More comfy saddle

Hi all

I purchased a new 5.2 from Velorutions (London) in February and have been using it for a 20min journey to work and back. As you are not meant to stand on the pedals whilst riding, I’m starting to get butt ache :confused: Does anyone out there know if i can replace the saddle with a more comfy one and if so which saddle would you recommend. I have a brushed aluminium strida and would like to keep the saddle as similar to the original as possible.

Thanks in Advance

Newbie

You can certainly replace the saddle for any standard rail type seat. One thing though - DON’T OVERTIGHTEN THE BOLT THAT HOLDS THE SADDLE CLAMP TIGHT AGAINST THE RAILS when you do. There have been some cases of people overdoing the tension on the bolt and breaking the plastic moulding that the seat is fastened to.

I have a fake strida and I replaced the rather mean saddle it came with. The ride is very upright and as you have found out, you put more weight on the seat than on a normal bike. I went for a pretty cheap unisex Avenir saddle which cost about £12.50. It is fat and padded and sprung too. It might look like an old womans bike seat, but my a*se is a lot more comfortable than it was before. I can easily ride the bike for twelve miles now just for fun, whereas before, it was nagging at me after three miles.

You can probably get them at your LBS, or from here if you want →

http://www.nationalcycles.co.uk/avenir-avenir-comfort-ergonomic-foam-saddle.html

The perspective in this photo makes the saddle look huge. It isn’t that big, but it is larger than the one it came with by a good bit.

How about a luxurious one? I think it is definitely very comfortable and good looking. :laughing:
You can choose a black one to match the original colour scheme of your Strida.

Brooks Flyer Special Saddle
http://www.strida.hk/images/acc/CREAM2.jpg
http://www.strida.hk/images/acc/CREAM4.jpg

Do not buy a Brooks B17 Saddle because it cannot fit onto your Strida’s seat mounting.
[url]Replacing your seat? - #4 by Amuro_Lee]

Thank you all so much for your response. Currently contemplating the Brooks Special flyer in black
http://www.brooksengland.com/shop/shopProductDetail.aspx?id=uid-20070521.174047.531.2500-14-00145E457A63------------------50

with black Brooks saddle bag

http://www.brooksengland.com/shop/shopProductDetail.aspx?id=uid-20071220.175707.969.0259-1-00145E457A63-------------------87

Was thinking whether or not it would look ok with a brushed alu 5.2. I know the creme edition 5.0 with brown Brooks saddle and bag looks awesome.

Thoughts and opinions appreciated

Those Brooks saddles in brown look absolutely great. I might do that some time.

Yes, it really looks awesome! :sunglasses:
http://www.strida.hk/images/bike/sp_brooks.jpg

Having read on another post that a rider replaced his seat with a Specilaized Expedition saddle. I decided to go ahead and order one over the internet. Today was my first day and i have to say its fantastic!!!

Good shout fellow rider :laughing:

Strida Newbie

Yes, that was me :smiley: . My rear end has certainly been a lot happier since I fitted mine. I find that the saddle squeaks a little when I’m maybe trying to push a bit too hard, but I can now concentrate on enjoying my ride instead of worrying about how soon I’ll have to stop to rest the fundament.

Colin

Specialized Expedition followup:

I’ve just done a 13 mile (20k) trip on this saddle, some of it on fairly rough forestry tracks, and I can still feel my backside :wink:. An unexpected benefit was that the springs turn out to be very effective at deadening most of the vibration from the hardpack of the tracks, and made them eminently cyclable. Not sure how long the tyres will last if I do this too often, though.

Definitely a good investment, and I can heartily recommend it.

Colin

I’ve also read this and bought the expedition plus saddle (1 inch wider) and the thing rocks! The oem strida one that it came with was killing me just getting off those level sidewalks. Once I had this baby on it felt like a cushion of air. I had even tried those funky elastomer sprung saddles and they don’t have the give and suspension compared to a good old spring saddle. My strida was a fun bike now it’s an awesome bike!

