Hello,any recommendations for a bike seat for my commute,my lower back and ass is agony,I was thinking of getting a Brook b67 .There exspensive.I did try the Selle Royal drifter which was better but one of the springs broke on me .At the moment im using a selle smp trk but its agony .Any recommendations greatly appreciated .
Bike seat for long commute ?
- Thread starter Hixyhicks
- Start date
I've never had one, but the Spa Cycles saddles are good quality and very Brooks-like at a slightly lower price.
www.spacycles.co.uk
At the other extreme, several people here have lauded the LIDL saddle (another one I've never tried). It's so personal. For me the best has been my well worn Brooks B17.
It could well be that changing details of handlebar position could help a lot; height, how far forward, how swept back, etc
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Buy SPA CYCLES Nidd Sprung Leather Saddle for £59.00 at Spa Cycles
www.spacycles.co.uk
At the other extreme, several people here have lauded the LIDL saddle (another one I've never tried). It's so personal. For me the best has been my well worn Brooks B17.
It could well be that changing details of handlebar position could help a lot; height, how far forward, how swept back, etc
Big fan of Fabric seats - https://fabric.cc/products/saddles/cell-elite-radius-155mm-saddle/ is what I have fitted and its dead comfy. Agree with @sjpt that getting your bike position right is probably going to be the biggest (and cheapest) improvement you can make ;-)
I've been using a B67 for the last 6 years. It's OK, but probably not the solution for everyone. What I've found is that all saddles are OK once you get used to them. It's like playing guitar. At first, it's very painful to hold down the strings and your fingers get blisters on them, but after a few months, you fingers become hard as nails. Your bum needs to harden to your saddle too. The worst thing is to keep changing saddles in the hope that you'l find a comfy one.
Having said that, there is some science behind getting a properly fittinging saddle, but I still think that the biggest factor for saddle comfort is how much you use it.
Having said that, there is some science behind getting a properly fittinging saddle, but I still think that the biggest factor for saddle comfort is how much you use it.
Certainly true in my experience with Brooks B17.
Also, padded cycling short/trousers/underpants can help.
I have a Brooks conquest on my Brompton, and the springs do add to the comfort, the riding position on a Brompton is fairly upright.
The most comfortable saddle I ever had was a Brooks B17, it took a few hundread miles to break it in, but once it was, it was fine for 100-200 mile rides, on a decent road bike.
The most comfortable saddle I ever had was a Brooks B17, it took a few hundread miles to break it in, but once it was, it was fine for 100-200 mile rides, on a decent road bike.
Saddles are so personal. One persons comfort heaven is anothers hell. I got measured for the width of my sit bones and went from there. A lot of places will let you take a saddle and try it out, then swap it if need be.
Wrist issues can be down to the type of bar sweep , swept bars offer best hand placement with 40 deg sweep about ideal for wrist position.
Just as a FYI, your weight on a bike is distributed in three places. Your hands, your bum, and your feet.
Decrease the pressure on one of those, you increase the pressure on one or both of the others. So taking weight off your wrists will mean an even more sore arse
Note that this also means that peddling harder also is better for your butt.
Just saying.
i can do 50 miles on that and not a problem but there not cheap.
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In weight terms that is true. However, comfort based on the angle of your body to the saddle often more than outweighs that. (as all other things saddle, different person to person). And you can't just tilt the saddle nose down to compensate, as it is then too easy to slip forward on the saddle when not working hard.Just as a FYI, your weight on a bike is distributed in three places. Your hands, your bum, and your feet.
Decrease the pressure on one of those, you increase the pressure on one or both of the others. So taking weight off your wrists will mean an even more sore arse
Note that this also means that peddling harder also is better for your butt.
Just saying.
I should have mentioned saddle angle along with the other 'fitting' parameters in my earlier post.
The lidl medicus gel saddles at £9.99 (or were) are relatively cheap to try out, they come in 3 sizes narrow , trekking or fat bum style. I use the trekking and find them pretty good for my 160k rides. Though any amount of long time spent in the saddle will start to become uncomfortable unless one is doing so daily.
Consider more swept back handle bars as well as raised. Most bikes today come with very straight ones; probably good for some sorts of technical riding but not the most comfortable (at least for me). I think around 30 degrees sweep is best. Just let your hands rest in the position the handlebar would be and see what the 'natural' angle of your hands is.
The bar on the Cube was a straight 700mm riser on a 110mm stem. Quite high too, and I felt a little bit as if I was riding a Highland cow. I get a bit of wrist pain and I also need to keep my cervical spine reasonably straight, and I find my daughters Gazelle (very Dutch style) really comfortable so I've gone in that direction.
I've swapped the bar for a Humpert Stuttgarter which has similar rise but is swept back and slightly narrower at 600mm. I've added some cheap 'ergo' grips to see how I get on with it - so far, so good.
Saddle wise, I have added a SP12 seatpost and swapped the original saddle for a Selle Italia Epoca, which I bought a couple of weeks ago. I've only done a few miles on it but I'm pretty sure it will be OK - it's firm of course but easy to move around on and I'm still at the stage of keeping the tension up with little tweaks of the adjuster as it gives. I see they have just gone down another £12.50 on PlanetX, I should have waited.
Enjoy. Even though the B67 is springy it will still need some settling in so give it a chance.
Swept back good bars (for must people), but as I mentioned above not too swept back.
B17 all the way. Ride it in and you will have the comfiest saddle known to man. I have rode tens of thousands of miles on them. no problems at all
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