Selle Anatomica saddle review

[Steve Xerri]

Saddle review
I have purposely waited to make any comments on my Selle Anatomica saddle until after the GSR so that I could give it a fair go in forming an opinion on how it went.
In the past synthetic saddles gave me till about the 150km mark before I found them almost unbearable and had to reach for the Ibuprofen for a little relief(works too).
Gladly I've had a lot of luck with the SA saddle and without reservation say it's the one for me-at last.
I won't say it was like sitting on a couch but it was very good. My bum did get sore but I rode most of the ride thinking of other things than a sore arse, in fact I would say the first couple of days were easy on the sit bones. (I'll repeat, not without a LITTLE discomfort but happy to live with it in comparison to the bad old days, believe me I HAVE SUFFERED)
I used it on a 300 prior to the GSR with no saddle problems.
With the Selle Anatomica I felt like my bum was on the saddle and not just my sit bones.
I had a little rubbing probably because it's a bit wider than what I would normally use but managed it quite well with chamois cream so that was not a big problem.
I've had to tighten it a few times but I believe that this may reach a point where this happens less frequently and the manufacturer also suggests this.
Worrying about getting it wet is a bit of a hassle but my seat bag kept the underside dry and I haven't ridden in heavy rain yet. I have bought a rain cover and waterproofing solution from the manufacturer.
I believe that Brookss saddles would also work for me but 1: can't say till I try one and 2: as I had heard the SA was good almost from the first ride this was the decider. (The 300 was my third)
Yep, I would buy another and would recommend it to the long suffering Audaxer. But where would I be without a disclaimer? Just because this works for me (till now) I can't guarantee it will work for you but really hope it does.
Thanks to all for the input when I originally posed the question. Hamish gets the lollie.
Cheers,
Steve.

[Mark Riley]

Steve, I went through a stage of trying to find the "the saddle", including the Sella Anatomica.

(And you're right, the SA is good first up.... but I ran out of bolt thread after a year.)

My conclusion now is that there is no such thing as a "good saddle"; but there ARE "bad saddles" to avoid (you will know when you have one);

the rest is just a matter of kilometres. 

MarkR 

[Bill Parker]

They (selle anatomica) are currently having their black friday sale including free shipping (to here?). Lasts for a few days maybe, lower than normal price but they seem to be always having some sort of sale or another, usually do good prices around christmas too , the USD10 postage has been fairly fast (less than 2 weeks) for me in the past.

The stretching issue is the off putter for me, I have had two and they both stretched enough during just 200 km rides to become uncomfortable, too saggy, requiring adjustment. And they keep stretching until the adjustment bolt runs out of thread, took 6 months for the first, 12 months for the second, by which time they were 320mm long and not really practicable. But the were comfortable at their best times but the best windows were limited.

I am still searching, currently on a WTB saddle that came with my Vivente tourer and used on my first few Audax rides before I started looking for something better!

[Michael James]

I've got SelleAnns on all my bikes, some 7 years old.

I have had to tighten them, but never ran out of thread.

Leave them a bit saggy! If it's uncomfortable, tighten it a bit.

But if you treat them like a Brooks, you'll kill them.

Note that Canberra is a pretty dry climate so they don't have to put up with much rain.

That said, the most used one is on my commuter bike and puts up with all it gets.

Note for big riders, I'm only* 72Kg and ride the X series heaviest duty variant. YMMV

Review of the new Selle Anatomica CARBON SERIES:

I bought one of the crowd-sourced Carbon SelleAnns,

 and have been trying it out on short rides.

It's a fine saddle, light, broad, well shaped, but hard.

Excellent racing saddle, NOT an endurance saddle.

I've taken it off the bike and gone back to the 5 year old leather SelleAnn.

Didn't seem likely that it would ever "break in" given that we ride carbon-soled racing shoes

 precisely because they don't ever sag and loose their flatness.

*only 72Kg, hmmmm I should be 64.

