More comfy saddle

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…)

I recently added a Brooks Flyer Special to my Strida 5.0 LT. Love it! More comfortable than stock and the springs seem to really soak up many of the bumps. Along with it I added the bended bars which for me, whose 6’2" tall, was a big improvement in fit and general feeling of stability.

I choose the aged leather seat to avoid having to oil the seat and because my seat will rarely see long term sun exposure or inclement weather (here in California).

I had a bit of a struggle getting the seats mounting rails to snap onto the plastic Strida seat bracket. I had to push and wiggle for 20 minutes before it finally slipped on. Once in place the seat frame fit well without any clearance issues.


I am about to purchase a flyer aged myself, looks very nice on your strida! When you say “Brooks Flyer Special” Do you mean a Brooks Flyer S? S being a shorter (ladies) version. I ask because I was thinking if I should get the S or not, perhaps the normal one would be a bit too large on a Strida?
I think the S comes in at about 245mm V’s 275mm for the standard.

Hi danny777,

Brooks Flyer Speical ≠ Brooks Flyer S. :wink:

Brooks Flyer
http://www.brooksengland.com/catalogue-and-shop/saddles/touring+%26+trekking/Flyer/

Brooks Flyer Special
http://www.brooksengland.com/catalogue-and-shop/saddles/touring+%26+trekking/Flyer+Special/

Brooks Flyer S
http://www.brooksengland.com/catalogue-and-shop/saddles/touring+%26+trekking/Flyer+S/

Brooks Flyer S Special
http://www.brooksengland.com/catalogue-and-shop/saddles/touring+%26+trekking/Flyer+S+Special/

Best regards,

Amuro

My confusion was the OP mentioned it was a special. It is not, it is just a Brooks Flyer Aged. The Brooks Flyer S Aged has less holes where the laces go through.
Well I’ve just ordered a (non S) Brooks Flyer Aged, after a measure up, and looking at the picture above it looks a great fit for the strida. Thanks for your help.

Hi,

I have a SX Strida for almost a year and the 1st thing I have done was to put in a more confortable saddle (a selle royal). The saddle is good but the position is not entirely horizontal so I keep looking for the ideal saddle. My thougts are with the Brooks 67 and now the strida ST-SDL-003. Can anyone give informations about these sadlles (comfort and horizontality)? Thanks.