Why does my saddle wear out so fast?

[2wheelwill]

Wondering if anyone else goes through saddles like I do?

I don't have massive thighs, and I'm not overweight (5'10" and 155), but my inner thighs rub off the finish of all my saddles within 6 months of purchase. I've even worn through the leather of several flight saddles. The saddles of course function fine, but they look like crap.

I don't see very many bikes out there with saddles worn out like mine? Has someone figured out some fix to this? I did discover a version of the Selle Italia SL XC saddle that has a plastic cover (they call it Lorica) but they squeak and look like my grandmother's plastic covered furniture.

Any ideas? And no, a Brooks in not an option!:eek:

[MattTuck]

Curious what kind of shorts/bibs you wear. If they have sandpaper on the inner thighs, that might be the culprit.... :rolleyes: (Couldn't resist. I have nothing to add)

[djg21]

Wondering if anyone else goes through saddles like I do?

I don't have massive thighs, and I'm not overweight (5'10" and 155), but my inner thighs rub off the finish of all my saddles within 6 months of purchase. I've even worn through the leather of several flight saddles. The saddles of course function fine, but they look like crap.

I don't see very many bikes out there with saddles worn out like mine? Has someone figured out some fix to this? I did discover a version of the Selle Italia SL XC saddle that has a plastic cover (they call it Lorica) but they squeak and look like my grandmother's plastic covered furniture.

Any ideas? And no, a Brooks in not an option!:eek:

Riding in the rain? I just wore the edges of the back of a Fizik Antares after just over a season. It's still functional, but the leather on the back edges is worn through. The wear seemed to get worse when the saddle got wet.

I just replaced it with a new Fizik Kurve, which has plastic around the edges. We'll have to see how it holds up.

[veggieburger]

My guess is narrow hips.

[jmoore]

ahem...


I don't know why it happens but the saddles can be repaired


click the link in my signature

[canham]

That rate of wear sounds unusual. I would say that you're either riding saddles that are too wide for you (see the narrow-hips comment above) or that you generally have some sort of fit issue. For example, your q-factor may be off or your knees might be too close together because your feet are pronated. Have you gotten a professional fit? If not, I highly recommend getting one. You might catch all sorts of hidden problems. If things seem wrong they usually are.

[CNY rider]

I'm also surprised you aren't wearing holes in your thighs faster then wearing out the saddles.
I have a couple of experiences with too-wide saddles and the pain of chafed, skinned thighs was enough to stop me long before the saddle noticed.

[christian]

Are you overweight? Do you have massive thighs?

Answer honestly this time. :)

[Ahneida Ride]

Contact Jason at www.recoveredsaddle.com

Have him recover the saddle in HandeBra leather.

[nighthawk]

Are you overweight? Do you have massive thighs?

Answer honestly this time. :)

Maybe just big butt?

[Fixed]

Ride in the rain a lot ?
Cheers

[eippo1]

I find that my thighs rub a fair bit when my saddle is too low. Raising it helps. Also, saddles with a narrow nose and mid work the best like a Selle Italian Slk or Arione. A saddle like a Toupe is too wide at the thighs for me and probably for you too.

[lhuerta]

that rate of wear sounds unusual. I would say that you're either riding saddles that are too wide for you (see the narrow-hips comment above) or that you generally have some sort of fit issue. For example, your q-factor may be off or your knees might be too close together because your feet are pronated. Have you gotten a professional fit? If not, i highly recommend getting one. You might catch all sorts of hidden problems. If things seem wrong they usually are.

+1

[UberBike]

5 O'clock shadow on the legs ?

[2wheelwill]

Thanks for all the thoughtful suggestion.....and the other ones too! So I did recently get a professional fitting but most of the corrections were to shorten my reach - I was too stretched out. Saddle height was a tad high so it was lowered. I never mentioned the saddle wear during my fitting so will do so on a follow-up visit.

Not sure my saddles are too wide. This problem happens with every saddle I have ever owned, including slr's, flights, old turbos and regals. Back in the day when seat covers were cool it was easy to just replace saddle covers.

Narrow hips? Dunno....I wear 31-32 waist jeans, and I swear I'm not fat....could lose 5 pounds of course. Q-factor? Kinda doubt it but worth checking. Thunder thighs? I wish that was the problem but sadly it is not.

Curious, does anybody condition their saddles with something that would make them kind of slippery. sliding around on the saddle is probably a bad option but I've been tempted to spray pledge or armor all on a saddle to see what that would do. Maybe the rubbing would just catch fire! That's a whole new thread for sure....

[slidey]

That's a quick fire way to emulate Lance's anatomy down south :p

Maybe the rubbing would just catch fire! That's a whole new thread for sure....