Heresy: I am not a Flite man

[Narhay]

Yes, bring out your pitchforks, tar and feathers. I have a 90s Flite titanium saddle and I find it very uncomfortable. My sit bones just don't get supported properly and I keep having to shift around while riding in as little as 500m. I'm pretty sure you could classify my sit bones as being wide. I've ridden the flite for more than 1500km.

Other saddles I've ridden have been WTB SST (not great), a Rolls (found it hard), a pos from a bikes direct Windsor Wellington 2.0(not good) and a more modern generic specialized saddle (ok).

What are your suggestions for a saddle i should try? It is going on a tri colour 1991 Team Marin. I'd like to keep it under $100 and prefer new.

 

[toaster999]

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sdg-bel-air-rl- ... loy-rails/

Very good for the bum.

 

[NeilM]

I, like you, do not suit the Flite.

I had one back in the 90's, as they were THE saddle to have, it hurt. I recently fitted one to a Yates I have just built, it still hurt. I am going to give it a final try on a Basso road bike I am currently building, but it's not going to find its way onto an mtb again.

Alternatives; I like Charge Spoon / Madison Flux, the Flux has a little more padding, but I can ride all day on either. More traditional, I have a modern Turbo which is comfy and also an original Ritchey Logic (basically a Turbo) which is also good.

 

[andyz]

Unfortunately you'll just have to try a load of different ones! I've discovered to my cost that saddles that look comfortable aren't necessarily so. Even tried a couple of touring saddles and found them aweful.

The most comfortable for me have been the Avocet racing saddles and the skinny thing which came with a late-90s Orange evo2!
Flites are OK too.
Turbos give me terminal rear-ache after about 2 miles! Can't get on with WTBs of any description either.

Wearing padded shorts helps a lot.

So really, there is no definitive answer, we as we are all built differently.

 

[sho220]

My bum doen't get along well with Flites either. I have Selle San Marco Concor Lights on most of my bikes...Vetta's are comfy as well...for modern saddles, I haven't tried anything more comfy than WTB Speed V's...

 

[Mike Muz]

Personally , I seem to have the right shape rump for a Flite , but on some bikes a have Rolls , a comfortable yellow one , and a hard black one . It's something that you have to keep trying different ones , to find the right one I think .
Mike

 

[cherrybomb]

I've always got on with flite saddles but I have to say that I'm a big fan of the Charge Spoon these days. They have the mid 90s retro look and are nice and comfortable.
Ti railed ones are reasonably light too while the steel railed ones are dirt cheap and look pretty much identical.

 

[xerxes]

Ever tried a leather saddle? Spa Cycles have some own brand models that are a similar price to some plastic saddles: http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s204p0

I've got leather saddles on two of my bikes and I'm really pleased with them. I tried a variety of plastic saddles, but wasn't very happy with any of them and would start to feel uncomfortable after 15 or 20 miles. I first bought a Brooks Imperial Narrow and I'm quite happy with it, but it has gone a bit saggy and I worry that it might not last very much longer. I then bought a Spa Cycles Aire:

I'm really impressed with it, it's thicker leather than the Brooks and whilst it was very hard I found it fairly comfortable from the outset and the quality is as good as the Brooks for a lot less money. One thing I've noticed is that even the narrow leather saddles tend to be a little bit wider, about 150mm rather than the 135mm - 140mm of your typical plastic saddle and the back of the saddle a little flatter; it's perhaps this that better suits my behind and effects the comfort as much as the material itself.

The downsides to leather saddles are that that they are heavy, but I'm not really a weight weenie, so that doesn't bother me, and that they don't like getting wet; I carry a plastic bag in my rucksack and put it over the saddle if I get caught in a downpour.

 

[Dale cannon]

Charge spoon all the way, every bike I own wears one.

 

[jimo746]

Charge spoon fits me well.

Do you wear padded shorts when riding?