Looking for saddle recommendations for a touring cruiser

[mornview]

My wife and I completed our first century (112 miles, to be exact) last month, and did so on our old single speed cruisers (Schwinn Co-Ed for her, Concord New Yorker for me). It was a blast, and the only two things we'd do different is 1. bring pepper spray - dogs in the country are out for blood; and 2. have a more suitable saddle. I've went 30 miles just fine on my current saddle, so I guess I had no idea how uncomfortable it would get at the 100+ mile mark.

So I'd like some recommendations - those of you who've done long rides like this; what saddles do you find comfortable? I'm open to all suggestions, but here's the thing - I'm painfully vain, and even if my saddle is going to be obscured by my gluteus the whole 100+ miles, it still has to look nice :banghead:. So I'm guessing that combination of looks and comfort will probably bring me to suggestions of Brooks saddles, right? If so, which is more comfortable for long rides - sprung saddles, or un-sprung? I've found a stiff saddle to be much more comfortable for my 30 mile rides.

 

[us56456712]

First the bike has to fit you. Assuming it does then the problem may be saddle size. Saddles are like shoes, they have to fit your anatomy. If you find yourself sitting on the front of your saddle it is probably too wide to fit your sit bones and you most likely need a narrower saddle. My mountain bike saddle is narrow and comfortable for me but everyone calls it an ass ax and can't understand how I can ride on it, but it fits my sit bones. Most new road bikes come with a medium width saddle and they are too wide for my skinny 155 pound body. If you sit on the back it probably is not wide enough. Many bikes shops now have the same brand saddles in a variety of widths. If it says 138, measure it if you are comparing it to other brands as I have found some 138 to measure the same as other brands 140. Brooks saddles become comfortable when they are broken in to fit your sit bones. They aren't comfortable right out of the box. My son loves his. I have owned several and hate them, not for comfort but for the ridiculous price and the short life span. If a Brooks gets wet it will sag, the sides will wow out and cut you inner thigh and your sit bones end out on the rales. Using the stretcher in the nose of the saddle will bring your tail bone off the rales but the saddle leather will still cut your thigh. I have tried to reform these with belts wrapped around the leather but it doesn't work. I had a cover for them but rain splashes up from the rear wheel and it sags. You just can't get them wet, ever, other wise they are good. I have taken every Brooks I owned apart and re stretched the leather after the nose stretcher was maxed out, re riveted it but this is not worth the effort as you can't get the leather as tight as the factory and you only get a few more adjustments out of it before you are sitting on the rails again. If you get a Brooks you will probably like the looks and comfort if you keep it dry. With a Brooks you are buying a classic look, but you end out with 100 year old technology. Saddle technology has come a long way in the last 100 years. Perhaps there are articles on the net about fitting your sit bones to the saddle? A good bike shop might also be helpful. Road saddles don't have springs as they rock side to side a little and the puts stress on the lower back over long distance. When I had My Brooks saddles I didn't use a car to commute, I rode everywhere. You live in a similar climate, somedays it is nice in the AM, you leave your bike outside at work with rain cover on, but then you have to ride home in the rain. I also didn't have a good place to dry out the bike, only an unheated garage or the porch, which didn't help. The Brooks Proofhide helps it break in and preserves the leather but it doesn't prevent the leather from becoming a sponge. I always wonder if coating the underside of the leather with silicone caulking and smearing it into the leather would prevent the under side from getting soaked? The top rain cover would help with the top. I still think a Brooks saddle would be ruined in a 100 mile fun ride in the wet, what fun is that?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Good topic and good info. ^

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Riding longer distances will hurt even the best riders' backside. My preference are the Selle Italia modern cut-out saddles made for different shapes. High quality and easy to move around on when riding my MTB. A saddle you normally like should work fine. Put some "saddle time" on it before the long ride comes around, because in the end, butt preparation is the most important factor here..

 

[user 135]

Sheldon Brown has a must read article. http://sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html

When a cyclist finds a saddle uncomfortable, the first impulse is often to look for a soft one. This is often a mistake. Just as the softest mattress is not necessarily the most comfortable to sleep on, the softest saddle is not the most comfortable to cycle on.

 

[mornview]