I would have chosen a brooks but after reading how you have to oil it everyone once in awhile kinda killed it for me since I ride mine to work and shove it under the cubicle desk. Last thing I need is a oil patch in my crotch area on my light coloured dress pants. :open_mouth:

:mrgreen: LOL

any pix or links ?

Pics of the seat? I’m in Canada and I picked it up at this place.

bikedepot.com/itemdetails.cfm?LibId=50595

once it’s on it won’t look that big anymore, that and my butt covers the thing! :laughing:

Specialize sells a 1 1/2 inch narrower non plus version if thats your thing. I had to sit on a bike with it in the store for like a few minutes first to make sure it’s ergonomically ok with me since everyone is different.

My daily commute to work with it is 5.7km one way (15-20mins cruising mostly flat land). coming in and throwing it under my desk makes it the most useful contraption I’ve owned so far.

I think, one of the worst design part of the bike is the saddle because you allways are slided to the front. I changed it for a Velo saddle that is absolutely perfect in terms of comfort and ergonomics. And it has another good point: Now I can carry de bike with one hand with NO effort. I will publish pics about this matter.

Regards

I have removed and replaced saddle a couple of times - now its about 40mm further back from original position - makes a bit more knee room.

But original saddle of Strida is … Velo.
See the bottom of saddle. Not easy to see but there is Velo brand. I have Strida 5.2. Maybe for other older types or other production lots other subvendors were choosen.
Sliding to front is rather being unskilled to ride. I had exactly the same problem for few first weeks of riding. Now I sit properly most of riding time.

The best saddle I have tried for the strida in terms of comfort and ergonomycs is the Velo Newport S4. Impressive! Absolutly fantastic.

If you try it you will never come back to the original. I own two stridas, one with the original Velo, and the other one with the Velo Newport S4. When I must ride the original Velo, I hate to ride. When I ride the Newport, I am in the heaven.
The Newport S4 must be an option from the factory.

Best regards.

Hydra

http://images.jensonusa.com/large/sa/sa403a77gry.jpg

Yes, I knew the original one is Velo brand too. But the original Velo does not fit properly to the human requirements in a Strida. I have bought a new Sport Duo (my third Strida) and this saddle will be the first improvement I will do. (May be, I will try first the Velo Newport S2W, a little bit less bulky)

http://images.jensonusa.com/large/sa/sa403a78blg______spri.jpg

On the first days I also thought that Strida standard saddle is not very comfortable. And I started to look for other but I couldn’t decide (all saddles with good opinions were expensive) after more than 1 month I get accustomed to standard saddle.
Maybe is not the best but anyway better than saddles types designed for mountain bicycles.

Just purchased Comfy and Cheap $14 includes shipping

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 2379wt_960

When I got my Strida, I emailed Mark Sanders about replacing the seat, and he answered “we’ve never had complaints about the seat”… (But then, this is the guy who says “you don’t need gears…”, and “We gave up bothering trying to make the seat fold…”…)

In the UK, I went to my local Halfords, and tried fitting various seats, and cycling round the store to get a feel (!?) for comfort.
In hindsight, the flat lino floor of the shop is not a good test of behaviour vs. potholes!!
I settled on a gel-filled one from Bikehut.

But after reading the reports here, I’m thinking of going back and trying some sprung saddles. Gel is good at distributing the load evenly, no question. And has at least some elastic impact dampening.
Springs (as well) to take the kick out of potholes sounds like a good plan…

p.s.: The creme version with the Brooks saddle and bag? That is too steampunk-awesome to even exist. Really lovely!
(My Strida 3 is a visual assault, with green mudguards, and yellow reflecto-tape plastered everywhere…
Not that that seems to prevent “London white-van man and Joe-lorry-driver pretending they can’t see me, and trying to crush me…” My other favourite topic for “Strida Mods” is some kind of anti-lorry gun…)