How long do you give a new saddle to say yes or no?

[dzxc]

New saddle, different profile than my old one. It's more comfortable in some places, less comfortable in others. I think I will get used to the new pressure points, but not sure.

When you get a new saddle, do you know immediately whether it works for you or does it take a week, or what?

[p nut]

For me, ones that definitely won't work (say, a Fizik Arione) were apparent right away. Others took being on a long ride to figure out.

I'd say I either know right away, or by mile 60 on a ride. i.e. I thought Cambium would work great for me, but by mile 50, it was hurting pretty bad, and parts started to get numb.

[parris]

For me it totally depends on the saddle. I went through this when I got my Kirk. It had been many years since I had a new bike. My old saddles were Turbos. I was looking for something that would hopefully work better. There were a few saddles that lasted 1 ride. Others I adjusted and worked with for a while. I finally got lucky and found something that was just "right" from the first ride.

[dzxc]

You know, this is my exact thing. I've been on a selle slr for years, but it's a little hard and I've always just lived with it even though it seems to dig in after a couple hours. Moved to a cambium and it's no longer hard where the selle was, so that's nice, but kind of puts pressure on my middle nether region. Not sure if I'm just feeling it because I'm not used to a saddle that puts pressure there and once I get used to it it will be comfortable, or if it's really just the wrong saddle for me.

[bicycletricycle]

a couple hundred miles, with a few adjustments.


As long as after the first ride it isn't just miserable.

[livingminimal]

I can ride almost any saddle up to 50 miles and feel pretty ok.
I just went from an Arione to a Aliante, just because I wanted to try it, and the Aliante is fine, but really, so was the Arione...

Anyone else like this?

[MattTuck]

I can ride almost any saddle up to 50 miles and feel pretty ok.
I just went from an Arione to a Aliante, just because I wanted to try it, and the Aliante is fine, but really, so was the Arione...

Anyone else like this?

You're lucky. For those of us with more sensitive rears, it is a real challenge. There is nothing worse than having to cut a ride short, not because of your legs or lungs, but because of your butt. Or worse, not be able to ride the day after a ride due to skin damage brought about by chaffing.

[Ken Robb]

For me, ones that definitely won't work (say, a Fizik Arione) were apparent right away. Others took being on a long ride to figure out.

I'd say I either know right away, or by mile 60 on a ride. i.e. I thought Cambium would work great for me, but by mile 50, it was hurting pretty bad, and parts started to get numb.

I have not ridden a Brooks Cambium but I have had lots of comfy miles on leather B-17, Pro and Champion Brooks. They are much more sensitive to the nose up/down adjustment than any other saddle I have tried so if you still have your Cambium it might be worth your time to try small adjustments while test riding to see if you can find the magic spot. I need just a tiny bit of nose-up to position me back into the comfort zone and preclude any tendency to slide forward which would put pressure on my hands. If I get it a bit too high in front there is uncomfortable pressure on my plumbing. Since I got it right I often ride in regular unpadded shorts.

[benb]

The latest one I got on is the Arione and I could almost immediately tell it was great for me. I'm actually kicking myself for taking so long to try it since the Arione is not exactly new.

I tried 4-5 this winter and most I could tell within a single hour/15-20 mile ride anything that wasn't going to work would be uncomfortable in an hour and cause lingering soreness/injury/saddle sores if I were to ride that same saddle on say a 3 hour ride.

Fit seems to matter if your saddle is too high. That's going to make most any saddle feel bad.

Compliance in the bike seems to matter too.. my new Domane makes the Arione feel like it has about 1" of extra padding over the exact same saddle on my All City Space Horse. (Both are just Arione classic/kium) Shocking difference actually, I swear I could even tell on the trainer. (Same seat height and setback, same bar position & bar.) Saturday was the first day I rode the Domane, brand new Arione, rode 3 hours and 15 minutes absolutely 0 hint of sitbone tenderness/numbness/chafing. Amazing for me, probably the first time I ever had a ride that long feel that good. I've never been prone to numbness but I've always had plenty of chafing issues.

[Peter P.]

Go on a long ride, whatever is a typical long for you, up to 100 miles. If you feel good after that, the saddle's a keeper.

Side story: Decades ago I bought a Specialized Prolong saddle from Performance. I paid $15 for it. I installed it on a Friday night and rode a century the next day, with no clue as to whether it would be comfortable or a torture device. I remember a little discomfort but not enough to make me toss the saddle. I soon grew to love it and regretted the day it finally wore out as Specialized no longer made that model. One of the best bargains I ever found.

[Peter P.]