First the bike has to fit you. Assuming it does then the problem may be saddle size. Saddles are like shoes, they have to fit your anatomy. If you find yourself sitting on the front of your saddle it is probably too wide to fit your sit bones and you most likely need a narrower saddle. My mountain bike saddle is narrow and comfortable for me but everyone calls it an ... ax and can't understand how I can ride on it, but it fits my sit bones. Most new road bikes come with a medium width saddle and they are too wide for my skinny 155 pound body. If you sit on the back it probably is not wide enough. Many bikes shops now have the same brand saddles in a variety of widths. If it says 138, measure it if you are comparing it to other brands as I have found some 138 to measure the same as other brands 140. Brooks saddles become comfortable when they are broken in to fit your sit bones. They aren't comfortable right out of the box. My son loves his. I have owned several and hate them, not for comfort but for the ridiculous price and the short life span. If a Brooks gets wet it will sag, the sides will wow out and cut you inner thigh and your sit bones end out on the rales. Using the stretcher in the nose of the saddle will bring your tail bone off the rales but the saddle leather will still cut your thigh. I have tried to reform these with belts wrapped around the leather but it doesn't work. I had a cover for them but rain splashes up from the rear wheel and it sags. You just can't get them wet, ever, other wise they are good. I have taken every Brooks I owned apart and re stretched the leather after the nose stretcher was maxed out, re riveted it but this is not worth the effort as you can't get the leather as tight as the factory and you only get a few more adjustments out of it before you are sitting on the rails again. If you get a Brooks you will probably like the looks and comfort if you keep it dry. With a Brooks you are buying a classic look, but you end out with 100 year old technology. Saddle technology has come a long way in the last 100 years. Perhaps there are articles on the net about fitting your sit bones to the saddle? A good bike shop might also be helpful. Road saddles don't have springs as they rock side to side a little and the puts stress on the lower back over long distance. When I had My Brooks saddles I didn't use a car to commute, I rode everywhere. You live in a similar climate, somedays it is nice in the AM, you leave your bike outside at work with rain cover on, but then you have to ride home in the rain. I also didn't have a good place to dry out the bike, only an unheated garage or the porch, which didn't help. The Brooks Proofhide helps it break in and preserves the leather but it doesn't prevent the leather from becoming a sponge. I always wonder if coating the underside of the leather with silicone caulking and smearing it into the leather would prevent the under side from getting soaked? The top rain cover would help with the top. I still think a Brooks saddle would be ruined in a 100 mile fun ride in the wet, what fun is that?

The maintenance aspect of Brooks saddles is admittedly one aspect that always seems to slip my mind. Was the underside of your saddle getting wet even with fenders on? I'll have to check next time I ride in the rain, but I'm pretty sure my fenders do a pretty good job shielding that area of my bike.

That's an interesting analysis of seat position as it relates to seat width. I've never came across that before. I sit pretty centered in my saddle (maybe just a hair forward), so I think saddle width is just fine. I can't help but feel that the problem is that my saddle is uncomprimisingly firm, which has been great for rides up to around 30 miles, but apparently I just need something with a little give for longer rides.

Any thoughts on saddles with springs versus saddles without? Logically it seems like a saddle with springs should be more comfortable for the long haul, but in practice I've found firm saddles to be more comfortable. That said, all of my experience with sprung saddles comes from ultra-wide cruiser saddles (Persons, Messinger, etc.); I have no experience with Brooks, which I imagine is another beast altogether.

 

[mornview]

Riding longer distances will hurt even the best riders' backside. My preference are the Selle Italia modern cut-out saddles made for different shapes. High quality and easy to move around on when riding my MTB. A saddle you normally like should work fine. Put some "saddle time" on it before the long ride comes around, because in the end, butt preparation is the most important factor here..

Yeah, I think there's a lot to be said for "butt preparation". This ride was admittedly a pretty spur of the moment thing, so I think that even though we commute every day of the year, our posteriors' just were not ready for such a ride.

 

[mornview]

Sheldon Brown has a must read article. http://sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html

Yeah, there's definetely truth in that excerpt - my bed mattress is firm as a rock and I love it !

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

 

[us56456712]

The maintenance aspect of Brooks saddles is admittedly one aspect that always seems to slip my mind. Was the underside of your saddle getting wet even with fenders on? I'll have to check next time I ride in the rain, but I'm pretty sure my fenders do a pretty good job shielding that area of my bike.

That's an interesting analysis of seat position as it relates to seat width. I've never came across that before. I sit pretty centered in my saddle (maybe just a hair forward), so I think saddle width is just fine. I can't help but feel that the problem is that my saddle is uncomprimisingly firm, which has been great for rides up to around 30 miles, but apparently I just need something with a little give for longer rides.

Any thoughts on saddles with springs versus saddles without? Logically it seems like a saddle with springs should be more comfortable for the long haul, but in practice I've found firm saddles to be more comfortable. That said, all of my experience with sprung saddles comes from ultra-wide cruiser saddles (Persons, Messinger, etc.); I have no experience with Brooks, which I imagine is another beast altogether.

Never used fenders, I just rode the Brooks in the wet and the next day it wasn't dry (unheated dark storage) so I rode on it again wet and it dried while riding to a whole new shape. Personally I can't be bothered as I am such an indifferent person and rough on stuff so it is either has to be bulletproof or throw away. I find spring seats uncomfortable after about 15 miles. I can ride 20 - 30 miles on a quality narrow road saddle that fit me with no soreness. I will do my first 100 mile ride in about 30 years this August and we will see how that goes as far as as saddle soreness is concerned. I can't ride very far on vintage Messinger or Parsons sprung saddles, maybe 10 miles and my backside is screaming at me. If you are sitting centered on a wide cruiser saddle then I would say that a Brooks should be good for you as they are fatter than what I like. That may be part of my problem with Brooks, too wide, but I don't remember too much about them as I rode on Brooks in the 60s.

