more comfortable and convenient on longer rides, with a vanity saddle - Very long rides. They have gel for absorption in exactly all the right places.

 

[reed scott]

It all Depends (tm). Vanity aside, using an Adult Under-Garment outside of your shorts might be more comfortable and convenient on longer rides, with a vanity saddle - Very long rides. They have gel for absorption in exactly all the right places.

Well ... that's something I've never considered before.

 

[Alaskan]

I have not had good luck with gel, foam or any sort of plush or padded saddle.

I find "chamois" gel padded shorts or tights work best for me, with a firm but supple leather saddle that moves with your body and breaks in to contour with your bum, This combo is what the pro racers all use (well racer are such weight weinies that don't use leather but rather minimalistic saddles with carbon or titanium rails) and I find it works best for a rank amateur like me as well, especially on longer rides.

 

[indianajo]

I want 2" of urethane foam under my hips, just like my living room couch. I can't buy that, and the foam in cans I can buy @ HD is too hard. So far the best I've found is wrapping the meagher leather seat with battery packing foam & shipping tape, but it wears rips in the tie string holes and comes off too easily. At least the meagher seat rocks from side to side as I pedal. Somebody gave me a seat from a Workman industrial cycle, but the nose was too wide to fit between my legs.
Picked up some garbage sofa cushions & tried to grind a well in it for the seat contour with a rotary wire brush. Ripped the edges off too easily, I can't control that process. Had a leather purse cut down to wrap around it with lacing and everything.

 

[Alaskan]

@indianajo How about a photo of that Frankensaddle?

 

[indianajo]

Google owns the pictures from my phone. If I give them my birthdate, SSN, driver's lic #, Mother's maiden name, pick a username & password, they will let me upload it. Then they will send me custom text messages everytime I pass a place I shop. My phone is a burner, totally anonymous. the Spam text messages I get are for 20 year olds. "Come carry packages for us in our 6 acre warehouse for $11 an hour and get paid tomorrow!" I gave up maintenance at $21 an hour partly because my knees hurt so badly.
Meagher saddle looks like the Schwinn in picture left, only with springs instead of plastic donuts on the back. I wrap a white plastic foam sheet about 20" wide over it, poke holes, wrap nose with cotton string, tape the back under the saddle with 3M clear shipping tape. Tape needs renewed weekly, string lasts about 6 weeks or 450 miles.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

That is both an insulting and needless comment with no useful purpose. their choice. If you can't afford it or don't get the value, demeaning or insulting someone else is not a good look on you.

The original poster made that comment. I see it as a legit comment.

 

[Alvin1957]

I want 2" of urethane foam under my hips, just like my living room couch. I can't buy that, and the foam in cans I can buy @ HD is too hard. So far the best I've found is wrapping the meagher leather seat with battery packing foam & shipping tape, but it wears rips in the tie string holes and comes off too easily. At least the meagher seat rocks from side to side as I pedal. Somebody gave me a seat from a Workman industrial cycle, but the nose was too wide to fit between my legs.
Picked up some garbage sofa cushions & tried to grind a well in it for the seat contour with a rotary wire brush. Ripped the edges off too easily, I can't control that process. Had a leather purse cut down to wrap around it with lacing and everything.

I love it! I could not make the padding thing work though. All bunched up and 'scrunchy' or binding. Finally found that I like the slick Brooks or an old Norex saddle with smooth-ish shorts. No padding in pants. Like an old horse saddle. The lacing holes in the nose will let you narrow the front to really cut abrasion to about nothing, especially since I've started getting a bit too thick in some areas. The slick leather makes it easy to reposition for a while.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I don't wear padded (chamois) trousers for this winter. That learned me the value of good saddles. There is no single "the best" saddle as all depends on too many factors such as the bike type, the rider's body build, riding position, time spent in the seat, and even small details of how the seat had been adjusted.

