Originally Posted by berner

As a pretty old guy, in fact one of the older ones here, I find myself reflecting on the changes between the world of today and the one I was in as a boy. In the mid 1940's and 1950's there were still a few farmers using horses in their fields. Mowing machines and other farm implements has cast iron seats. Having sat on such an implement for hours, I can say that width certainly enters into comfort. Of course, the position on a bike is quite different from sitting up on a mower. Nevertheless, I believe adequate width is an important part of comfort by spreading the load out. The problem I see is that many saddles maintain too much width just forward of the widest part of the saddle and that causes pressure in the wrong place when bent over in the cycling position. I suspect saddles such as the Selle Italia Mono Link may well fit a greater number of people. For myself I prefer more width under the sit bones before tapering way down. http://www.selleitalia.com/