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[Bec & Howard]

I took advantage of the Black Friday sale to pick up 2 Selle Anatomica saddles for US$190. Shipping isn't free to Australia - it was about US$25 for my order.
Yes, these saddles do stretch quickly, but I've had my current ones for several years and I do ride a lot of kms. I don't mind that they are really long when nearly stretched out. I use them til the bolt actually comes out.
Cheers
Bec

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[Robert Hoehne]

yep, great saddle for me. I have 2 that got a bit wide and have punched holes in them and laced the splaying sides in.

I also got the heaviest variant despite my light weight.

 

On Saturday, 26 November 2016 14:04:05 UTC+11, trelevn wrote:

I've got SelleAnns on all my bikes, some 7 years old.

I have had to tighten them, but never ran out of thread.

Leave them a bit saggy! If it's uncomfortable, tighten it a bit.

But if you treat them like a Brooks, you'll kill them.

Note that Canberra is a pretty dry climate so they don't have to put up with much rain.

That said, the most used one is on my commuter bike and puts up with all it gets.

Note for big riders, I'm only* 72Kg and ride the X series heaviest duty variant. YMMV

Review of the new Selle Anatomica CARBON SERIES:

I bought one of the crowd-sourced Carbon SelleAnns,

 and have been trying it out on short rides.

It's a fine saddle, light, broad, well shaped, but hard.

Excellent racing saddle, NOT an endurance saddle.

I've taken it off the bike and gone back to the 5 year old leather SelleAnn.

Didn't seem likely that it would ever "break in" given that we ride carbon-soled racing shoes

 precisely because they don't ever sag and loose their flatness.

*only 72Kg, hmmmm I should be 64.

On 26 November 2016 at 12:42, Bill Parker <bpar...@gmail.com> wrote:

They (selle anatomica) are currently having their black friday sale including free shipping (to here?). Lasts for a few days maybe, lower than normal price but they seem to be always having some sort of sale or another, usually do good prices around christmas too , the USD10 postage has been fairly fast (less than 2 weeks) for me in the past.

The stretching issue is the off putter for me, I have had two and they both stretched enough during just 200 km rides to become uncomfortable, too saggy, requiring adjustment. And they keep stretching until the adjustment bolt runs out of thread, took 6 months for the first, 12 months for the second, by which time they were 320mm long and not really practicable. But the were comfortable at their best times but the best windows were limited.

I am still searching, currently on a WTB saddle that came with my Vivente tourer and used on my first few Audax rides before I started looking for something better!

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[Bill Parker]

And just when I thought I had run out of things to buy for the bike Selle Anatomica release their new H Series - " H Series saddles utilize a stiffer top than X Series. They were designed for cyclists, [heavier or high mileage riders], who might have otherwise prematurely stretched X Series saddles. They're also built for cyclists who prefer a stiffer riding platform such as those coming from many years on a Brooks."  https://selleanatomica.com/collections/h-series/products/h2-next-generation-saddle

I have been generally happy with my SAA X but the stretching can get annoying as the shape changes and I am a bit slower on the SAA, (due I assume because of its greater compliance / flexing), compared to other agony inducing saddles. So the prospect of the H together with the 2017 Black Friday sale induced me to part with some more money, hoping this will be the perfect combination. I will update you with the results.

[Bill Parker]

Here we go again!

I was very disappointed with my Selle Anatomica H2 (see above almost 12 months ago) which was supposed to be less prone to stretching but for me was the worst of my so far 3 SAA saddles, it stretched every ride requiring re-tensioning until it had used up over half the tensioning bolt after only 600kms and showed no signs of slowing. It wasn't all that comfortable anyway.  In disgust and frustration I sold it (with full history) to someone who liked a deep sag in their saddle and was happy with that and the good price I let it go for.

