Seems to me like every time I buy a saddle, it's a crap shoot whether it's going to be a literal pain in the ass or reasonably comfortable. There is seemingly no rhyme or reason that can be applied other than to ride the thing for a few hours. Soft? Hard? Shape? Leather? Price? None of these things seem to have much bearing on comfort other than just luck.
Wife gave me a new commuter bike for my birthday- it's a great bike, but the saddle is an ass hatchet.
Your thoughts?

I think that the only broad generalizations that can be made are in "what not to get" advice - Do not get gel, or cushy saddles that may feel nice when you first sit on them, but which overly conform and will restrict blood flow a few minutes into a ride.

Leather saddles like Brooks, may require a breaking in period, and even then, may not be your cup of tea. However, there are so many variables with regard to rider positioning, and riding style and body shape that there's going to be a huge component of trial and error involved in finding the "right" saddle.

+100 Saddles are so individually oriented! I am lucky...my "contact point #3 " as I call it (hands are contact points 1 and 2; feet are 4 and 5) is quite adaptable...

How far apart are your sit bones? Narrow butt-narrow saddle. But, if like me, your sit bones are farther apart then you probably want a wider and flatter saddle.

Where does it hurt when you ride? If your sit bones hurt then you may need a narrower or more rounded saddle to take the weight off of the bones and put more weight on your crotch. If your crotch hurts then go the other way, wider, flatter saddle.

Position on the bike can make a difference as well. The farther forward you lean the more pressure there is on the crotch. If your saddle is low you will tend to move back on the saddle where it is wider and put the weight on your sit bones. If the saddle is high you will tend to slide forward onto the nose and put the weight on your crotch.

Yes, these are all gross generalizations and saddle fit is a subtle art, but these suggestions might get you headed in the right direction.
Brent

How do you ride your bicycle?
How many miles/hours do you go?
Do you prefer to sit on the saddle the entire ride? Move around much? On the rivet?

I concur that squishy gel and soft seats are often counterproductive, particularly as they wear in. If you can tolerate the break-in period, there is still nothing like a good old fashioned tensioned leather saddle.

My three favorite saddles are still my Brooks Pro, Brooks Team Pro, and Serfas ARC. I also have a Terry Liberator which isn't too bad for distances up to 30 or 40 miles.

OP, the trend for good bike shops is to have policies that allow you to ride a saddle long enough to see if it works for you, then return it for another if you find it doesn't. One big shop here in Portland allows this as many times as you need to get it right (there many be two weeks per saddle) then get store credit if all fail. Another has a "library", literally, of demo saddles. You pay $25 for your "card". Take saddles out for up to two weeks Do this as many times as you like, no obligation to actually buy one. If you do, the money for your "card" gets refunded.

Ask about policies like this at your shops. If they do not have them, suggest they study the Portland model and "get with it".

Ben

Saddles are a very personal matter. I can ride all day on my Rolls or Trimatic saddles, but when I tried a supposedly comfier TransAm I couldn't stand it and had to replace it.

The saddle needs to be wide enough to support the sits bones and not much more than that. This width will change depending on how far forward you're leaning. You need a wider saddle to sit upright than to race.

I prefer a fairly flat topped saddle 140-145mm wide with some drop to the nose. Not that this info helps you, but it gives you an idea of what can be quantified.

For me the worst saddle ever invented was the hugely popular Concor. That thing exactly wedged itself between my sit bones and tried to wedge them apart while jamming itself into my crotchular stuff.

The important factors are how much you ride, and your posture when riding. I don't think "sit bone width" matters very much.

I normally ride a hard leather saddle, and a pretty narrow one. But every work day I ride a couple miles on the padded vinyl saddle of a CitiBike (a saddle I would never, ever, put on one of my bikes), and I have no problem with it at all. For a fifty mile ride, I don't think I'd be able to tolerate it, but for one mile at a time, it's fine.

If you're riding in the drops or hoods, I don't think a Brooks Cambium can be beaten. Right off the shelf comfortable. I think my B17 will ultimately reach those heights as well. My brother-in-law has been riding a Serfas dual density saddle for the past 10 years. At the time I rode it, almost ten years ago, it was the most comfortable saddle I'd ever ridden. My tastes have gone toward harder saddles since, though. But he still likes it.

The bike is a Scott Sub 10 commuter with a flat bar and a riding position similar to a mountain bike. I usually ride about 30 miles, with some stops. The OE saddle is really narrow, I may start out with a bit wider one and see what happens. Thanks for the replies!

Very tricky question. All I can provide is my experience:

1. Early on I rode bikes that had Brooks Pro saddles. I could never break one in and suffered pain and numbness. I later found out that the pro is really for folks who ride in a racing tuck most of the time, not people like me who tour and do centuries.

2. Avocet came out with a bunch of newfangled saddles in the '80s I believe. I tried those and they were better than the Brooks Pro but not by a whole lot. I was never really comfortable on those.

3. I have tried a whole litany of saddles since them, mostly of the "hi tech" variety, meaning that the makers had all sorts of "features" and advertising hype suggesting that they had found the answer. The most recent of these was a Koobi, which I found to be better than many of the competing saddles but still not right.

