Hammer

Best Bicycle Seat for New Cyclist?

Gary recently emailed us and asked:

I have a Trek Pilot 1.0 and typically ride for about 1.5 hours a day. Which saddle/seat would you recommend? Selle Italia looks nice but I'm not looking to spend more than $100. Any recommendations?

Our Answer:

Gary that's a very common question that many new riders ask. It's quite common for new riders to change the saddle on their bicycle seat a few times before settling on the perfect saddle. If you are looking to save money then getting it right the first time is a sure way to do that.

If you are riding for an hour and a half a day every day then that is a decent amount of time in the saddle and you need to choose wisely. The first thing we recommend is for you to measure your sit bones. Once you know how wide of a saddle you need then the next things is to find the perfect saddle for you.

Some of our top recommendations that we have used in the past are the Specialized Alias saddle and the Selle Italia Max Flite. The Max Flite is slightly wider than most Selle Italia saddles and is not as "race" oriented as some of their product line.

Me personally, I love the Specialized Alias but if you have your eyes on Selle Italia then the Max Flite should serve you well and you can buy it on Ebay or Amazon for prices right around $100 dollars even though it is considerably more than that in the bicycle shop.

Let us know how it works out for you.

6 Comments »

unclefred rated this:

I like the Selle Italia Flite too. I have never tried Specialized Saddles but I have heard good things about them.

# 12 October 2009 at 1:04 pm

borracho111 rated this:

Theres a terry gel saddle that is pretty good.

# 13 October 2009 at 3:39 pm

crazyj rated this:

fizik are wonderful once you ride them you dont want to go back to anything else

# 14 October 2009 at 4:32 pm

Tony Chen rated this:

it doesnt matter, you should go with whichever 1 suits you the best

# 16 October 2009 at 11:57 am

Ric rated this:

The Selle Italia you can purchase for around $100 dollars but it depends on the exact model you go with. The Flite series is a great saddle and I ran the old style Flite saddles (non-gel) on all three road bikes and you will find there is a break-in period for those and the Gel saddles. Once you get it broken in then I doubt you will ever ride anything else other than a Selle Italia Flite.

The Fizik is a great saddle but it’s big bucks and IMO not worth the money, and Terry saddles seem like they are designed for women although I heard they have mens saddles too.

Overall I think Selle Italia is your best choice.

# 18 October 2009 at 12:08 pm

Ben P rated this:

Go to a local bike shop and try sitting on different saddles to get an idea of what agrees with your anatomy. Saddle choice is very personal. What may be the most comfy saddle for John Doe may not be for you. One that I heard many say great things about is a Selle Italia Turbo-Matic. I have had 2 and my friend also bought one. It’s an older model that is firm but very supportive, just the right saddle for someone with many miles under their butt. Selle Italia Flite are also very popular and have been in production for a long time, and for good reason. Many Fiziks are very comfortable but you’d have to find them on sale as they generally run over $100. Not all gel saddles are equal. Also might want to try some of the models with the gap for sensitive areas. Of these, Selle SMP is the one I’ve found to be the best. Good luck.

# 20 October 2009 at 6:39 pm