Durable Saddle for my Commuter Bike?

[Rod Smith]

I get over 10,000 miles out of a saddle. I like Fiziks and WTB. Brooks are nice too, but I haven’t used one recently.

[hozn]

I like Specialized saddles (usu with ti rails, though I have carbon rails on my road bike), but sounds like you have been down that road. For me comfort is far more important than longevity. I seem to get at least 6k on my saddles, though it is hard to say for sure because I have been trying different saddles this year. The only one I have worn out for sure this year was a Romin that I was using on my cx bike. I crashed on it a few times and came to realize its shape had changed. I am using the Phenom on my commuter which is similar in shape to the Toupe, but may be sturdier? (It is for mtb.)

I also have had good experiences with Koobi xenon saddles, comfort-wise, but find that the nose was a bit too wide (was starting to wear holes in inner thighs of my shorts which was going to get expensive quickly). Durability seemed good.

[mstone]

@TwoWheelsDC 64382 wrote:

The main advantage of the Brooks is that it’s more comfortable during the extremely rare rides where I don’t wear padded shorts.

My b17 is comfortable for the not-so-rare rides when I don’t wear padded shorts. My weekend bike has a saddle that requires special pants, and will probably end up with a brooks of some sort or another, once I decide on which one.

[vvill]

I’m yet to wear out a saddle. All my bikes except my folding bike have Nashbar saddles with cutouts they are all fine. I think they’re all made by Velo anyway, who also make rebranded stock saddles for many a new bike.

My folding bike has a leather saddle (Selle Anatomica). It’s also fine, although I don’t know if I really “get” the whole leather thing. If I were to spend >$50 on another saddle I’d pick a Specialized one (with cutout) based on my one test ride to date.

[cyclingfool]

@vvill 64460 wrote:

I’m yet to wear out a saddle.

Me too. My Brooks had almost 6,000 miles on it when my bike was stolen in the spring and it was as good as new (well, better than new actually, since it had been broken in nicely). That, depsite the fact that I’m a heavier rider and not at all easy on my saddle or my bike as a result. I expected that saddle to last me 10’s of thousands of miles and I think that’s a realistic expectation.

I’m actually a bit surprised to see people talking about having to replace saddles every 5,000, 6,000, 10,000 miles.

[consularrider]

My stock WTB saddle on my Salsa Pistola has 15,000+ miles (just shy of 1000 hours in 34 months) and shows little wear. They weren’t worn out, but I have replaced the saddles on my Giant hybrid (too much cushion and it squeeked) and my 20 year-old Raleigh rigid mtb that I use as my primary commuters. I’ve broken a couple of saddles in crashes or damaged them by being dropped, but, knock wood, I haven’t worn one out yet.

[Rootchopper]

My fanny has supported my 220 pound engine for many a mile on Brooks saddles. I started with a B17 on The Mule, my touring bike. It was orders of magnitude more comfortable that the two previous saddles (a Specialized Body Geometry and a Terry with a cut out). It died after I broke one of the rails at only 7,000 miles. I cried. Then I bought another. It too only lasted 7,000 miles. Snap went the seat rail. Tears. Then I bought a Brooks Flyer (a B17 with springs). It lasted another 7,000 miles. I forget what happened to that one. My latest Flyer has about 10,000 miles on it. I somehow broke the tension adjusting screw. It’s pretty much ready for replacement but fits my sit bones like a baseball in the pocket of a glove. I will ride it until it says “Uncle”.

I had a Brooks B67 (wider, suspension) on my Bike Friday. It is still in great shape after 8,000 miles, but I decided I liked the feel of the narrower Flyer better. That Flyer has 2 or 3,000 miles. It looks like new.

None of these Brooks saddles have cut outs. They support my sit bones so I don’t get numb down yonder.

Like they say in those AT&T ads: It’s not complicated.

Buy a B17. Just a plain old B17. It works. You’ll like it now but you’ll love it later. It will last a long time.

Bicycle Space sells them.

(No, I don’t work for Brooks or Bicycle Space.)

[Justin Antos]

Another vote for a Brooks B17. I bought one last winter during Freezing Saddles; thousands of miles later, it is SUPER comfortable.

Only drawback is it doesn’t like it when I leave the bike outside and it rains.

[mstone]

@Justin Antos 64581 wrote:

Only drawback is it doesn’t like it when I leave the bike outside and it rains.

Shower caps

[Rod Smith]

@consularrider 64513 wrote:

My stock WTB saddle on my Salsa Pistola has 15,000+ miles (just shy of 1000 hours in 34 months) and shows little wear. They weren’t worn out, but I have replaced the saddles on my Giant hybrid (too much cushion and it squeeked) and my 20 year-old Raleigh rigid mtb that I use as my primary commuters. I’ve broken a couple of saddles in crashes or damaged them by being dropped, but, knock wood, I haven’t worn one out yet.

I wore this one out, but I sit heavy and ride for close to 3000 hours to go 15,000 miles. :p

That’s real leather! I think I peeled it back a little more for the photo.

[Author]

Posts