Best Saddle for all-day-long riding

[Gimmearaise]

hello,

I've been doing a lot of research on a good saddle for Long Rides and Bikepacking, I have a stock trek saddle that's been giving me problems. I ride with Sugoi Bibs That have plenty of protection. I've heard a lot about WTB Saddles and was looking at Lazer V and Rocket V saddles. any suggestion you guys might have would be very Helpful! 

[THE LONG RANGER]

This is a highly contentious topic, what works for me, may not work for you and the best thing to do is go to a LBS which has some saddles to try out and see what your bottom says.

I'm assuming you know that, and don't mind if I tell you what works for me?

[Done]

I've tried about six different saddles in the past two years--and my butt still gets ravaged. I've also tried seven different models of shorts--and my butt still gets ravaged. Last, but not least, I've tried four different types of chamois lube--and my butt...well, you get the picture.

But I'm not going to give up. Just today, I ordered two more pairs of shorts.

Not all is lost, though. I've certainly found that some combinations are better than others. I figure that it's sort of a continuum from "Holy Mother of God, why have you put my ass in hell?" to "spank me again, Barney."

I ride a WTB Rocket V. For now.

[Buttermilk]

To each there own, but my own likes to sit upon a Sella Italia Flite Titanium. It is a circa 1990 saddle that has recently been resurrected, and i just received mine today and had a sweet ride on it. After a long period, after my first Flite Ti wore out, of not being truly comfortable I am happy to report that my rear was reunited with the perfect saddle. Of course, like what was stated above, you results may vary.

[bmike-vt]

for rando riding and dirt road / gravel i like a brooks. swallow or b17 on the ti rando bike. occasionally i swap the b17 over to the fargo. i've also used the swift and the selle anatomica, both of which didn't seem to work for me. the anatomica stretched way too much...

i'm also a huge fan of lantiseptic. hospital grade creme for the nether regions.

[Done]

i'm also a huge fan of lantiseptic. hospital grade creme for the nether regions.

Hmmm, something else to try. Thanks!

[bmike-vt]

Hmmm, something else to try. Thanks!

Approved by many randonneurs.
I love the stuff.
Be warned though. If you carry some in your kit, bring a rubber glove. This stuff is tenacious, and don't learn the hard way as I did, in a gas station country restroom, after a wet wipes wash up, and then applying. Took me forever to get the stuff off. Its water insoluble, to lots of hot water and lots of soap was the only way...

The small packets are super convenient, but I buy the tubes. Then squirt into baggies. Apply very 60-80 miles, depending on conditions.

[joeydurango]

Personally I love WTB Devo saddles.  Ride them on everything.  Light, wide, flat, good support.  But as everyone's said, it's personal...

Gotta put in a plug for Fall River Botanicals' Geronimo Cream.  Not a chamois butter sort of thing, more like something you'd use at night to ease any swelling/pain on the sit bones.  Dream4est, on this forum, is either the inventor of this great stuff or is close to whoever that is... I used it on the CTR with great results.  A little goes a long way.

[THE LONG RANGER]

OK, I'll put a recommendation for what I used on the Tour Divide: Selle An Anatomica Titanico X Double-Coated No-slot.

If it survived ME and survived the Tour Divide, it'll work for your long rides. Not sure if you'd want to use it for a pure singletrack route, but for those endless dirt roads of varying quality, the damn thing performed. It can almost be described to be like a Brooks with yesteryear's quality in the leather and updated everything else - longer rails, a hex bolt for the tensioning, instead of that weird wrench tool and hey, made in the USA.

The complaint from many is that the leather stretches TOO much. Being on the higher end of then scale (165 - 175lbs), at least for bicycle enthusiasts, they recommended  I go no slot, and a double coating on the plastic. I've met other TD veterans that were happy with the slot, as well as the single-coating, so there's some room for a custom feel/fit.

I ordered online and talked to Meredith, who suggested the no-slot X - not sure exactly how you would order that. Having now tested it on the Tour Divide, I'm pretty happy to type up a report for them about how wonderful it was.

[bmike-vt]

the no slot would have been better for me, from what i've read. i had one 3-4 years ago. couldn't get it adjusted to my liking.

pretty sure that a few TD vets used one.

i also should not i ride the stock saddle on the fargo. WTB silverado. funny that it fits and works. never had that happen before with a stock saddle.

i also have had luck with the rocket v - the racy one and the recreational one.