I saw a few comments on various forum sites that the newer version of the Brooks Cambium (the "All Weather") was "more compliant / flexible" than the previous version and also a fair bit cheaper (plastic rather than aluminium endplate but they still give 10 year warranty), so with the sale proceeds one of those very helpful German online stores "rushed" me a new saddle. I have been very slack for the last 12 months with almost no longer rides and while I have done 1,500kms on the new Cambium (all weather C17 carved) the longest has only been 105 but it shows none of the sitbone discomfort tending to agony I got from the previous cambium after 70kms or so, I live in hope then, will see next saturday on Newcastle Overnight (175km), if I make it.

As a backstop I see Selle Anatomica have announced a new R2 saddle, same shape as the leather ones but with a "rubber" (synthetic) top rather than leather. I am hoping the Cambium does it for me on longer distances but the R2 might be good for those who like the SAA saddles, it is their cheapest model (USD99) but does not "ship till next year (https://selleanatomica.com/products/r2)

Good riding everyone.

[Bill Parker]

The "announced" Selle Anatomica R2 (rubber) saddle I mentioned above (Nov 2018 !) seems to have had all sorts of "production" issues and has only just started shipping (to pre-order customers who have been waiting 12 months?). My previous experience with Selle Anatomica would make me reluctant to have another punt on their saddles without reliable positive Audax / longer distance reviews although the promise of a non-stretching model might encourage me to save up my pocket money for one. I emailed them to inquire about their expectations regarding stretching because they make a big point of their R2 (rubber rather than leather) being "tensionable". They say they don't expect the rubber to stretch at all which would conform to my experience with my Brooks C17 which has been rock solid (too much) for the 5000kms I have used it. My previous SAA saddles had a brief comfortable period which they passed through and lost as they stretched and stretched.....a rubber topped one might stay in the comfortable zone (or might never reach it?)

Has anyone been a R2 early adopter, any comments? The comments/reviews on the SAA site aren't very helpful as no-one has done more than a few 10s of kms since receiving them but still give 5 star ratings !

In the mean time I picked up a couple of cheap on sale Brooks saddles, a B17 Imperial & Team Pro Special, I have done about 1000kms on each currently and while ok for 100kms neither are yet claiming they are "the saddle" for me.

Noting it is only 1316 days to PBP 2023 I am starting to become concerned about saddles

thanks

[Chris Horsfield]

Hi Bill, I have been through the same thought process as you but gave up waiting for reviews of the R2. I was very kindly lent an H2 leather saddle and it worked so well for me I bought an H2 and a spare leather top before Xmas. The saddle, spare top and shipping was US$215 - they reduced the shipping to US$20 when I queried the astronomical figure the site generated. I have not touched the bolt on the original H2. The saddle is more of a sling than it used to be and I do have it slightly nose up with my more upright riding position. It has stretched a bit but not catastrophically. I have used it since last May with a number of 200's then a couple of 400's and then PBP. I think the top will last me 2-3 years at least and as they can be replaced it is not too bad for the comfort. It is easily the most comfortable saddle I have used. I think it may be 6-12 months before reliable reviews of the R2's are available. The clearly had a lot of trouble getting it to market due to production problems and it remains to be seen if they can keep the quality of them consistent to perform reliably.

Chris

[alant...@optusnet.com.au]

I have given up on Selle Anatomica - Had 2 of theirvsaddles. Both resulted in severely bent rails and in both  the bolts were never long enough to tension saddle sufficiently so I was always sitting on the top of the seat post in a sling. WAWOM.
Back to Brooks.

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Amazing Grace changes everything

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[Bill Parker]

It is a mystery to me why they stretch so much for some people (me) and not for others . Howard and Bec also have opposite experiences with them. At Holbrook last April I was taking to Keith Morical after our rides (his 600, my 200), he had a X2 or H2 and was hoping it would last till the end of the year which for him included Trans America (6,700kms, in which he came 2nd), PBP, other "races" and his "normal training", all told he thought he would be doing a further 20,000kms plus in 2019. I saw a photo of him and bike in late November and he had a much elongated SAA saddle, maybe the same? Glad the H2 worked so well for you. If I didn't have saddle excuses I would just have to find another one. I will push the distances up on the Brooks saddles and hold the R2 option in reserve for later if needed.