Road Bike Saddle Recommedations ??

Hello,

I have a Bianchi Road Bike with a Gel Velo saddle, I have
had it for several years and thought I would upgrade it to
something more contemporary and higher quality.

The problem I have is there are so many saddles and
opinions, I have absolutely no idea which one to buy !!

I weigh 180 lbs and 6 ft tall. I ride 80 kms on Sundays both
flats and medium sized hills.

Any suggestions of where I should start my search would be
appreciated !

Oh, there are many many bike shops in my area, so I have
some access to various makers

Thank you

"Gunny Bunny" <none@none.com> wrote in message
news:7TEfc.24246$2Z6.1004411@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Hello,
>
> I have a Bianchi Road Bike with a Gel Velo saddle, I have
> had it for
several
> years and thought I would upgrade it to something more
> contemporary and higher quality.
>
> The problem I have is there are so many saddles and
> opinions, I have absolutely no idea which one to buy !!
>
> I weigh 180 lbs and 6 ft tall. I ride 80 kms on Sundays
> both flats and medium sized hills.
>
> Any suggestions of where I should start my search would be
> appreciated !
>
> Oh, there are many many bike shops in my area, so I have
> some access to various makers
>
> Thank you
>

Bianchi? You have a BIANCHI? For someone your size those
thing are DEATHTRAPS!

http://tinyurl.com/2yy5w

http://tinyurl.com/3gbvc

http://tinyurl.com/247gcis

> Bianchi? You have a BIANCHI? For someone your size those
> thing are DEATHTRAPS!

Two things:
1. The complaint only applied to the Boron frameset.
2.when that complaint first came out, I asked my local
Bianchi dealer who said they had never heard of any
problem with Boron framesets. The guy who originally
posted it was never heard from again. smells fishy to me.

Pat in TX

"Gunny Bunny" <none@none.com> wrote in message
news:7TEfc.24246$2Z6.1004411@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Hello,
>
> I have a Bianchi Road Bike with a Gel Velo saddle, I have
> had it for
several
> years and thought I would upgrade it to something more
> contemporary and higher quality.
>
> The problem I have is there are so many saddles and
> opinions, I have absolutely no idea which one to buy !!
>
> I weigh 180 lbs and 6 ft tall. I ride 80 kms on Sundays
> both flats and medium sized hills.
>
> Any suggestions of where I should start my search would be
> appreciated !
>
> Oh, there are many many bike shops in my area, so I have
> some access to various makers
>
> Thank you
>

I'm about your size and ride a Selle Italia SLR. It is a
very minimalist saddle, but after trying 4 others I find it
most comfortable.

Butt, everbody is different, and saddle comfort is a very
personal thing. Perhaps your local bike shop, or some of
your riding buddies, have some spare saddles that you can
test ride. If not, be prepared to buy more than one before
finding one you like. But, be sure and give them each enough
riding time before trying a different one.

--
~_-* ...G/ \G http://www.CycliStats.com CycliStats -
Software for Cyclists

GaryG <garyg@shasta_SPAMBEGONE_software.com> wrote in
message 107uddb7n44vh9d@corp.supernews.com

[...]

> I'm about your size and ride a Selle Italia SLR. It is a
> very minimalist saddle, but after trying 4 others I find
> it most comfortable.

Speaking of minimalist, has anybody tried SaddleCo's
Flow saddle?

--

A: Top-posters.
B: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

Dear Gunny,

In my experience, bottoms do not take much notice of "contemporary" and "higher quality" when it comes to saddles. Mine demands a certain shape and a certain amount of padding to be comfortable. It refuses to be impressed by the saddle maker's name or the price tag.

The only selection process I know is trial and error - I don't think other people's recommendations will help much. They probably have different shaped bottoms. My favourite bicycle shop would let me try any number of saddles for a decent ride (my regular 100 km route) provided that they came back in the condition in which they went out. Try to find a shop like that. Analyze the faults in your Velo and look for ones that are better in those respects.

Funnily enough, after some painful experiences on early 400 and 600 km brevet rides when I developed haematomas under the ischial bones while riding expensive saddles, I tried a Velo and was delighted. I can now ride those distances comfortably - well, on the bottom anyway. The fact that my current Velo (marked "Velo Plush") cost only $10 was just a bonus.

Good luck.

John Retchford

Over the years I have gone from Selle Flight, to SLR, and
recently SLK. I have found the SLK to be a marked
improvement, almost as light as the SLR but tends to absorb
shock better. I don't think the split design makes much of a
difference, but it has taller rails and I think the shell
gives a little more. In the case of these minimalist
saddles, it is not so much the padding as the flexibility in
the shell.

If I were to buy another saddle, I would try the SLK GelFlow
next--I promised the tender parts that I will try some Gel.
Interestingly, as I have come down from 220 Lb to 192 (over
about 20 years) I noticed more sensitivity on my sit bones.
Either things get more tender with age or I have lost some
of my natural padding--along with misc. things like the hair
on my head.