[Yogi the Barry]

I ordered a slotted Anatomica and sent it back w/o even sitting on it. Why? I'm a silly weight weenie. The thing weighed 530 grams! Yes, I know that it was stupid to send it back w/o even trying, but ignorance is bliss. Hopefully they will come out with a Ti version of this saddle some day, like the Brooks equivalent that weighs ~300g.
What's that saying about a shoe fitting? Lots of people love WTB saddles. Fine for a 2-3 hour ride, but my ass doesn't like it for longer rides.
Ordered a Ergon SM-3, which was supposed to arrive mid-June, but cancelled the order this week because the ship date has slipped into August.
Current saddle, which I'm just going to live with for the CTR, Fizik Aliante Gamma [edit: XM version].
Still searching,
-B

OK, I'll put a recommendation for what I used on the Tour Divide: Selle An Anatomica Titanico X Double-Coated No-slot.
... it'll work for your long rides. Not sure if you'd want to use it for a pure singletrack route, but for those endless dirt roads of varying quality, the damn thing performed. ...

[THE LONG RANGER]

I ordered a slotted Anatomica and sent it back w/o even sitting on it. Why? I'm a silly weight weenie

Yeah, I thought about that for a second before the race, but never during. What I was thinking was, "did I just ride multiple 16+ hour days on rough roads? Was the last time I slept for more than 90 minutes, 180 miles ago?"

And then I didn't think much about the weight of my saddle, anymore.


I wouldn't hold your breath on the Ti version. Take the chromoly punge!

[Yogi the Barry]

I am a pretty hardcore weight-weenie. There are certain limits I just don't compromise on. For saddles, it's about 260-275grams. For tires, ~700g. Stupid? Yes.
I'm not holding my breath for a lighter Anatomica, but I think they will eventually come out with one. In the meantime, I'll just suffer... 
-Barry
PS-I've cracked/broken seat rails on about one-third of the saddles I've owned which have CrMo [steel alloy] rails. Never broken a Ti railed saddle. Ti is probably the ultimate fatigue resistant material to make a seat rail out of. Current Fizik saddle is CrMo [probably marketed as Fizikium], but it's relatively new and fatigue failure is probably at least a year or two away. Opps.... Apologies. I got myself going on how manufacturers mislead the public by saying a simple steel seat rail is made of something exotic... like one of the dozen or so elements that are in the steel alloy.

Yeah, I thought about that for a second before the race, but never during. What I was thinking was, "did I just ride multiple 16+ hour days on rough roads? Was the last time I slept for more than 90 minutes, 180 miles ago?"
And then I didn't think much about the weight of my saddle, anymore.
I wouldn't hold your breath on the Ti version. Take the chromoly punge!

[bmike-vt]

ti brooks swallow is a pretty sweet saddle.
doubt it fits your weight criteria.

[THE LONG RANGER]

I am a pretty hardcore weight-weenie. There are certain limits I just don't compromise on. For saddles, it's about 260-275grams. For tires, ~700g. Stupid? Yes.

I wouldn't call it stupid or silly, if weight is important to you and your application. I'm not sure I can *quite* see myself riding that Selle An Anatomica that I have on the CTR, or in the next cyclocross race - the latter because that all-day comfort isn't required and the former because weight very well may be a big issue in going up and over some of the more technical terrain (and it's a sprint! race! right?), but for the OP's for Long Rides and bike packing (and not so much racing) - holy moly. Treat your bottom right!

[Yogi the Barry]

Yeah, looked at the Swallow, which is about a dollar a gram and about 350 of each. It's on my wish list if I win the lottery [reminder to self - buy lotto tix]. At that weight, I could [pun intended] swallow my pride and compromise. However, spending that much for a saddle hurts in other ways. I have a friend that even offered to let me borrow his. However, with my luck a chipmunk would munch holes in it [to get the salt], while I'm sleeping one night. -B

ti brooks swallow is a pretty sweet saddle...doubt it fits your weight criteria.

[ekibike]

One more vote for the Sella Anatomica with a slot.  Its amazing.  I haven't gotten the chance to do more than a 4 day tour on it yet, but that was 50-70 miles a day and I did it all in synthetic boxers and a synthetic pair of hiking shorts thanks to my saddle.  No chafe, no discomfort at all.  Perfect.