[Closed] What Saddle?

Get saddle mapped?

Sounds painful.

Joking aside, I've already done that back in the day. I found it a useful guide, but its not the panacea people think it is.

and it tends to be my ischial tuberosities that suffer discomfort, presumable due to the weight vs cushioning equation.

I found the curve (back to front, e.g. the 'hammock shape') of a saddle could cause my sit bones to get sore as they were taking too much weight. I've since found flatter saddles worked better, means you can change pressure points by sitting up or hunkering down over bars.

Could you try a Scoop saddle in a flatter style? They do the Radius, the Shallow and the Flat I think?

I've been hankering after a more padded saddle also but have just ended up with more padded shorts, Bioracer do their Elite bib shorts with the Vapour pad, is perfect for long days on the saddle.

Like you I was a huge fan of the Charge scoop, but recently used one of these on my Gravel bike.
https://www.merlincycles.com/prologo-kappa-rs-pro-road-saddle-218549.html?utm_source=PHG&utm_medium=AffiliateMarketing&utm_campaign=phg-GB&ucpo=135827&source=PHG
Found it really comfy for anything over 2 hrs
SDG Bell Air was also great (can you still get those?)

If it’s almost fully
Comfortable you could try the radius gel elite? Might just give it that extra comfort?

I was mostly an SDG Bel Air user - but it was big / heavy and after a while I started to find them less comfortable. No idea why. Tried an SDG Bel Air 2 and found that to be an instrument of torture that no amount of money on decent padded shorts would solve.

Remembered I’d got on ok ish with a fabric scoop radius (non gel) on a previous bike so thought I’d try the gel version. Now got them on both mtb’s and the road bike. Using better shorts now than previously too - endura fs260 pro bibs and dhb Aeron waist shorts. Just picked up a pair of the Aerons in a bib version to try too.

I also had a Fizik Arione at one point in the last. It was ok on one road bike, but when I swapped it over to a new one that came with a budget saddle I just couldn’t get on with it again. Must have been a subtle change of riding position that meant that saddle didn’t work for me.

So the short answer is other people’s opinions are probably irrelevant in saddle fitment- it’s too subjective.

Its not 'almost fully comfortable', Id put it on the next rung down. Not bad, but room for improvement. I used to love the bel air, but I've read that the new ones are rather different. I suspect I'm just going to have to buy multiple and send back all but the best..!

I've had success with WTB Silverado, after trying to get on with a Bel Air and pretending to myself that I was comfy on it. Also the Specialised Phenom. (so called because it's phenomenally expensive..?) Came free on my Enduro, but it is a great saddle.

Buy a few secondhand saddles that people tend to recommend & see which work for you, then buy new if req'd?

I favour the Ergon SME3 / SME30 myself.

Also really like the SDG Formula, but that appears to be discontinued.

I’ve had success with WTB Silverado

Which was the single most torturous saddle I've ever tried. My a long mark.

So it's subjective, to say the least.

fyi just got a Fabric gel saddle from Evans for £35. Only one ride in so too early for a recommendation.

I bought an Ergon SM Pro saddle a while back, and have since splashed out on two more of them plus an SR Road, find them really good

Sounds a bit like my path to saddle enlightenment! i started with the BelAir2 a while ago and whilst it was 'comfy' i never really got on with it on longer rides having to move around to relieve pressure.
Tried a fabric scoop and again, it was comfy for shorter rides, but i definitely felt fatigued sitting on it for too long a ride, moving around a lot to perch on different points. i just resigned myself to not finding the perfect saddle and carried on with the scoop, buying a couple more for my other bikes.
After damaging one in a crash early last year, i was going to buy a like for like replacement but couldn't find the scoop i wanted in stock so chanced an Ergon SM Pro.
Wow, what a difference! A slightly flatter profile than previous, and with a much more pronounced 'shelf' for my sit bones (and a decent pressure relief channel) has made a significant improvement to my comfort on the bike on short and longer rides. i would recommend an ergon, but make sure you get the correct width.

Hmm. Food for thought.

Ill start with the SDG bel air 3.0 and the ergon SM and see what they're like.

Unfortunately it is, and always will be a case of keep trying until you find one that fits more comfortably than the last one.

Those rental 'try b4 u buy' fizik saddles you get in shops are great. Try a range, see which shape fits, then keep trying similar saddles until you run out of cash....

Now for the unhelpful bit in stw tradition. Having tried many over the last 30 years, I'm currently using brooks c13 cambium carved carbons across all three of my bikes, just because it's the most comfortable I've had in years. Bloomin expensive, but comfortable. I'm sure I thought that the flight titanium was comfortable in 1993, and the fizik Gobi was the same 1 in 2005 - can't stand (or sit) either now, Maybe my arse cheeks are changing?

bel air 3 here. delighted with it!