Go on a long ride, whatever is a typical long for you, up to 100 miles. If you feel good after that, the saddle's a keeper.

Side story: Decades ago I bought a Specialized Prolong saddle from Performance. I paid $15 for it. I installed it on a Friday night and rode a century the next day, with no clue as to whether it would be comfortable or a torture device. Yeah; it was a dumb decision then and I knew it, but I couldn't wait to try the saddle!

I remember a little discomfort but not enough to make me toss the saddle. I soon grew to love it and regretted the day it finally wore out as Specialized no longer made that model. One of the best bargains I ever found.

[pdmtong]

For me, ones that definitely won't work (say, a Fizik Arione) were apparent right away.

arione is extremely tilt sensitive. for me, just a bit too high or too low no dice. when tilt is right - poof - disappears.

[R3awak3n]

I put the bike on the trainer and ride for like half an hour making adjustments. Half an hour later I will know.

[carpediemracing]

I went through some saddles in the last 5 years or so.

I was on the Titanio, I think it's a San Marco saddle that, based on production dates stamped in the shell, I think the newest one I have is from 1999. I know I had them back in the early 90s. I managed to gather a few (8?) but started breaking rails pretty regularly.

I tried a few saddles and immediately stuff didn't feel right. Like I got on the saddle, pedaled a few pedal strokes, and I could reject them after that.

I tried the Arione only because it came on a bike I bought (my second and last complete bike purchase, primarily to get a new Campy 10s build kit, a good frameset, and an SRM crank, all for the price of a little more than the SRM). It was okay so I rode it for a while, like a year.

Got on the Titanio and it felt 1000% better. Immediately ditched the Arione.

Broke more Titanios. Tried an SLR, because I'd tried one before and it didn't kill me in 5 seconds. Used them for a couple years.

Did a fit. On suggestion of fitter (who doesn't sell these saddles) I tried an Adamo (twin tusk noseless saddle). For the first time I tried a saddle that wasn't super plush like the Titanio, meaning it didn't just disappear from under me. However, it never got worse. I think I was on that saddle for about 90 minutes during that session.

I went home after, next time I rode on the SLR I couldn't bear to sit on it. Got an Adamo off eBay I think. Been riding it. Longest ride has been maybe 2 hours, maybe 2.5 hours. The weird thing is that it never gets worse. It's marginally uncomfortable, meaning I still feel like I need to move a bit to settle in, but it just doesn't get worse. Maybe a better way of describing it is that it's barely comfortable.

Anyway it offers a forward position, which I like, but also a more rearward position, which I want to explore.

I haven't ridden it outside so no idea how it'll be in the real world. Just trainer stuff for now.

[rustychisel]

Go on a long ride, whatever is a typical long for you, up to 100 miles. If you feel good after that, the saddle's a keeper.



I understand your point perfectly, but I really really really would not recommend this course of action.

The worst thing that can happen?

Being at the half way point [50 mi] and wondering how you're going to get home after what feels like invasive surgery. :mad:

[rustychisel]

arione is extremely tilt sensitive. for me, just a bit too high or too low no dice. when tilt is right - poof - disappears.

Bingo!

Agree, this is the correct answer for the Arione. not so Antares, less important for Aliante.

[Bob Ross]

I can ride almost any saddle up to 50 miles and feel pretty ok. ...[snip]...
Anyone else like this?

I'm pretty sure I'm like that.
I'm the exact opposite of "The Princess & The Pea" ...rather, I feel like I'm "Mr. Insensitive"

I've had three different saddles on my foul weather training/commuter bike. The one that came with it (a 30-year-old suede covered Selle Something) I knew wouldn't work, but I was able to ride it for ~20-30 mile rides w/ no problem, and to be honest it wasn't so much that it hurt but that it got hot (!) after riding it much longer. Then I switched to a Selle SLR, and while it was clear that had issues none of those issues seemed to bother me on shorter rides, and I only dragged that bike out for >60 mile rides once or twice a year so it didn't really bug me. But finally I figured life's too short to ride uncomfortable saddles, so I switched to the same fizik Aliante that I have on all my other bikes

...except it wasn't the same fizik Aliante that I have on all my other bikes, it was one of those Aliante VS with a little extra padding on the sides and that channel down the center. And while I don't hate it as much as the SLR or the suede-covered heat seat, I still hate it more than a regular Aliante. But it's my foul weather training/commuter bike, and I almost never take it for more than 30 miles, so who gives a chit?

