# best commuting saddle



## sprocket47

I just posted about pedals - I obviously have a new bike and I'm trying to get it set up with the right parts and I respect the input from others from their experience.

Anyway. I'm getting a new saddle. It came with a Selle Italia Flite gel. My bones are too wide for that painful bugger. My touring bike I just sold had a Brooks B17 Flyer (sprung saddle) which was great but my new bike would look silly with a sprung saddle and it was rather wide for my new sporty ride. I know I know, it's dependent on the rider but I'm curious what your thoughts are. So far torn between these two. But not completely set on only these two.

1. Selle Italia Max Gel Flow (a wider and cutout version of the flite I had before). My concern is the longevity with daily commuting and weather.

2. Brooks Professional - a narrower version of the B17. I've had some issues of numbness on my last brooks but not enough to disqualify it though.

Yes, I'm being a little vain and taking into consideration appearance with this bike. I usually don't, but it's fun to make this ride look good at the same time as being comfortable and fast.


----------



## MB1

Any Brooks.

Get a saddle cover.

'nough said.


----------



## Salsa_Lover

not true,

I was on a Brooks, the saddle was great, looked nice, but the big rear rivets were just under my seatbones when i was on the right saddle position.

I had right seatbone pain, I removed the Brooks, put back the Selle Italia XO Transam ( cheaper, comfortable and not bulky ) 

I am riding happy again without the saddle pain.

check it out


----------



## BentChainring

Brooks.


----------



## jmlapoint

Brooks Professional


----------



## skyphix

I run a very ugly Specialized Body Geometry on my commuter because thats what it came with. It works and is comfortable enough for up to at least 20 miles at a clip.










But it really, really, is ugly.


----------



## buck-50

As much as I love brooks, I'd only recommend them for commuting if you know you'll be taking your bike inside with you and then only if you also have fenders.

Covers get stolen, forgotten, lost, etc. 

If you leave your bike locked up outside, get something other than a brooks.

I always liked the Selle San Marco Regal- it's got a similar shape but it's nigh-indestructible. Honestly, saddles fro commuting are no different than saddles for anything else- if you've got another bike with a saddle that fits, just get another one of those.


----------



## Opus51569

A brand that hasn't been mentioned yet is Terry. They might be worth checking out.


----------



## MileHighMark

I run a WTB Pure V on my (full-sus) MTB, but I'm finding that I don't like it nearly as much as on my commuter. It feels like there's too much pressure under my "sit bones." I've messed around with tilt, fore/aft position, etc, and can't seem to make it work. I'm a bit of a mutant when it comes to saddle position, however, as I have very long femurs and pedal heels-down. As such, I usually have to move my saddle very far back. Here's a photo that shows what I mean:










I'm considering switching to a Velo Orange Model 3 saddle due to the longer rails (since they would allow for more offset), but I'm also curious about the wider Selle Italia saddles such as the Max Flite or Man Gel Flow.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.


----------



## fredstaple

*Charge*

Take a look at Charge out of England. All their models are rated very highly by Cycling Plus. I ride a knife on my light bike and a spoon on the commuter and find them quite comfortable and the price is right as well. I love Brooks saddles, rode one for 25 years, but don't want the hassel on the commuter of a leather saddle I have to worry about getting wet and messing up my investment. Brooks for the dry weather bike.


----------



## HOOKEM

MY Goldilocks Saddle: Selle Italia Max Flite Trans Am

I have one on each of my three main rides, road, mountain and commuter. 
Old beat up Brooks on the FG/SS.


----------



## shudson16

Take a look at the Terry Liberator. European style touring saddle. Gel padding with leather covering. Cro-moly rails. Less expensive than Brooks, about $90, just as comfortable, IMO, and doesn't require a break-in period like the Brooks do.


----------



## Slim Again Soon

I've got a Brooks B-17 on my road bike, which I used for commuting for a number of years until recently, when I built up a commuter/utility bike.

The new bike has a B-17 Narrow ... I prefer it to the standard.

It was love at first sit.


----------



## MileHighMark

HOOKEM said:


> MY Goldilocks Saddle: Selle Italia Max Flite Trans Am
> 
> I have one on each of my three main rides, road, mountain and commuter.
> Old beat up Brooks on the FG/SS.


I've always been curious about that Selle Italia model. Is it no longer produced? I looked on Selle Italia's site (http://www.selleitalia.com/eng/index.html), and the closest I could find was the Max Flite Gel Flow. Is this the replacement for the Max Flite Trans Am?


----------



## Amfoto1

My Look 565 has a 20+ year old San Marco Regal "Girardi Ti" on it and personally I think it looks great. Plus, for me it's a very comfortable saddle. 

Saddle choice is *way, way, very, very* personal and IMO next to impossible to advise. What works for me _probably_ won't work for you. What is "goldilocks" for MileHighMark, "love at first sit" for Slim, or "comfortable" for shudson16 , might well be like sitting on an anvil to you or me.

It can be very bike-specific, too. I use Fizik Aliante saddles on a couple other bikes and really like them. I slapped one onto my recently purchased/built up Felt B2 and it hurt like crazy no matter how I adjusted it (plus looked silly/small on a heavily aero-tubed bike, odd because IMO it looks fine on an integrated seatpost Look). So just yesterday I put a Felt road saddle on that bike instead (which most people replace within 5 minutes of buying a Felt) and so far am finding it comfortable... for me. 

You're probably going to have to experiment. Thank heaven for eBay, which is not only a good place to find very slightly used saddles (that didn't work for someone else) to try out... It's also a good place to sell off all the ones that just don't work for you!


----------



## HOOKEM

I think they are out of production, mine came on a used Litespeed I bought about 4 years ago and I fell in love with it. Ebay is where I have sourced my others.


