the curse of saddles

[peanut]

I am sure i am not alone in secreting an appreciable number of failed saddles in the 'bits in the loft box'.

last year i bought two smashing new saddles that were going to cure my discomfort at a stroke. £50.00 each and neither saddle was even removed from the box. Why not ? because they failed the thumb test.

The most comfortable saddle i have found to date has been a 20 year old MTB Orange saddle with ample padding.Surely nothing less than 1" thick padding was going to be sufficient.

Last week I took my nice new shiny bike out for a spin and it was a dream in smoothness.

The only saddle I had spare to fit temporaily was a 15 year old Concor Flite which I bought in a fit of madness and had never actually sat on. It was obviously going to be extremely uncomfortable.

Imagine my amazement when after 10 miles I suddenly realised that the saddle was the most comfortable saddle I had ever sat on.

But how could this be? it has zero padding and feels about as pliable as a stick of rock!

I can't explain it but the saddle is a revelation. Comfort must be more about the width than the softness and I think i'd better stop right there ....


ps anybody want to buy a box of saddles ?

 

[phil_hg_uk]

I am getting quite a collection myself in fact I just ordered another this evening one to try.

I have so many bits and bobs I dont use anymore I can see a mass ebay listing frenzy coming on.

 

[montage]

there should be a saddle trading thread me thinks

I can manage with the ones I have....but they are no armchairs

You guys should list what you have up in classifieds

 

[peanut]

how about we all do a monthly swop of our saddles

 

[Speicher]

So instead of wasting £50 on a saddle, you could risk - what £5 on postage. If you llike it so much you could buy a new one, and send the older one to someone else to try, What is that phrase, Recycle, Re use etc.

 

[simon_brooke]

I am sure i am not alone in secreting an appreciable number of failed saddles in the 'bits in the loft box'.

last year i bought two smashing new saddles that were going to cure my discomfort at a stroke. £50.00 each and neither saddle was even removed from the box. Why not ? because they failed the thumb test.

[snippito]

The only saddle I had spare to fit temporaily was a 15 year old Concor Flite which I bought in a fit of madness and had never actually sat on. It was obviously going to be extremely uncomfortable.

Imagine my amazement when after 10 miles I suddenly realised that the saddle was the most comfortable saddle I had ever sat on.

But how could this be? it has zero padding and feels about as pliable as a stick of rock!

I can't explain it but the saddle is a revelation. Comfort must be more about the width than the softness and I think i'd better stop right there.

It's fairly obvious when you think about it. If a saddle is hard and supports your sitbones, then your squishy parts don't take any weight and don't get squished - so, once your sitbones are used to sitting on a bicycle saddle at all, it's comfortable.

By contrast, with a padded saddle, your sit bones sink in, so part of your weight - often most of it - gets transferred onto squishy bits in which you have complicated and important plumbing. This not only hurts, it does long term damage. Padded saddles feel more comfortable for very short periods only. If you're going to ride more than a mile, get a really, really hard saddle - the harder the better - every time.

Mind you, it still has to be the right width for your sitbones, and people do differ. So one width does not fit all. But one hardness fits all - very firm indeed.

 

[montage]

and postage for a saddle is usually £2.17 i think..

 

[Speicher]

and postage for a saddle is usually £2.17 i think..

I was making a guestimate there, so the maths is even better than I thought.

 

[Crankarm]

It's fairly obvious when you think about it. If a saddle is hard and supports your sitbones, then your squishy parts don't take any weight and don't get squished - so, once your sitbones are used to sitting on a bicycle saddle at all, it's comfortable.

By contrast, with a padded saddle, your sit bones sink in, so part of your weight - often most of it - gets transferred onto squishy bits in which you have complicated and important plumbing. This not only hurts, it does long term damage. Padded saddles feel more comfortable for very short periods only. If you're going to ride more than a mile, get a really, really hard saddle - the harder the better - every time.

Mind you, it still has to be the right width for your sitbones, and people do differ. So one width does not fit all. But one hardness fits all - very firm indeed.

This not the case for me. Currently the saddle that causes me least grief is the Specialised body geometry 2 (BG2) with a susp seat post.

I have had Selle Gel thin hard racing gel saddles, Bontrager, San Marco gel racing saddles and various others over the years that I cannot remember but by far the most comfortable for me currently is the Specialised BG2 and it was £25 as well which makes it even more comfortable .

 

[peanut]

It's fairly obvious when you think about it. .

if it was fairly obvious simon there wouldn't be hundreds of thousands of saddles sold every year and we all wouldnt have spare saddles .

Well thats everyone excluding you obviously

 

[montage]

I agree with Peanut..... a narrow stiff one doesn't allways make for a better time

 

[MajorMantra]

I agree with Peanut..... a narrow stiff one doesn't allways make for a better time

 

[wafflycat]

The only saddle I had spare to fit temporaily was a 15 year old Concor Flite which I bought in a fit of madness and had never actually sat on. It was obviously going to be extremely uncomfortable.

Imagine my amazement when after 10 miles I suddenly realised that the saddle was the most comfortable saddle I had ever sat on.

But how could this be? it has zero padding and feels about as pliable as a stick of rock!

I can't explain it but the saddle is a revelation. Comfort must be more about the width than the softness and I think i'd better stop right there ....

You should have been reading the many saddle threads where plenty of us have mentioned time and time again that as regards saddles, the key is 'fit' to your sit bones and that lots of padding does NOT equate to comfort. As you have found, a saddle that fits *supports* your nether regions, whereas a well-padded, soft saddle squidges-up what shouldn't be and it's that which is a major source of discomfort.

 

[wafflycat]

if it was fairly obvious simon there wouldn't be hundreds of thousands of saddles sold every year and we all wouldnt have spare saddles .

Well thats everyone excluding you obviously

Not just Simon: it's something quite a few of us mention in many a saddle thread!

 

[wafflycat]

I agree with Peanut..... a narrow stiff one doesn't allways make for a better time

Width will vary, but stiff is always better than one too soft.