Geiginni wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:30 pm On the topic of taint-saver seats: Does anyone have any recommendations for a leather or leather-ish Brooks-style taint-saver that's more affordable? Maybe a Chinese knock-off. My second road bike needs a new saddle and I don't ride it enough to justify a $150 Brooks or $190 Selle-Anitomica. Thanks in advance!

Before I went all Brooks, I rode a Terry Liberator, gel leather with a cutout, that served me well on my commuter bike. Rode it until it literally tore open on both sides. Terry and Serfas still make cutout saddles for under $100.

I've long since moved on to the Brooks B17 with no cutout. Again, very personal but with the Brooks positioned correctly - nose slightly elevated over seat - my sit bones hit the wide part and my "taint" is slightly elevated over the nose of the saddle, so there's no constant contact. Works well. I also have one of the springy Brooks which has been fine but I probably wouldn't buy it again as I don't think it adds much to the comfort in my situation.

jeff fox wrote:

Geiginni wrote: On the topic of taint-saver seats: Does anyone have any recommendations for a leather or leather-ish Brooks-style taint-saver that's more affordable? Maybe a Chinese knock-off. My second road bike needs a new saddle and I don't ride it enough to justify a $150 Brooks or $190 Selle-Anitomica. Thanks in advance!

One of my bikes has the Selle Anatomica X2 or something. It has the taint cutout. I got it slightly cheaper than the Brooks (B7 Imperial) that's on my other bike. Sign up for Selle's email list and they offer discounts/closeouts pretty frequently. That said, it's not as comfortable as the Brooks. The edges flare out slightly from my weight, just enough to give me some pretty bad thigh chafing. I ended up using a leather punch to add laces and give it some support. I'd pay the few extra bucks for the Brooks if those work for you.

joelb wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2023 2:34 pm

Geiginni wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:30 pm On the topic of taint-saver seats: Does anyone have any recommendations for a leather or leather-ish Brooks-style taint-saver that's more affordable? Maybe a Chinese knock-off. My second road bike needs a new saddle and I don't ride it enough to justify a $150 Brooks or $190 Selle-Anitomica. Thanks in advance!

Before I went all Brooks, I rode a Terry Liberator, gel leather with a cutout, that served me well on my commuter bike. Rode it until it literally tore open on both sides. Terry and Serfas still make cutout saddles for under $100.

I've long since moved on to the Brooks B17 with no cutout. Again, very personal but with the Brooks positioned correctly - nose slightly elevated over seat - my sit bones hit the wide part and my "taint" is slightly elevated over the nose of the saddle, so there's no constant contact. Works well. I also have one of the springy Brooks which has been fine but I probably wouldn't buy it again as I don't think it adds much to the comfort in my situation.

Thanks guys, for confirming what I feared was true. I should just get another Brooks. I have a Brooks B67 on my touring/commuter that I bought years ago, and though it had a rough 3-4 month break-in, I've been using it for the past 15 years without any issues. It is very comfortable.

Much appreciate the advice from both of you! Cheers!

Just had my '83 Nishiki road bike tuned up and chain replaced., Holy shit it's like a new bike! Until a spoke broke. Back in the shop.

I have a Brooks flyer on one bike, is good, a little weird on bumpy roads. Cute though.

I will say if you want a cheap saddle, I have liked the WTB Volt I have on my main bike. It came with a narrow version, which didn't fit, but something about it was appealing enough that I got a bigger size and it's quite comfortable. And they're only like $40. They have a bunch of models. I don't ride fast and I don't do long distance road riding--light trails around here and mountain biking on the rare occasions I can manage to get to mountains.

I'm stuck in a loop and I need to get out. This is my bike therapy post.
I ride bikes in all kinds of different ways; road, gravel, commuting, riding up mountains, doing long endurance rides, going shopping, pretty much everything. Because I enjoy clever solutions to things, and because I don't want to have way too many bikes, I try to do as many things non as few bikes as possible. So I obsess over making little compromises in order to do the most with the least.

