So I recently purchased a Grunge saddle from Tokyo Fixed Gear's pop up shop. It came to about $50 usd shipped from London. Let me preface this by saying I love Turbo saddles. I'll swear by their comfort, look and durability. I usually buy them slightly beaten up from eBay for anywhere between $10 - $50.
It's sad ruining beautiful retro saddles doing tricks and I've been long looking for a cheap alternative. Vetta made a Turbo knock-off back in the 80's that's pretty comfy. You can find them for cheap on eBay once and a while.
Back to the Grunge saddles: In a nutshell, they're not as comfortable when compared to the Turbo. It seems like the shell used is too rigid. It rides like my Cinelli Unicanitor on my Merckx. I rode it all weekend and my ass is getting adjusted to it. Yesterday I wore bike shorts under my jeans and it was fine. The pleather, faux leather, grips well and is pretty durable. It's also "vegan friendly". Not sure how it will break in, but I'm sold on it. I don't wanna ruin any more Turbos doing tricks and $50 isn't bad for a saddle.
The pop-up shop still has them, in 3 colors, so head over and try one out.
Comments
yeah, i definitely agree with you. I picked one of these up for $40 from drif la and its pretty banging looking.
its still a bit stiff though, that'll work itself out though...
its orange and definitely sexy
Posted by: M2TH3P | November 17, 2008 3:59 PM
My fat ass keeps breaking saddles, so I bought the cheapest saddle at Blue Lug in Tokyo(about US$25) and not only is it comfy, it hasn't broke or bent in the last six months (which is more than I can say for a lot of the really expensive saddles I've broken which were supposedly indestructible). I have one on all my bikes now.
Posted by: Eli | November 18, 2008 4:06 AM
maybe i have a defective one, or i just ride/bail hard, cause i have a green one from blue lug (25 bones) and shits torn to turds at the back from putting it down twice. the pleather cover is pretty janky IMO. pretty ok for the price though.
Posted by: Freestyle Veloship | November 19, 2008 4:54 AM