The Saga of the Saddles

A nice comfortable saddle for long rides. That's not too much to ask, is it?

My MTB touring bike came with a perfectly reasonable saddle made by Specialized. 

The original Specialized saddle

I'd had no complaints until I started to go on bikepacking trips and to spend longer in the saddle than usual. I started to think it was a bit hard and my mind turned to fitting a more comfortable saddle. 

So, I researched and found that in touring circles, a leather saddle was apparently highly regarded. And this started The Saga of the Saddles. I bought a Spa Cycles Titanium Railed Aire Saddle and commenced breaking it in, riding hundreds of miles and lovingly applying a suitable leather-care product to help soften the rather hard leather. And it yielded. I felt the difference after about four hundred miles. So far, so good.

The Spa Cycles leather saddle

But after my final bikepacking trip of last year to Knepp Estate, I decided that this saddle was not living up to expectations and was still very much on the hard side. The search for a suitable saddle continued.

I Googled. And one brand caught my eye. ISM. Their saddles are "noseless" and designed for men (largely) to avoid excessive pressure on sensitive bits. Well, that sounded like a fine idea. So, I bought their best seller,  a saddle designed as an all-rounder. The PR 2.0. First impressions were good. The saddle feels strange for sure. With no nose, all your weight is on your sit bones and it's a bit like sitting on a padded shelf. But sadly, when I started more serious training for the summer's planned trip and the ride durations got longer I started to suffer from rather nasty saddle sores. It's possible I should have bought the slightly wider PR 3.0 but, this is the problem with finding the perfect saddle. You don't know if you've found it until you've paid your money and ridden a good few miles or km to test the thing. Yes, it can get expensive!

The ISM PR 2.0

Next, not yet done with ISM, I tried their ISM Touring Saddle. It has the word "touring" in the name, so this had to be The One, right? Wrong. A fine, well padded saddle for sure but I found it impossible to set the saddle at an angle and height that worked. It's definitely intended *only* for very upright seating positions. My touring bike, being an MTB in disguise, requires some leaning forwards into the handlebars and this saddle just doesn't work on a bike like that. It is probably very comfortable on a "sit up and beg" style bike and I did persevere with it but alas, this saddle too has since been discarded.

The ISM Touring saddle

I'm now only a few weeks away from a big European bikepacking trip. And still I had not selected a saddle I thought I could sit on for 7 hours a day or more. The pressure was on. After yet more desperate Googling, I hit upon an alternative strategy and one I have been kicking myself for not thinking of earlier. And this is the latest and final choice. The Saga of the Saddle has been tedious and....expensive!

My bike now has its original Specialized saddle back on it (yes, I know! Duh!) but with a gel saddle cover over it. I've only ridden the bike once since fitting it and... it felt good! Definitely comfortable. Whether it will be over longer distances remains to be seen but this is what I'm going with. And at £20 it was a much cheaper option than the two ISM saddles and the leather saddle! Fingers crossed this works out. Saddle sores are not fun :-)

Cheap but (hopefully) cheerful - the gel saddle cover

But what about those discarded saddles? Are they lying in a sad pile somewhere in my garage? Happily the answer is no. Surprisingly there is a market for used saddles and I sold the leather saddle and the PR 2.0 on eBay (I'll be listing the Touring saddle soon). And I didn't make too much of a loss, so that took the sting out of the cost of the Saga of the Saddles.

Will the gel saddle cover prove to be up to the job? Time and miles will tell.