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What saddle do you ride? — The results

10.01.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

They say that the saddle is the most personal item of equipment on a bike, because every rider has different needs. This idea resurfaced during the “What saddle do you ride?” poll. There is no clear-cut winner. The results are notable mainly because of the wide variety of saddles that showed up.

Multiple votes went to three saddles: The Fizik Aliante, the Brooks Champion Flyer, and the Brooks B-17. Dave, from Round Rock, Texas, said of the Aliante, “I have been on a lot of saddles and this is the first one that I can train on regularly and keep my saddle sores manageable.” It’s a very different ride than the two from Brooks. These traditional models are leather, require a lengthy break-in time, and horror of horrors — the Champion Flyer is sprung! Jake said his Brooks Champion Flyer provides “more blood flow to the man bits than even a very lightly padded plastic saddle.” He also liked the springs, which smooth out the ride on his aluminum frame, but he admits the saddle is heavy.

FizBrooksThe Fizik Aliante and the Brooks Champion Flyer.

Every other saddle in the poll got only one mention. But there are enough different kinds that I’ll bet we can all find something to try out.

More Brooks fans: the B-72 and the Swallow each got a vote. Selle Italia got votes for its Ceverlo, Turbo and Turbomatic models. The Fizik Arione, Specialized Avatar, and Bontrager Race Basic all checked in.

TurboEtAlClockwise from upper left: Selle Italia Turbo, Brooks Swallow, Bontrager Race.

A couple of readers swore by tried-and-true mounts. Tracy likes his Terry Dragonfly, which Terry doesn’t make anymore. He says the closest seat to it is the currently popular Terry Fly Ti, but he can tell the difference between the two. John Z. likes his 1990s Vetta SP so much that after Vetta stopped making them, he scoured eBay for them, and now has a dozen. (I once bought multiple pairs of a model of running shoe I liked, because I knew when I was ready to replace it, it would be out of production.)

VettaTerryThe Vetta SP and the Terry Dragonfly.

Some oddball models that made the list include the Selle SMP Strike, with its radically pointed-down nose, and the Koobi PRS, which we don’t hear much about, but which has a loyal following of users.

StrikeKoobi

The SMP Strike and the Koobi PRS Alpha.

And finally — and this happens in every discussion of saddles I’ve ever seen — two readers urged us all to quit our whining about saddle discomfort and do what they did: Get a recumbent. You’ll sit on a seat, not a saddle.

Bent

I don’t think I’m ready to take the leap. Yet.

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Categories // Accessories, Equipment

It must be the wheel

09.29.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, after I groused about my warped tire, my friend David suggested I come over and borrow one of his spare wheels. He recently bought them for his five-year-old Fuji, but then he decided to upgrade and got a new Giant Defy. So the Fuji and its almost-new wheels were not being used.

After the Bike Fest, I rode over to his house, and we swapped my front wheel for his. One of the first things he noticed was the feel of my old wheel. “Feel that?” he said. “When you spin it between your fingers, you can feel the grinding in there. This hub needs work.”

We tried the same test with his wheel, and it spun freely. It’s a Forte Titan — the Performance house brand, and appears to be the least expensive road wheel they offer. To top it off, it carried a new Continental Ultra Race tire with a Kevlar belt and a red tread. When mixed with the black and blue paint of my bike, it’s a striking look.

RedwheelThe Forte Titan stands out because of its black spokes, which are flat, and the red tire — which may not be to everyone’s taste.

I haven’t been riding as much lately as I did during the summer, so the new wheel has only been on two Sunday club rides. It seemed okay, although with a 23 mm tire, instead of the previous 25, it felt a tad twitchier. I figured I’d keep it until I had a chance to get my old wheel over to our club bike mechanic, and get his advice about the hub.

Then tonight came the last time trial of the season. I wanted to ride, since no official time was posted for the last TT. My previous best time was 24:10 and 20-something mph. I wanted to beat that tonight, and get my time under 24 minutes.

The ride seemed easy. In fact, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to beat my old time. I was well within my comfort zone for most of the ride. Over the last two miles, I pushed harder than I had during the first six.

Holy cow! My unofficial time was 23:02! I knocked a minute and eight seconds off my previous best. Speed was just a smidge over 21 mph. How was that possible? I’ve been riding less, I don’t “train” for rides like this, and honestly, I felt as though I’d left something out on the course. Sure, I rode hard. But I think I could have ridden harder.

Mrs. Noob nailed it: “No way you improved that much in three weeks,” she said. “It must be that new wheel.”

Yeah, that’s it.

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Categories // Components, Equipment Tags // wheels

What saddle do you ride?

09.24.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 11 Comments

Saddles

Here’s a post on a subjective topic: saddles. We’ve discussed them in the past, and it always seems to be a topic of interest. This time around, I want to know what kind of saddle you’re riding, and what you think of it.

This idea was suggested by our regular guest poster, Jeff Hemmel, who reviewed the Bontrager Inform a couple of months ago — and has now fallen out of love with it. Likewise, a saddle I once liked, the Specialized Alias, now sits on a shelf in my garage, and the one that replaced it — the San Marco Selle Ponza — is okay, but not super.

So we’re curious. Have you found a dandy saddle that you can ride comfortably for long distances? Would you recommend other riders try out a saddle like the one you have?

Here’s my request: Send me an email with the make and model of saddle you ride. Tell me a little about its strong points, and/or its weak points. In other words, provide a mini-review of your saddle. If you want to send along a picture, that would be wonderful. I’ll compile the submissions, and feature the results in a future post.

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Categories // Equipment Tags // saddles

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