Originally Posted by Drew Eckhardt

One time after I broke a saddle I bought a squishy replacement. because that's what the shop had. It put my butt to sleep within minutes.

Yesterday I rode one of these 209 miles and felt great:


You will sink into your saddle until your ischial tuberosities (the bony protuberances at the bottom of your pelvis) are resting on something firm enough to support your body weight.



You'll need to compress soft or thick padding a lot for that to happen, which will also squish your soft tissues in the process. That's not comfortable, and can cause permanent damage to your pudendal nerve.

To avoid that, you need a firm saddle shaped and sized to fit your anatomy - if the top is too narrow and curved, you'll be supporting all your weight on the sides of your ischial tuberoisities which is also not comfortable. Conversely, if it's too wide it'll rub on your thighs causing discomfort. Figuring out the right one takes some experimentation.

You'll also need some time to get used to riding a bicycle.