Wednesday, February 6, 2008

vegan bike saddles?

Hey, all you vegan bike riding peeps, I have a question for ya.  I was just about to purchase a long-lusted after Terry damselfly sadddle for my road bike when I noticed that it was made out of leather.   Boo!  After some cursing and pouting, I started looking around for a vegan alternative.  What saddles do you use?  I tend to prefer narrow and firm (gee, that sounds dirty) and HATE the Bontrager gel seat that came with my bike.  Suggestions?

6 comments:

Charlie said...

You may find something in a tri specific saddle. I use a San Marco tri gel.

ntw said...

Fizik offers their entire line w/ a lorica cover. Selle Italia's team edition saddles (not available in the US yet) will have synthetic covers as well.

San Marco is quite good with synthetics too.

I'm pretty sure the entire Specialized line is synthetic. They have widths to fit every bum, but I don't like the cut out.

I'd be surprised if Terry didn't make a saddle w/ a synthetic cover.

Another option, and one I've explored, is to find one used and have them recovered ($25). My butt really likes the Selle Italia Flite , but only recently are they available w/ synthetic covers.

Crystal said...

I have a Selle Italia that I bought second-hand. It was the best I could do at the time with the resources I had. But it is a good question. I'm kind of excited to hear that Selle Italia is coming out with a synthetic line! I may get to give away my non-vegan one. :o)

Jen said...

Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at fizik and san marco online, but I feel like I can't make a choice without involving my bum in the decision making process. I'll check around and let y'all know what I end up with.

P.S. I'd still love to hear some suggestions from the ladies who are using non-leather saddles... What've ya got?

Matthew Ruscigno said...

I love my Specialized Toupe. One of the most comfortable saddles I've ever had. I also have a Tioga Spyder, but I just broke it. Then again, I am over the weight limit!

Jen said...

I've made a decision - I'm looking at a Selle Italia xo Trans Am. However, Quality currently lists it as "out of stock" so I'm going to have to wait a while... sigh. It's what I've got on my townie (the bike I rode for my century and am going to use for touring this summer) and it's really similar to the damselfly. And it's made without any dead cow parts :-)