Right now I have these two bikes:
Carbon Road/Gravel Bike: This is a Salsa Warbird. I can put on knobbly tires and go off road. I can put on slicks and do long, comfortable road riding. If I wanted to, I could probably strap bags onto it and do some serious bike-backing or distance touring. It's an outstanding bike, but the changeovers in setups are a bit fiddly. And no matter how good it is on the road, it will never be a true "stripped down, go fast" road bike.

Steel Commuter/Utility Bike: This is a Soma Pescadero. I have a front rack and basket, plus a generator hub with front and rear lights. This does all my errends, commuting, and casual riding. We often ride to soccer games, concerts, and dinners, and it's great always having lights and carrying ability. I could easily convert it for longer road randonneuring if I ever want to do that. It has pretty nice road componentry so it still feels sporty, but it will never be a true roadie bike due to the lighting system and the overbuild wheels and other bits made for utilitarian use.

Perhaps you can see where this is going. I used to have a pure, go fast, lightweight road bike. I'd wear dumb clothes and ride up mountain roads. It was a machine built purely for the sport of road cycling. I sold it because the pure sport of road cycling was tiresome. My carbon gravel bike is 90% as good on the road when I take the time to really set it up as a road bike. Last week I handled a friend's high end, pure road bike. It was a bit intoxicating, made for riding fast and climbing, and not trying to do double or triple duty. It made me envious, or at least got my brain working. I don't do a ton of pure road rides, but when they happen I have been known to miss my old sporty bike.

Ultimately, I know this will cause problems if I bring a new bike into the house. Plus, I have the feeling that after a few rides the "shiny newness" will wear off and I will tire of those pure road rides. That's exactly what happened before. Right now I have two multi-tools. I'm fighting the urge to have 4 or 5 exact tools. Hopefully typing this out will make me realize I'm just in a grass is greener mood. Please share your thoughts.

Spoke replaced, good as new!

That's been some of my hesitation to go all in on a pure road bike too. Plus, city roads and even the trails around here have lots of bumps and train tracks and shit. And I really don't want to spend over a grand so it's probably not gonna be a true racer anyway.

It's similar to not needing to own an over-engineered shredder guitar. Sure, it can make certain things feel effortless, but ask yourself how often are you actually doing those things. Plus they look dorkier than more utilitarian options.

In Los Angeles you pretty much need an off-road/hybrid bike for the streets.

enframed wrote: Mon Aug 07, 2023 2:55 pm In Los Angeles you pretty much need an off-road/hybrid bike for the streets.

Chicago as well. I cannot imagine riding a road bike on your average Chicago street.

I have a Kona Sutra ULTD, basically hardtail mountain bike with drop bars. Great city bike, rules in general. I don't care about going fast or having a light bike, though. Which is good b/c it is not that fast and it is not light. But it's great in town, great in gravel, great in the mountains. Steep downhill mountain stuff, it has a dropper post so you aren't out over the handlebars. The new Sutra LTD is the same bike pretty much.

I commuted around Chicago for about 8 years on a Jamis Aurora Elite touring bike set up with 32mm wide Conti Gatorskin tires. A setup that would probably now be referred to as a "gravel bike". It worked well for that too: riding the Illinois-Michigan Canal NHT from Channahon to LaSalle or Peru, the Hennepin Canal Trail, and the 400 and Elroy-Sparta trails in Wisconsin.

I would guess that a current "gravel bike" or light touring bike would still be great for city riding. A favorite of mine, before the lakeshore path was split and widened was the North Branch Trail up to the Skokie Lagoons and Botanical Gardens. Something like the AllCity Space Horse would be a fine bike for rough city riding. I got myself a Surly Disc Trucker a few years back, and it's very versatile, though I do see myself replacing the bar-end shifter for the rear derailleur with a brake-shifter at some point.