Touring Saddles

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

OK from the start I will say NOT BROOKS. I am one of the population don't get on with them...

I am after a touring saddle. I have a couple of other saddles which are fine for what they were intended for,

• my road bike saddle being a speech phenon expert - more than happy with it on the road bike and can quite happily sit on it all day (my max being 85 miles) and repeat sitting on it the next day and the next etc... tried it on my touring bike and we very quickly fell out (like within 15 miles on the first day! I lasted 8 days and it did not improve at all.)
• my mountain bike has the original stock saddle on it and again I am more than happy to sit on that all day but not tried it the following day etc (OK upto around 60 miles and then I started getting sore around the sit bones, but 60 miles on a mtb is enough for a day IMO.) - that's whatever came with my 2011 Spech Rockhopper SL...

My tourer is more of a mtb position (being a thorn nomad) than the road bike, so my bale out option is to try that saddle (albeit white) and see how I fare, but I need to try to find something for my tourer for an upcoming tour (date yet to be confirmed) but currently my tourer has no saddle at all. Tour is 13 days in the UK camping (cycle up to Whitehaven, C2C or Hadrian's wall, cycle to Hornsea and come back via Transpennine route and either to Warrington and bale home or follow to end then home, depending on time, weather and how we feel).

I have seen a saddle that looks 'interesting' and was wondering if anyone has one? ISM Adamo Touring Saddle specifically. My initial thoughts were WTF, until I looked at one of the links, specifically how to fit females. It looks a touch too padded for what I am used to (but might not be), but if it is more comfortable I am willing to give it a go.

Anyone got one or any other suggestions for a dedicated (non brooks) touring saddle? I know backsides are all different, but currently my bike is without saddle. The old one died on tour and was that old it had been discontinued. Sadly I only had the one of them!

 

[MikeG]

.......I have seen a saddle that looks 'interesting' and was wondering if anyone has one? ISM Adamo Touring Saddle specifically. My initial thoughts were WTF,.........

The guys in the LBS showed me one of those yesterday. The shape looks interesting, but it was frighteningly soft, and frighteningly expensive. I can see, just, how the shape might work, but it really was so soft that I thought you would sit on it and feel the rails!!! I'd love to hear what people say about it who have actually used it for long distance stuff, because frankly, to me, it looked like it was aimed at the new-to-biking leisure market.........maybe for people who thought that spending more meant getting better.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

that's what I was afraid of... thanks Mike. I have seen it for around £40-45 so not too worried about the cost, just it being too soft and gel like

 

[MikeG]

Jeez.......it was £120 in the shop!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Jeez.......it was £120 in the shop!

eeks - I would think twice about going back to that shop. the RRP is apparently only £55
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/p...M_SR_TOURING?gclid=CIeOw7X_q74CFbShtAodPxkA-Q

 

[MikeG]

It may just be that I was looking at another in the range. Therefore, treat my comments with caution. I'll look in there next time I'm passing and check the exact model.

 

[Soltydog]

Cant help with the touring saddle (i'm a brooks fan), but if you want somewhere cheap (ie free) to camp near Hornsea I can sort that

 

[Spoked Wheels]

OK from the start I will say NOT BROOKS. I am one of the population don't get on with them...

I am after a touring saddle. I have a couple of other saddles which are fine for what they were intended for,

• my road bike saddle being a speech phenon expert - more than happy with it on the road bike and can quite happily sit on it all day (my max being 85 miles) and repeat sitting on it the next day and the next etc... tried it on my touring bike and we very quickly fell out (like within 15 miles on the first day! I lasted 8 days and it did not improve at all.)
• my mountain bike has the original stock saddle on it and again I am more than happy to sit on that all day but not tried it the following day etc (OK upto around 60 miles and then I started getting sore around the sit bones, but 60 miles on a mtb is enough for a day IMO.) - that's whatever came with my 2011 Spech Rockhopper SL...

My tourer is more of a mtb position (being a thorn nomad) than the road bike, so my bale out option is to try that saddle (albeit white) and see how I fare, but I need to try to find something for my tourer for an upcoming tour (date yet to be confirmed) but currently my tourer has no saddle at all. Tour is 13 days in the UK camping (cycle up to Whitehaven, C2C or Hadrian's wall, cycle to Hornsea and come back via Transpennine route and either to Warrington and bale home or follow to end then home, depending on time, weather and how we feel).