----------



## Peanya

Take a look at the Fizik Aliante. It's very sporty looking, and it's wide. I have a Velo made copy of it, and it's been very very comfortable. Even comfy after a century ride! The San Marco Regal is a good looking choice too, although I haven't tried it, it is very highly regarded.


----------



## MileHighMark

Peanya said:


> Take a look at the Fizik Aliante. It's very sporty looking, and it's wide. I have a Velo made copy of it, and it's been very very comfortable. Even comfy after a century ride! The San Marco Regal is a good looking choice too, although I haven't tried it, it is very highly regarded.


I'll check out the Aliante. I tried a Regal, but couldn't get it back far enough.


----------



## majura

fredstaple said:


> Take a look at Charge out of England. All their models are rated very highly by Cycling Plus. I ride a knife on my light bike and a spoon on the commuter and find them quite comfortable and the price is right as well. I love Brooks saddles, rode one for 25 years, but don't want the hassel on the commuter of a leather saddle I have to worry about getting wet and messing up my investment. Brooks for the dry weather bike.


+1 on the Charge Spoon (I got mine through Wiggle.co.uk). My commuter gets rained on, left outside and generally not treated very well. I still use a shower cap over the saddle when I leave it locked up on rainy days, but a Brooks would most likely get stolen super quick where I live.


----------



## Scott B

I recommend you ride what fits. I don't mean that in a snarky way at all. My saddle that is great for me is a seat of pain for certain friends. 

I love my Fizik Vitesse and Pave. They have also been very durable. Might be worth giving it a try. A good shop should let you test some saddles. A short test usually doesn't tell you for sure, but you can often rule bad choices out.


----------



## MileHighMark

Scott B said:


> I recommend you ride what fits. I don't mean that in a snarky way at all. My saddle that is great for me is a seat of pain for certain friends.
> 
> I love my Fizik Vitesse and Pave. They have also been very durable. Might be worth giving it a try. A good shop should let you test some saddles. A short test usually doesn't tell you for sure, but you can often rule bad choices out.


I'm going to snag several seats on eBay and give them a try. The prices are good, and I'll be able to ride them for a week w/o worrying about them (rain, sweat, small furry creatures).


----------



## JohnnyTooBad

Last year, I bought a Brooks B17 for my commuter. Since then, I've been swapping saddles all around my 3 main rides (commuter, roadie, MTB), and I think I like the Brooks the least (or about the same as the generic saddle, but they do feel different). My other saddles are a generic that came with the SE Lager that I use as my commuter, and a Terry Fly Ti. I like the Terry the best, but I have decided to keep the Brooks on the commuter and the Terry on the roadie. If you condition a Brooks properly, it can get wet. Cows get wet all the time. My probelm with the Brooks is the lack of any padding near the front of the saddle. It's great on my sit bones, but the front is too hard and hurts the soft tissue.


----------



## Fogdweller

I'm a Terry Fly fan. Ridden Sella Gelflow, SM Rolls & Regal. The Fly has a fair bit of cush to it which many don't like but it fits me well. Good luck on your search as it took me many years to find something that fit.


----------



## MileHighMark

Fogdweller said:


> I'm a Terry Fly fan. Ridden Sella Gelflow, SM Rolls & Regal. The Fly has a fair bit of cush to it which many don't like but it fits me well. Good luck on your search as it took me many years to find something that fit.


The Fly is on my "to try" list. In the meantime, I picked up one of these on eBay:


----------



## MileHighMark

Update

The SI Man Gel Flow (dumb name, IMO) had rails that wouldn't allow for enough setback. Nice saddle otherwise, and would have probably worked as well, if not better than the Pure V. It's now on eBay as I didn't see any sense in keeping it.

Right now I have the SI Max Flite Gel Flow installed, and the jury is still out. It'll take a couple more rides to determine the proper positioning, and once I have that figured out, another ride or two to see if it's a keeper.


----------



## |3iker

Salsa_Lover said:


> not true,
> 
> I was on a Brooks, the saddle was great, looked nice, but the big rear rivets were just under my seatbones when i was on the right saddle position.
> 
> I had right seatbone pain, I removed the Brooks, put back the Selle Italia XO Transam ( cheaper, comfortable and not bulky )
> 
> I am riding happy again without the saddle pain.
> 
> check it out



+1 on Selle Italia X0 TA. Damn comfortable and looks right at home on my DBR Podium


----------



## bigbill

All my bikes have Regals except the MTB. My ass is the same whether it's commuting or just riding.


----------



## MileHighMark

Tried the Flite Max Gel Flow, and it felt like someone was hammering my butt cheeks. No bueno.

Put the SI Man Gel Flow back on, tweaked the position a bit, and it's not bad. Not sure if it's a keeper yet, but it's a hell of a lot better than the Flite.

Others I want to try: SI Prolink (non-Flow version) and XO (Flow and non-Flow versions).


----------



## MileHighMark

Update:

http://mile-high-mark.blogspot.com/2010/07/eating-crow.html


----------



## dahut

Saddles!


----------



## MileHighMark

Some random updates:

Selle San Marco Rolls -- Good support, but padding is stiff, and needs more breaking in. Textured buffalo cover makes it difficult to move around. Too soon to tell if this this is a viable candidate.
Selle San Marco Ischia -- Surprisingly comfortable for such a narrow and soft saddle. Can be had pretty cheaply on eBay. This one might be a keeper.
Selle Italia Prolink (Genuine Gel) -- Very flat, and very stiff. Padding feels similar to the Rolls. Need more miles on it before I can form a solid opinion.
Next test subject is a Selle Italia X0 (non cut-out version) and Brooks B17 Special.


----------

