Mr Crudley
Old School Hero
I have a big love for the SDG Bel Air and run them on a few of my MTB bikes. The raised rear tail and love channel thingy seems to work for me, but I suffer from bouts of bike fiddling at times and like to try something different for no real good reason 
My gripe with the Bel Air is that they seem to squeak and groan after a while. I can fix it for a while with some strategically placed grease and silicon but can't seem to get rid of it completely. A noisy bike triggers my OCD like nothing else
I have a mid 2000's Selle Italia Max Flight Gel that I tried on my road bike a long time ago and my experience was that it was an overrated nasty arse eater of a saddle. It is quite hard in comparsion, especially compared to the Bel Air, and I thought I'd never get along with it. I swapped it for Selle Italia Well which feels great on that road bike. The Max Flight Gel went into the parts bin and lived in there in the dark for quite some time.
I had to give the Max Flight Gel another go since it always was rated well and I clearly had something wrong. I recently swapped out a Bel Air on ye olde Heckler just to see how it feels. Damn, it feels really good on that bike - unsure if it is the more upright riding position, or if I have the fore/aft position and angle nailed or my butt finally 'gets' how to live with a harder saddle. The whole less friction and movement while being perched on a harder saddle definitely takes a bit of getting used to but if it works for you then it is bang on. Will give it some more time but so far it is a win.
Saddles can literally be a PITA and most of us don't have access to many saddles to test what works for you. Manufacturers that offer saddles is a few mm width increment is a great option but sure makes it more complicated in finding which one that works for you. Sure you could meet a professional bike fitter I suppose, but, well..............
Here is that thin little hard but comfy saddle from last week.
My gripe with the Bel Air is that they seem to squeak and groan after a while. I can fix it for a while with some strategically placed grease and silicon but can't seem to get rid of it completely. A noisy bike triggers my OCD like nothing else I have a mid 2000's Selle Italia Max Flight Gel that I tried on my road bike a long time ago and my experience was that it was an overrated nasty arse eater of a saddle. It is quite hard in comparsion, especially compared to the Bel Air, and I thought I'd never get along with it. I swapped it for Selle Italia Well which feels great on that road bike. The Max Flight Gel went into the parts bin and lived in there in the dark for quite some time.
I had to give the Max Flight Gel another go since it always was rated well and I clearly had something wrong. I recently swapped out a Bel Air on ye olde Heckler just to see how it feels. Damn, it feels really good on that bike - unsure if it is the more upright riding position, or if I have the fore/aft position and angle nailed or my butt finally 'gets' how to live with a harder saddle. The whole less friction and movement while being perched on a harder saddle definitely takes a bit of getting used to but if it works for you then it is bang on. Will give it some more time but so far it is a win.
Saddles can literally be a PITA and most of us don't have access to many saddles to test what works for you. Manufacturers that offer saddles is a few mm width increment is a great option but sure makes it more complicated in finding which one that works for you. Sure you could meet a professional bike fitter I suppose, but, well..............
Here is that thin little hard but comfy saddle from last week.