Having said the above, I finally standardized on Selle Royal Respiro Moderate. Two flavours: Women's and Men's fit me well on different e-bikes. The female version is wider, better suspended, and more suited for riders with large backside

 

[PedalUma]

All this saddle talk prompted me this morning to remove the original hard and narrow saddle on my electric gravel bike and install an old Brooks B-17 that has been collecting dust for a year. I treated the underside today with glycerin and rice bran oil because I was out of the usual equine leather products.
So now for once I will not need to ride with an adult dipper over my shorts. Although doing so gave me lots of room to maneuver because traffic avoided me.

 

[reed scott]

OK I got the Planet Bike gel seat and it's just OK. My sit bones kinda wobble around on the bulbous padding. Maybe if I put a thousand miles on it it would shape up. Maybe not. So I'm taking Alaskan's advice and have ordered a Selle Anatomica. Hope springs eternal.

 

[steve mercier]

For me the most important aspect of the seat is the large groove down the middle of the saddle. The pressure some saddles put on my pudendal nerve makes me feel ill. "Snakes in the pelvis,” “burning in the undercarriage,” “fiery pain in sitting.” These are all descriptors that signal a condition called pudendal neuralgia, which results when compression or trauma arises within the pudendal nerve. The pudendal nerve is an important nerve that courses through the pelvis to supply a vast distribution of sensation and motor function to the perineum and pelvic floor muscles. As is the case for most conditions, pudendal neuralgia can arise due to a variety of reasons, but one that is important to highlight in today’s society is compression on the nerve due to prolonged sitting, particularly on a bike seat". I use a Selle Royale Respiro Moderate and can ride it all day. There may be better saddles out there but I will not buy any without the large groove . I also can ride all day on this Serfas RX https://www.capsbicycleshop.com/product/serfas-rx-lycra-top-77877-1.htm

 

[PedalUma]

For me the most important aspect of the seat is the large groove down the middle of the saddle. The pressure some saddles put on my pudendal nerve makes me feel ill. "Snakes in the pelvis,” “burning in the undercarriage,” “fiery pain in sitting.” These are all descriptors that signal a condition called pudendal neuralgia, which results when compression or trauma arises within the pudendal nerve. The pudendal nerve is an important nerve that courses through the pelvis to supply a vast distribution of sensation and motor function to the perineum and pelvic floor muscles. As is the case for most conditions, pudendal neuralgia can arise due to a variety of reasons, but one that is important to highlight in today’s society is compression on the nerve due to prolonged sitting, particularly on a bike seat". I use a Selle Royale Respiro Moderate and can ride it all day. There may be better saddles out there but I will not buy any without the large groove . I also can ride all day on this Serfas RX https://www.capsbicycleshop.com/product/serfas-rx-lycra-top-77877-1.htm

I just purchased one today to go on a cargo bike I purchased today. I am selling converted cargo bikes fast. This saddle is inexpensive and people love it. It's got the grove.

 

[steve mercier]

I just purchased one today to go on a cargo bike I purchased today. I am selling converted cargo bikes fast. This saddle is inexpensive and people love it. It's got the grove.

That looks very much like a Bontrager that I had and yes it was really comfy. The only thing about that seat I had was it ripped apart after my repeated lifting by the seat. So do not do that (-:

 

[PedalUma]

That looks very much like a Bontrager that I had and yes it was really comfy. The only thing about that seat I had was it ripped apart after my repeated lifting by the seat. So ,do not do that : View attachment 83299

Did the cover rip. Or did the spring bolts loosen? Those can get some thread lock.

 

[steve mercier]

Did the cover rip. Or did the spring bolts loosen? Those can get some thread lock.

No the actual seat foam came apart from itself in a horizontal rip. The bike is too heavy to be picked up by the foam and there was no hard plastic edging trim to protect the foam.

 

[reed scott]

Selle Anatomica seems pretty slow to ship. I'm wondering if perhaps they actually wait for an order to build a seat. Probably not. They also did not say 'out of stock' at my order. So I'm left to wonder. I'm being impatient I know.

 

[Bubba zanetti]

Serfas RX seats are great seats as well.

 

[luka82]

I just purchased one today to go on a cargo bike I purchased today. I am selling converted cargo bikes fast. This saddle is inexpensive and people love it. It's got the grove.

This one looks very comfortable. a friend of mine also has it and he is really happy with it