Selle Anatomica saddle break in question.

[Lum Gim Fong]

Love my x2 saddle. All the suspension and cush I need and about a pound lighter than my Flyer saddles.

But my sit bones hurt sometimes, as the saddle feels hard against their bony points. Sometimes I can feel tissue grinding between them and the saddle. Then after a while feels fine. Then comes back again. Usually worst at beginning of a ride. Gets better as the ride goes on.

How long does it take to break in these saddles for the sit bones? Saddle is very comfortable in every other way.

This is a new saddle. I used saddle sauce on it already. Might do another dose.

[aeroperf]

I rode a Selle Anatomica Titanico X on my Sam for three years and over 1000 miles.
It "broke in" after about 700 miles.
By "broke in" I mean that instead of just the sit bones hurting, my entire butt hurt where it was in contact with the saddle.  The first 15 miles were great, but as I went further it got more painful.
After the third year of applying moisturizer to my chapped butt, my wife told me to get something else.  I got a Serfas RX-921V and I love it.
So...700 miles?

I thought the Selle Anatomica was a good saddle.  Loved the suspension.  But apparently it was just not the one for me.  I ride "unpadded".

Saddle Sauce doesn't seem to make it more pliable or break in faster.  It's purpose seems to be to waterproof the leather.  I recommend Brooks Proofide to really dress the leather.

[Lum Gim Fong]

Today felt better on my 23 mile commute.

Keeping it looser than optimal tension, which SA says is 6mm at narrowest part of cutout. At 6mm tension, sit bones hurt, then after 20 or so miles the leather stretches out again and feels fine. So I think just better to not retension daily to recommended 6mm spacing so often. I was trying to always keep it there, but stretched out after every ride. Better to just ride until the edges touch and then retension to 6mm only when have to. Hopefully by the time the leather stops stretching out it will be broken in and comfy at 6mm.

[ian m]

On both my SA saddles break in time was nil. Perfect out of the box. I would not recommend conditioning the leather too much as they are known for stretching rather fast. Tighten/loosen the bolt as needed, I usually just have about a finger tip width between under the saddle and the seatpost top (while under load)

On Sunday, September 2, 2018 at 10:19:20 PM UTC-4, Lum Gim Fong wrote:

[Fullylugged]

I have 3 on bikes and love them. I use Obenaufs to moisturize without making too soft. And in small amounts. Comfy from day 1. I like a slight hammock in mine and generally level heel/nose set up. My oldest has 7,000 miles (I weigh around 150 and Riv only sold the heavy duty model so that's what I use). You can also get a longer bolt to get more life from them. Don't over tension. Check yoru position. Your nose may need to come up to give you a flatter sit bone landing area.

[Lum Gim Fong]

Thanks. I have some Obenaufs.
Nose is 1/8” up.
Felt good today. Letting it stretch more before tightening again. Too hard under sit bones when tighten to the recommended 6mm. So I’m letting it stretch and enjoying the lower tension.
I have found that the saddle is so comfortable, besides the sit bone pressure when properly tensioned, that I barely change hand and body positions compared to my Brooks saddles. I find myself unmoving and keeping the same position for long periods.

[iamkeith]

I have the SA on almost all of my bikes now, i like it so much. A couple of notes that have worked for me:

- I dont tension often at all in the beginning. As others have suggested, that just lessens the life span. After it sags and forms to me, i'll tighten to feel (not to a measurement) and then don't have to tighten often from there.

-for the same longevity reason, i don't treat the leather. I DO keep a bag or cover handy in case of rain though, and try not to ride at all if it's wet and i dont have fenders to protect the underside.

- i lightly sand the sharp edges of the cutout. This eliminates pinching that sometimes happens if it's not tensioned enough - especially since i seldom use padded shorts now.

- in the early days when Tom Milton was alive, he used to include very a detailed guide for setting up the saddle and keeping track of subtle adjustments as you would dial in the perfect position. I could probably find and scan and post one of those if you're interested.

[Lum Gim Fong]

That would be great. Thanks for the info. I am surprised they don’t include tuning for comfort in their instructions, just the 6mm tensioning instruction.

[iamkeith]

On Thursday, September 6, 2018 at 5:27:00 AM UTC-6, Lum Gim Fong wrote:
> That would be great. Thanks for the info. I am surprised they don’t include tuning for comfort in their instructions, just the 6mm tensioning instruction.

Found. One. Going to try to upload from my phone. Here's a picture of the folio thing that used to be included.

[iamkeith]

[Lum Gim Fong]

Very cool!
Thank you!