Leather saddle recommendation for upright Sam H?

[☆ PaulB ☆]

Hello Everyone!

I'm rebuilding an older double top-tube Sam Hillborne from the frame up, and I'm struggling to find a comfortable leather saddle for an upright ride. I don't mean "kinda upright", I mean straight back like a dutch bike for errands and trips around time — achieving this with a Bosco bar and super long Nitto tectonic stem pushed all the way up.

I'm 175 lbs, 5'11" and have 115mm sitbones and normally ride a Fizik Aliante or B17 Narrow on my more aggressive bikes... but putting either of those saddles on the upright doesn't work. My sitbones fall off, and I'm riding on "soft tissue". Ouch. 

Other saddles that have not worked:

• B17/Flyer: Too narrow. Sit bones fall off the edge, and upturned nose pokes in a bad place.
  
• B68: Too wide, chafes a bit, and slippery. 
  
• Berthoud Mente: Hard as a rock, and possibly a little too wide (hard to tell as it is so hard).
• Brooks Cambium C19: Sit area curves down so much on the sides it's really no wider than a C15 — or B17.
• Rivet Loveland: Ditto.

What sort of of works:

• 170mm wide Brompton "Wide version" foam saddle I pilfered from my wife's folding bike. Feels pretty good. But really, really dumb looking on the Sam. I strongly prefer a leather saddle as the bike is turning out quite lovely, and looks do count!

Any suggestions? 

PS: If someone has a tried and true way to break in the Berthoud, I might do it. The issue is I'll never ride a century on this bike, and I'm afraid that breaking the Mente in the normal way will take a year or more.

Thank you!

Paul

[Joe Bernard]

You've knocked out everything I could possibly think of so let me say this: Comfort is everything in a saddle and no one can see it while you're riding. If that Brompton saddle works, go for it!

[Paul Budnitz]

Hi Joe. 

That is a wise answer. 

☆ Paul

On Jun 11, 2020, 4:24 PM -0400, Joe Bernard <joer...@gmail.com>, wrote:

You've knocked out everything I could possibly think of so let me say this: Comfort is everything in a saddle and no one can see it while you're riding. If that Brompton saddle works, go for it!

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[Garth]

Yea, never ever EVER compromise on your saddle and go with something that "looks" good over what works, whatever works works ! 

I ride these big heavy Selle Royal Lookin moderate saddles made with what they call "Royal Gel" that is the best saddle stuff ever, for me. It's beyond explanation.... ooh lah lah !

You don't break in leather saddles .... they break you !

[Joe Bernard]

Hehe, the brand new Brooks B17 currently on my brand new and hardly ridden Brompton is currently trying to break me every time I ride it. It came with the wide Brompton saddle, maybe I should go with that!

[Deacon Patrick]

Billy Crystal: "It's better to looook goooood than to feeeel gooood. And let me tell you, darling ... you looooook maaahvelous! Absolooootly maaaaahvelous!" So, you got that going for you. Grin.

If you get desperate enough to try something beyond the Brompton wide, here is a whacky idear: harden your rear. Sit on wood chairs, no cushion. Kneel on a kneeler. Sit cross legged on a hard floor. Etc. Simultaneously, get the Berthoud and ride it. No short cuts to break it in, but in the long run you'll be far happier, because you are right, a leather saddle just rides ... better.

With abandon,

Patrick, who actually eschews cushioned seating, uses a kneeling desk and sits on wood floors and flatform chairs, and rides a Berthoud on his GBW.

[aeroperf]

It’s not leather…

I had a “standard” Selle Anatomica saddle on my Sam.  It is not what you want.

But I replaced it with a Serfas RX Cruiser Bicycle Saddle – CR-RXL.  This is what you want.
I have a couple of pins in my back, and I ride a bicycle because riding lets me lean over a little, as opposed to walking. 
The CR-RXL put me in such an upright position that I had to raise my handlebars 2 inches.  It was comfortable on the seat bones, but… I finally had to give it away to save my back.

If you really want an upright ride, or you want a really upright ride, try this one.

[John Phillips]

    Maybe take a look at the Ergon ST Core Prime? I have friends who like these one their errand/urban bikes.

I use a Berthoud Vars, but you already said you found Berthouds too hard.

John

[☆ Paul ☆]

Hi John.

How long did it take to break in the Vars? Does it get flexible over time like a B17 does?

Paul

[John Phillips]

  The Vars eventually molds a bit to your sit bones, but I forgot to keep track of how long it took. I found running Compass/ Rene Herse extralight tires made the break-in much more comfortable. Someone somewhere also mention he loosened the tension bolt 2 turns when breaking in his Berthoud saddle.

And I only use Obenhauf's leather goop on my saddles.

YMMV,

John