I have seen a saddle that looks 'interesting' and was wondering if anyone has one? ISM Adamo Touring Saddle specifically. My initial thoughts were WTF, until I looked at one of the links, specifically how to fit females. It looks a touch too padded for what I am used to (but might not be), but if it is more comfortable I am willing to give it a go.

Anyone got one or any other suggestions for a dedicated (non brooks) touring saddle? I know backsides are all different, but currently my bike is without saddle. The old one died on tour and was that old it had been discontinued. Sadly I only had the one of them!

I've been testing a Phenom expert on my road bike and I loved it so I bought one for my MTB. My friend and I came to the conclusion that I should go for a size 155 as the position on the MTB is more upright than on the road bike and I feel that the 143 is better when in a more aggressive position. I had a quick test yesterday and I hated it so last night, before I went to bed, I made some adjustments and today I had another go and it took three more adjustments before I was happy with it.

Maybe your Phenom deserves a second chance. I fitted mine following the Specialized guidelines and I hated it so I opted for setting it up according to what felt good and that worked.

I love brooks saddles but I don't like riding them in the rain so I'm going for plastic saddles ATM.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Hi @RRSODL the phenon expert had 8 days of me adjusting it on the touring bike to the point where I was annoying the daylight out of my OH. I had had it on my road bike before the tour and love it on that and it is still there, but can not for the life of me (even wearing the same assos shorts/leggings) get on with it on the touring bike which I don't understand at all, except possibly the position difference with our tourers being more mtb style than road bike style. It is all I can think of. Mine is a 143 size - found that more comfortable in the shop (fitted to the touring bike which I took to the shop, as well as my cycling shorts!) than the other widths and 6 or 7 other models I tried on my bike. I have previously been measured at the 155 but found that uncomfortable when on the tourer.

 

[Spoked Wheels]

Hi @RRSODL the phenon expert had 8 days of me adjusting it on the touring bike to the point where I was annoying the daylight out of my OH. I had had it on my road bike before the tour and love it on that and it is still there, but can not for the life of me (even wearing the same assos shorts/leggings) get on with it on the touring bike which I don't understand at all, except possibly the position difference with our tourers being more mtb style than road bike style. It is all I can think of. Mine is a 143 size - found that more comfortable in the shop (fitted to the touring bike which I took to the shop, as well as my cycling shorts!) than the other widths and 6 or 7 other models I tried on my bike. I have previously been measured at the 155 but found that uncomfortable when on the tourer.

Yes, the saddle feels completely different on my MTB than on the road bike. The position is more upright on the MTB and maybe that is why it feels so different but equally comfortable. I don't think I'd like a saddle with more padding / softer for long hours in the saddle.

If you were measured 155 and your position on the tourer is more upright than on the road bike maybe that is the problem. Sit bones get narrower as you bend forward so maybe that is why 143 is fine on the road bike. It's also possible they measured you wrongly

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Yes, the saddle feels completely different on my MTB than on the road bike. The position is more upright on the MTB and maybe that is why it feels so different but equally comfortable. I don't think I'd like a saddle with more padding / softer for long hours in the saddle.

If you were measured 155 and your position on the tourer is more upright than on the road bike maybe that is the problem. Sit bones get narrower as you bend forward so maybe that is why 143 is fine on the road bike. It's also possible they measured you wrongly

my suspicions are on the later and it was a number of years ago before our first tour!
I also think that I may have been looking at the wrong type of saddles.... I think I should be looking for what are known as T shaped saddles rather than pear-shaped saddles... the pain I get is in the rami, not the sit bones as stated earlier.

 

[Spoked Wheels]

@SatNavSaysStraightOn I have been measured twice and the difference between upright and aggressive position was 1cm. Having said that, when I measured the sit bones at home I got nearer the bottom end of 143 saddles than the top end.

The other reasoning to go for 155 on the MTB is that I had a Brooks B17 before and that was absolutely fine but the B17 on the road bike didn't feel so good, the swallows feels great and that is narrower than the B17.

For a flatter saddle, you need to go smaller, that is what Specialized recommends. Some people fit in the 143 Phenom category but they would be in the 130 Toupe category. You could try the Antares, T shape, nice saddle but it takes a while to get used to it. It was fine for 3 hours but then I'd get perennial discomfort, otherwise a great saddle.