Had a bel air which was great, then the padding collapsed, replaced it with bel air 2, that was awful, replaced with ergon sm which is excellent, didn't like the ergon sm endure though.

My Spesh Phenom has given up the ghost after two years - rails are loose in the nose. Now hoping to get hold of an Ergon SM Pro Gel but bugger all stock out there...anyone spotted one in the wild, or can recommend something similar?

I just ordered an Ergon SM E Mountain Core Prime from BikeINN. Looks like they have the Ergon SM Pro in stock too....

I had charge spoons on a couple of bikes, they worked well for me.
I have a madison saddle on my gravel bike, it’s comfy, has a traditional saddle shape, but with a centre groove.
But by far the best has been a brooks B17. Mine is a ti framed one, not even close to being cheap, but for me, instantly comfortable.

Moved over to Ergon for all mine, have the ebike one which is nice, and the SMC on the enduro, and a woman's one on the hardtail (shared with wife!). I suffer from Hip Impingement, so get real annoying pains and aches in the left cheek, this saddle has been the best to combat that, it doesn't solve it, but eases it a little.

I used this to measure my sit bones a while ago and it makes sense I like wide saddles after doing it.
Most comfortable saddle I have used is an Orbea branded one that was on a used Knolly I bought a few years back, it's beginning to get tired and I keep looking at SQ Lab saddles to replace it but they are pricey to take a chance on.

Which fabric one is the closest to a charge spoon?

I have 2 brooks, one with, one without springs.

The mountain bikes have chromag saddles.

Its just personal preference.

It's interesting. The bike I am looking to put this new saddle on has just been completed. I dug out an old knackered Charge spoon as a temporary, and its instantly more comfortable than the scoop on my hardtail.

The Bel-air 3 arrived today, so I tried that, but I wasn't impressed.

Onto the Ergon next, and some consideration of what makes that old spoon so damn comfortable.

i have an ergon something or other. it is comfortable

I seem to get on well with WTB saddles but I've also recently tried a charge spoon on my Gravel bike and found it pretty good.

Definitely didn't get on with the Fizik Gobi I tried...

Everyone's arse is unique.

You could try sticking some tinfoil on a carpeted step, sitting on it to get an impression of your sit bones and see if you can match that up to the padding on the saddle you like?

Might give you an idea of what is touching what, and what shape to go looking for next

I already know the width of my Ishial tuberosities - As Ive previously said I don't think its panacea there are other factors.

Since I got an SQlab saddle, all my previous pain woes have disappeared, even on really long rides. Well worth the money in my opinion.

Selle Italia for me everytime, SLR on the road, Flite on the MTB.

I tried a Spoon, it was close but nothing beats the real thing 😃

After going around the houses for years looking for the comfier saddle and having boxes of old saddles from WTB, Charge, Selle etc I was so impressed with the ANVL Forge that arrived on my Scout back in 2015 that I now have one on my CX commuter and a spare (that I'm keeping) that came off the pub bike when it got dissolved. Gave all the rest away.
Saddles arealways subjective but thats my tuppeneth.

The Ergon hasn't arrived yet, but the WTB rocket has and it seems pretty good for me.

I hadn't looked at wtb because the names are all the same as they were 15 years ago, but it turns out they've just been reworked.

I've worked out my average width arse bones with my above average weight mean I'm grounding out on the saddle base of the bel air, and its too wide on middle nose section.

The rocket is more deeply padded and narrower in this section at the same time.

Same issue a while back. I tried Ergon something Pro. Did not get on with it! Recently fitted the Fabric Radius Gel Elite and it's a way more comfortable than the standard Radius.

Recently experimented with a stupidly cheap Selle Flite Boost TM from Merlin (£37.50 down from £100??).

I'd had Flites previously and loved the shape but thought they were giving me nerve pain in the sensitive bits so sold them on. Turns out nerve pain was due to nerve being pinched by an aggrieved hip flexor!

Glad to say the Flite shape works as well as did back then, genuinely disappears between the thighs. The more gently tapered style of saddle always rubs on the inside of my leg and requires me to sit further forward than I really want to. Flite allows me to shift my arse right back where it wants to be!

I also think my average sit bones but above average weight (or below average arse padding) means I need more padding. I don't care what people say, even with good quality shorts I'm always just a bit tender. Rode my MTB today with a cheap squashy Bontrager saddle (and also my old, squashy Charge Spoons) and they're definitely more comfortable.

Sooo... £184 for a more padded 'gravel' Selle Flite Boost from Wiggle? Gulp