4. Last, and definitely not least, I bought a Brooks B-17 Imperial (i.e. the version with the cutout). I was highly skeptical, despite some pretty sincere recommendations, including the late great Sheldon Brown. I was shocked to find that it was comfortable from the get-go, not even requiring the infamous breaking in period that my Brooks Pro could never get through. I truly love this saddle. Since it's made of thinner, more flexible leather than the Pro I don't expect it to last as long. However, my butt comfort will last far longer. End of story!

Also, and sorry if I missed it, but a nice quality short/bibshort is a must. When I started riding road a couple of years ago, I thought I would never get over the sore butt.
Now I can ride most modern saddles, and even some classics like Brooks or Avocet with no pain.

Another thing that I never thought of is posture. I used to arch my back like the hunchback of Notre Dame. After I realized and corrected the problem, I now have reduced the focused pressure on my butt even more. I can and have done centuries with little problems.

1. HTFU. Saddles aren't meant to be comfortable.
2. If #1 fails, get a Rolls or Regal

Yes, for some people, but not for everyone. I, personally, can't stand cycling shorts /bibs. Chinos work fine for me.

Yes, that is a good point, though some saddles are less comfortable than others. The harder you pedal, the less you will feel your saddle.

I have no wisdom. All trial and error.

Serfas MH-RX saddle.Dual density foam and its split down the middle to allow for comfort and adjusting during the ride.158mm wide
VeloOrange wide touring saddle.Pretty basic, but comfortable.165mm wide
Terry Men’s Liberator Y saddle.173mm width


I have all 3 and like them.It was some trial and error.Not all work on the same bike either, due to how I have each bike set up(more upright vs more stretched out).

I would gladly pay $10 more for a saddle that I get to use for a couple weeks and switch out if needed.I would also buy a saddle that had been used by another person and returned because it didn’t fit, assuming there was no damage to it.A try before buy policy would be great.

Well said, on both counts.

If you're riding upright, I think a little padding is good. If you have a LBS that lets you try bunches of them, do it, It;s the only way you're going to know. Also, I rode around, semi upright, on one of these for a number of years. https://www.amazon.com/The-Seat-Ergo-.../dp/B017WP8LVK. I could ride all day and all night with no discomfort. The only issue with it is that, if you tend to use the nose of the saddle for control purposes, it won't work.

The saddles on Citi Bikes are horrible for me. I manage to tolerate them by sitting abnormally far back. On the Shimano-equipped model, I raise the seat a bit higher than normal, and on the SA-equipped model, I set it a little lower than normal, as the saddles are slightly different.

There doesn't seem to be much science to finding the right saddle for any given butt. The curves and forces on those intimate places are probably not very well studied, and maybe it's because people don't enjoy being measured and prodded there.

Wow, I don't think I ever used the words "any given butt" before in my life.

Within the narrow focus of the "aggressive" or more-tilted-forward riding position that I have advanced to, I no longer find any kind of leather saddle to be usable without soreness from localized pressure where the nose of these saddles is and always will be as hard as a rock.

Where I am able to avoid any kind of attack-mode riding of the sort that gets you re-connected to the peloton that just passed you, a leather saddle seems pretty good, particularly at absorbing road shock.

But I am also a bit put off by the approximately full pound of extra weight that a traditional leather saddle imposes.
I also dislike that lookey-loos on the street are oddly too-often tempted to play with a leather saddle, lifting (flexing) the side flap for example. I've seen this several times, and what to do but tell someone if you happen to see them to just leave it alone. Flexing the side flap like that can destroy a leather saddle I might tell them, but they always leave a modern saddle alone and that makes life easier for me.

I like a mtb-style, curved-top saddle that can be set so the top is level along the front half, and where the rear half tilts upward, the better to achieve leg extension under more-forceful pedaling without tending to slide off/over the rearmost edge of the saddle.
So anyway, I guess the preference for the saddle and the saddle setting have a lot to do with what the bike is set up and used for.

I end up with about this on any bike that I can get fitted properly to, as compared to the leather saddle shown at bottom that ends up needing much more downward tilt. Note in the second photo that I had to tilt the nose down one increment from as shown only ten minutes into the first ride on that new saddle.

I have a Brooks B-17 which I love. I also have a Selle AnAtomica NSK which I love more. The Brooks took a LONG time to break in, thousands of miles to make it "mine." The AnAtomica was comfortable right out of the box, and it only gets better!.......... MHO

Right now TODAY they are relatively cheap, a slight blem for $100, with free shipping.

As everyone has said it will be personal choice.

I've gone the mountain bike saddle route on my road bikes after taking up mountain biking. I figure if it is comfortable on a hardtail it should be fine on road bike. To be fair about it, I am off the saddle through rougher sections. I've gone to a WTB Pure V from a Brooks Professional.

John

Odd, your link has switched between Walmart and Amazon a couple times now. I am guessing its an error on the site’s part. Regardless, that Walmart lycra covered saddle shows as $78.99

Not what I was expecting when I saw Walmart in the URL

It was supposed to go to Amazon, for somewhere in the 30s. When I click on a link here, it almost always takes me somewhere other than intended. I always figured it was a cross border thing. google.mx vs google.com