I discovered the Aliante purely by accident: It came stock on my first Good Modern Road Bike™ ten years ago, and I never had any issues with it, so I just stuck with it. Watching other folks struggle with saddle choice, I realize I got very lucky.

[pdmtong]

arione is extremely tilt sensitive. for me, just a bit too high or too low no dice. when tilt is right - poof - disappears.
I'm talking tiny amounts here. I would carry an Allen and adjust 3-5 time during a ride. Tilt up a bit of nose pressure on the boys. Tilt down I can feel the lack of frontal support. Note fine line between enough support and then too much pressure. Adjusting tilt is a complete pita with most post heads. Wish many came with degree marks like Thomson
Bingo! Agree, this is the correct answer for the Arione. not so Antares, less important for Aliante.
Arione allows lots of fore act repositioning while riding can get up on the nose when climbing seated steep. Can get way back when descending. The versatility makes it worth it to me and luckily the shape agrees

I did not like the one position aspect of the aliante. And I tried to like the Antares but the the rear edges kept digging into my legs butt in a way that never disappeared.

I can ride Arione all day with a thin pad bib no creme no issues. It really does disappear and that's not because I've gone numb

[rustychisel]

Yeah, same for me on all three.

[oldpotatoe]

New saddle, different profile than my old one. It's more comfortable in some places, less comfortable in others. I think I will get used to the new pressure points, but not sure.

When you get a new saddle, do you know immediately whether it works for you or does it take a week, or what?

Rode Rolls for a long time, no issue..grew a saddle sore(no idea why)...and then had some 'dead fat', 'down there'..had to swap saddles..tried SMP..Pro, instant no-go..tried Glider, instant perfect..level, front to back, same for-aft as Rolls, same height. So, yes, immediate.

I also tried Brooks 3 times..and tried, and tried, and futzed, and futzed and sold them..Swallow, B-17 and Swift(I think)..they sure looked cool tho..Best part is I sold them in like 10 minutes..

[fuzzalow]

Other than a preference for flat, thinly padded saddles, I can probably make almost anything work. Provided that the saddle rails are designed on the saddle model to allow the option for generous setback. I ride bikes long 'n' low so I will always run saddles not more than midway and more often than not slammed.

For me, there is little to none moving around on the saddle once the fit & position is in balance and dialed in. In a balanced position no core is used to position & maintain the points of the sitz bones into the rear of the saddle so there is never the need to reposition on the saddle. That a rider has to "repoint" the sitz bones during a ride would tell me that the setup is not quite yet correct.

Also if a saddle feels good for only x-miles or y-hours it's IMO less because the saddle is wrong for you, although that is also possible, but that the rider rides a bike using core to enforce a comfortable posture on the saddle with core keeping hot-spot pressure points in check. When core muscles exhaust themselves, the rider can't hold the contortion any longer and the saddle gets more and more uncomfortable. Saddles have enough variety that some may work better but there's other fundamental elements that need to be validated too because the fault isn't with the saddle. The saddle can just be the most symptomatic because it is the last link in the contact point component chain.

That's the somewhat longer answer to the OP. It's never as simple as it seems. Either that or it's what Mrs. fuzz says that I see things in too many pieces and most people don't know what I'm talking about. Heck, half the time, I don't even know what I'm talking about.:o

[p nut]

I have not ridden a Brooks Cambium but I have had lots of comfy miles on leather B-17, Pro and Champion Brooks. They are much more sensitive to the nose up/down adjustment than any other saddle I have tried so if you still have your Cambium it might be worth your time to try small adjustments while test riding to see if you can find the magic spot. I need just a tiny bit of nose-up to position me back into the comfort zone and preclude any tendency to slide forward which would put pressure on my hands. If I get it a bit too high in front there is uncomfortable pressure on my plumbing. Since I got it right I often ride in regular unpadded shorts.

I've got a B-17 on my other bike, as well as a Berthoud Aspin on another. Both work well for me, but I think the Cambium was a bit too flexy compared to the leather saddles. Like the OP, I was getting too much contact down the middle, which resulted in some numbness. Also, the area around my sitbones were pretty raw after only 60 miles as well. Others apparently just love the saddle, but unfortunately, it wasn't for me...

Now I am on an SMP Glider, which has worked great so far.

[scharny]

I have a beat B-17 that has 5+ riding seasons on it; it was great but I should have replaced it a bit sooner as it created some serious discomfort issues towards the end (deformed and became asymmetrical). I'm now nearly 400 miles into a C-17 Cambium and although it doesn't have the glove-like fit of the B-17, I don't notice any discomfort or pressure points as of yet. Longest ride I've done is 48 miles, so far so good.