Cheers, Shawn

Gunny Bunny <none@none.com> wrote:
>I have a Bianchi Road Bike with a Gel Velo saddle, I have
>had it for several years and thought I would upgrade it to
>something more contemporary and higher quality. I weigh 180
>lbs and 6 ft tall. I ride 80 kms on Sundays both flats and
>medium sized hills.

If you can ride 50 miles on it without discomfort, don't
change it, for God's sake!

If you _do_ suffer discomfort, it's another matter.
--
David Damerell <damerell@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Distortion Field!

> Two things:
> 1. The complaint only applied to the Boron frameset.
> 2.when that complaint first came out, I asked my local
> Bianchi
dealer who
> said they had never heard of any problem with Boron
> framesets. The
guy who
> originally posted it was never heard from again. smells
> fishy to me.
>
> Pat in TX

I know the shop where he bought it. They're quite expensive
and therefore people think they give good service but in
this case Van Herwerden should have returned 80% of the
purchase or changed the frame etc. not Bianchi. By Dutch law
the responsibility is with the seller first. As the buyer
states correctly besides the given warranty there is an
expected live expectancy of a product. His 80% claim is more
than reasonable and the shop should have done something
about it, instead they waved their obligations and blamed
the manufacturer.

"Pat" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message news:c5nbei$3n342$1@ID-194653.news.uni-
berlin.de...
>
> >
> > Bianchi? You have a BIANCHI? For someone your size those
> > thing are DEATHTRAPS!
>
>
> Two things:
> 1. The complaint only applied to the Boron frameset.
> 2.when that complaint first came out, I asked my local
> Bianchi
dealer who
> said they had never heard of any problem with Boron
> framesets. The
guy who
> originally posted it was never heard from again. smells
> fishy to me.
>
> Pat in TX

Two Notes:

(1) I weight 172 lbs (78kg), and I ride a '03 Bianchi EV4, which is their lightest frameset. I've put this frame through some punishing terrain, and it shows no signs of fatigue. Although I am near their 'weight limit' for this frameset, it carries a 5-year warranty against failure.

(2) I wouldn't consider the SLR saddle if comfort is top priority. I ride an SLR, but the Flight saddles are more comfortable, and the Turbomatic 4 is incredibly comfortable (apparently Ullrich agrees), and I strongly recommend that one to anyone without reservation. Unfortunately, the Turbo 4 does not seem to be sold in the U.S., so you'll need to get that one from an overseas vendor (via Internet), go figure.

"Carl Sundquist" <carlsun@cox-internet.com> wrote in message
news:107uameg2hbv864@corp.supernews.com...
>
> "Gunny Bunny" <none@none.com> wrote in message
> news:7TEfc.24246$2Z6.1004411@news20.bellglobal.com...
> > Hello,
> >
> > I have a Bianchi Road Bike with a Gel Velo saddle, I
> > have had it for
> several
> > years and thought I would upgrade it to something more
> > contemporary and higher quality.
> >
> > The problem I have is there are so many saddles and
> > opinions, I have absolutely no idea which one to buy !!
> >
> > I weigh 180 lbs and 6 ft tall. I ride 80 kms on Sundays
> > both flats and medium sized hills.
> >
> > Any suggestions of where I should start my search would
> > be appreciated !
> >
> > Oh, there are many many bike shops in my area, so I have
> > some access to various makers
> >
> > Thank you
> >
>
> Bianchi? You have a BIANCHI? For someone your size those
> thing are DEATHTRAPS!
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2yy5w
>
> http://tinyurl.com/3gbvc
>
> http://tinyurl.com/247gcis

Some of those threads were amazing considering they were
never intended as trolls. Either that or "Justin" was one of
the greatest trolls to ever hook this NG.

Gunny Bunny wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I have a Bianchi Road Bike with a Gel Velo saddle, I have
> had it for several years and thought I would upgrade it to
> something more contemporary and higher quality.
>
> The problem I have is there are so many saddles and
> opinions, I have absolutely no idea which one to buy !!
>
> I weigh 180 lbs and 6 ft tall. I ride 80 kms on Sundays
> both flats and medium sized hills.
>
> Any suggestions of where I should start my search would be
> appreciated !
>
> Oh, there are many many bike shops in my area, so I have
> some access to various makers

Most people get on with a standard Flite. They look good on
any bike too.

Carl Sundquist wrote:

> Bianchi? You have a BIANCHI? For someone your size those
> thing are DEATHTRAPS!

Well, Bianchi make everything from kids' bikes to motor
scooters, so that just *might* be a generalisation.

"Gunny Bunny" <none@none.com> wrote in message
news:7TEfc.24246$2Z6.1004411@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Hello,
>
> I have a Bianchi Road Bike with a Gel Velo saddle, I have
> had it for
several
> years and thought I would upgrade it to something more
> contemporary and higher quality.
>
> The problem I have is there are so many saddles and
> opinions, I have absolutely no idea which one to buy !!

I absolutely love my Selle Italia Max Flite Transam. Not
overly heavy, but a slightly wider back-part for comfort and
a nice cut-out to prevent a limp biscuit...

Basjan

> Most people get on with a standard Flite. They look good
> on any bike too.

not if you have a big ass. a flite is too small for
someone that weighs
180. Pro link is more like it.