 

[Wildcat]

I visited a bike shop which had a seat you sat on, then they measured the indentations to see how wide your seat bones are, and found you a saddle just the right width.
As for springs, I liked the Brooks B-72, not coil springs, but enough to take up the big shocks. Soft coils will have you bouncing around, so the coil springs must be heavy and firm.
I rode an MS-150 with a seat that wasn't the right width and was too soft. I'll never do that again, after 25 miles it was agony.

 

[Bicycle808]

Saddles are a subjective thing; what works for my rear-end more'n likely won't work for yours, but when i set up a bike for distance, I tend to run drop handlebars at a height where the tops/hoods are roughly level with the saddle and my preferred saddle is a Brooks B17. On a cruiser with upright bars that are presumably higher than the saddle, i'd probably still rock the B17, mostly b/c i'm not a fan of sprung saddles.

For the record, Brooks makes skinny saddles as well as fat ones.

B/c saddles are so subjective, and it's kind of a crapshoot until you know what works for you, i'm reluctant to make a direct suggestion. However, I'm sure you can tell i'm a Brooks fan, and while Brooks are expensive, here's something that may offer you some peace of mind: http://www.wallbike.com/warranty-and-other-information Basically, you get a Brooks from Wallingford and, if you don' like it, you can get a refund. All you risk are the shipping charges.....

 

[us56456712]

I visited a bike shop which had a seat you sat on, then they measured the indentations to see how wide your seat bones are, and found you a saddle just the right width.
As for springs, I liked the Brooks B-72, not coil springs, but enough to take up the big shocks. Soft coils will have you bouncing around, so the coil springs must be heavy and firm.
I rode an MS-150 with a seat that wasn't the right width and was too soft. I'll never do that again, after 25 miles it was agony.

Boy what a great tool, I wish bike shops here had one of these seats that measure your sit bones. Thanks for the info.

 

[aka_locojoe]

Measure seat bones at home

 

[us56456712]

As I said I rode Brooks in the 60s, but looking at pictures on the net I would say they were probably the B17 model. The local bike shop only had one size. Entry level road bikes back then came with awful saddles and the Brooks was an improvement over them. I had 3 and was always switching them out, doing maintenance by trying to reform them or re stretching, a lot of fiddling around. When they were too bad I placed them on my early years off road or winter builds, which were single speeds based on small road frames with 26 x 1 3/8 rims. I probably even rode the Brooks saddles in the winter?

 

[Bicycle808]

In the 60s, your Brooks were probably the B15 model, which is almost identical to the "modern" B17.... I ride my Brooks all year, but i make an effort to keep it protected.

 

[roadwarrior]

There is a product you can use to permanently seal the seat so it will be water proof. staydri.com makes it and here is a video on their product.

 

[clamdigger]

Might be an uncomfortable discussion topic...butt..there are chamois pads to put in your trousers to mimic the padded cycling shorts. I have not bought either. I was curious about this, so I rat rodded my own set up for a try. This works well on a narrow mtb setup for me.

 

[us56456712]

There is a product you can use to permanently seal the seat so it will be water proof. staydri.com makes it and here is a video on their product.

They went out of business, their products are no longer made.

 

[mornview]

Thanks for all of the replies; that sit bone video was especially useful.

After doing a bit of further research, I'm thinking two things:

1. A leather saddle sounds like the direction to go for me.

2. A cut-out saddle would probably be a good idea too (without getting into detail, let's just say that I could've "benefitted" from one of those on my recent century ).

So I'm thinking it'll probably end up being either a Selle Anatomica or a Brooks Imperial. I think I like the Anatomica a bit better, but the reports of the leather stretching so fast have me a bit worried.

 

[mornview]

Saddles are a subjective thing; what works for my rear-end more'n likely won't work for yours, but when i set up a bike for distance, I tend to run drop handlebars at a height where the tops/hoods are roughly level with the saddle and my preferred saddle is a Brooks B17. On a cruiser with upright bars that are presumably higher than the saddle, i'd probably still rock the B17, mostly b/c i'm not a fan of sprung saddles.

For the record, Brooks makes skinny saddles as well as fat ones.

B/c saddles are so subjective, and it's kind of a crapshoot until you know what works for you, i'm reluctant to make a direct suggestion. However, I'm sure you can tell i'm a Brooks fan, and while Brooks are expensive, here's something that may offer you some peace of mind: http://www.wallbike.com/warranty-and-other-information Basically, you get a Brooks from Wallingford and, if you don' like it, you can get a refund. All you risk are the shipping charges.....

It's interesting that you bring up drop bars; that was another problem I ran into - but not until very late in the game. With about 10 miles left in our ride my wrists really started to cramp up (on account of supporting a lot of my body weight in one position for such a long time). Cruiser bars are basically the only set-up that work for me, but I now know that I'll need to be able to switch up handlebar positions every once in a while, so I think I'll add some bar ends, as goofy as that'll probably look .