ganchan

I've mentioned this elsewhere, but I had a rather excruciating test ride in the past -- on a Giant Escape, the saddle of which few people seem to have any major issues with. Now that I'm getting ready to look at some hybrids to replace my comfort bike (with its comfy, sofa-like saddle), I'd like to figure out how to avoid feeling as if I've been doing the splits on top of a stack of bricks. Here are some questions I have on the subject:

1. Is there a LBS in Austin who will measure my sit bones for me? I feel like this is probably Step One.

2. What should I look for in an affordable pair of bike shorts? Gel padding vs other types?

3. How far can padded shorts go toward limiting butt pain from a less-than-ideal saddle? What's the synergy between these two pieces of equipment?

doctor j

1. I believe places that sell Specialized bikes/accessories can measure you sit bones.
2. Gel shorts are to be avoided.
3. I prefer a thinner chamois to the thicker ones. The thick chamois results in too much pressure. Look for a saddle with an open channel in the middle. Specialized as well as other suppliers have them.

Lanceoldstrong

+1 on seeing a Specialized dealer to measure your sit bones.

I love my Specialized Avatar saddle.

cale

I prefer a natural chamois or synthetic pad to gel in my shorts. I don't like the way gel seems to shift around on my decidedly narrow racing saddle. But if your comfort bike has a gel seat, you might prefer a gel pad. The gel certainly helps isolate the road vibrations that would otherwise be tiring my back side.

It was the case that the better quality shorts were stitched together with 8-panels. These generally provide a slightly better fit and typically wear better over time. When you shop for shorts, the good ones will be obvious because they typically are made of better fabric, have a quality pad that doesn't shift within the seat, and a draw string closure. There used to be shorts that used loops of rubber string on the leg cuffs to keep them from creeping up. The loops can catch and tear out hairs which is pretty nasty. But I haven't seen that used in years and most shorts today use some sort of tacky "gel" on the cuffs.

I don't believe in making up for an uncomfortable saddle with shorts. It isn't typical for cyclists to give up on finding a saddle that fits, the search may involve researching several models but most folks find what they want. Bike shops may offer an exchange program that lets you test several saddles without having to buy each and return them.

I beat the heck out of my bottom with aggressive riding many years ago. I'm not sure that you would like my choices but one piece of advice I'll offer is this, when you find a saddle you like, keep it and take it with you from bike to bike. You might even add your "sofa" to your new bike. Haha

Bruzer

1. Measuring your sit bones will tell you exactly how wide of a saddle you will have. That is only valuable if the saddle you are interested in comes in different widths. It is a good idea to figure our your size so you can measure those saddles that do not report width.

2. Affordable (cheaper) bike shorts are less comfortable for me. When it comes to bike shorts I find the mid-range ones to be the best bang for the buck. I have a few cheaper pairs of shorts that are no longer used because they do not offer as much comfort as the nicer ones, so I wasted $50 on two affordable shorts when I should have got the slightly nicer ones. Your mileage may vary, and I hope that I am wrong for your sake.

3. It is more important to have good shorts than a great saddle. Someone explained it to me this way: Look at the saddles the pros ride on, little saddles with very little padding. They of course have the top of the line padding in their shorts and ride extremely long distances on their bikes. I am no pro, but I do spend a lot of time in the saddle and I don't like pain.

I just did a week long bicycle ride for charity where we did ~300 miles in 5 days. There were two days were we spent just over five hours in the saddle. The day after day riding is really a test of your bike & body interface. This was my 5th charity ride like this and the first time my butt didn't hurt all week. I attribute this to the leather Brooks Imperial saddle, and some quality bike shorts. Both were more than an earlier version of me would spend on a seat and shorts, but I have learned they are well worth not having pain.

I hope you can get by without having to learn the lessons that I have learned the hard way.

cale

Great riding, you're really making a important contribution with your riding. Kudos.

One point that occured to me when you mentioned what the pros ride. Small saddles are light and offer more precise handling, both competitive advantages. It wouldn't surprise me to know that soaking after riding is their main tool for staying in top form.

johnny99

IMHO - core strength and saddle height have a much bigger impact on rear-end comfort than the brand/model of shorts or saddle. I've been comfortable with stock saddles and fairly cheap cycling shorts (under $50). I do work on my core strength and spend a lot of time dialing in my saddle height.

TenSpeedV2

Any chance you can keep your current saddle? Swap something else on there if you plan on selling it and place the old saddle on the new bike.

JonathanGennick 

I'll add profile of the saddle as something to consider. Some saddles are rounded over from side to side, whereas others are more flat. Your body might prefer one or the other.

jfowler85

2. I have a less expensive pair of Canari gel shorts and a pair of nicer Pactimo bibs, non-gel. The Pactimos win hands down.

3. Shorts can help, but are no replacement. I have an uncomfortable saddle, and my Pactimos help, but I'm only biding time until I can get a more comfortable saddle.

fietsbob

On long tours, my kit: Leather Brooks & several pair of bike shorts with an absorbant smooth liner but un padded per se.

ganchan

I'm not sure a comfort-bike saddle will work on a sportier hybrid, because of the different riding position. It's a tempting thought, though....

Phil_gretz

^ this. Firm saddle, limited to no padding. Shorts to minimize friction between fabric and saddle surface, minimize drag/catching on things, and lined to wick away moisture and limit chafing. Padding, no.

My experience after 43+ years of riding.

TenSpeedV2

You will never know until you try. I have seen full on Brooks leather saddles on track bikes before. Looks a little off but they are very comfortable.

ganchan

True enough. In any case, I'll most likely keep my Raleigh Venture, not only as a general backup and "mud" bike, but because it probably wouldn't fetch enough money to make it worth selling. So I could switch saddles back and forth as an experiment.

ColaJacket

1. Have heard that Specialized dealers have something that does this. Professional fitters should also have something like this. That being said, these often just offer a starting point for looking at seats/saddles.

2. Get some with a natural or synthetic chamois, not a gel. A gel will probably let you sink in, which will let points other than your sit bones start contacting the seat, and this is not a good thing. I have 2 pairs of Performance Bike Ultra bib shorts. There are a couple of Performance Bike stores in Austin. I've hears a lot of other people recommend them as good affordable bib shorts. Watch for sales, and you can often get them for $60 instead of the $100 MSRP.

Also, I recently read that the chamois is really there to prevent chafing. When you sweat, they will lightly stick to your groin area, so that they don't rub. They offer a little bit of padding, but most people think that the best chamois don't have too much give.

3. A little bit, but if the seat doesn't fit you sit bones, then additional padding could just make the situation worse. As I said before, the chamois is there to prevent chafing. The shorts themselves, and the chamois to a lesser degree, are there to wick sweat away from your body. This will also help prevent chafing and sores. The shorts can provide some padding, but don't count on it. As others have mentioned, you should be sitting on the sit bones on the wide part of the saddle. But as you lean over, other parts of the body will take some of the support, so the shape of the saddle matters. But since everyone is built differently, different seats are good for different people.

Cutouts. Depending upon how you are built, and how much you rotate your pelvis, you may need a cutout in your seat to relieve pressure on your perineum.

Here are some articles from Steve Hogg on how your anatomy fits with seats.

Sitting on a Seat.

All about SMPs.

While Steve's advice deals specifically with the SMP line of saddles, most of his articles can be extrapolated to all saddles. He just doesn't have specific information about them. (And Performance Bike does carry a lot of the SMP line. I recently got a SMP Selle Pro. It's a lot better than the stock seat that was on my Fuji Sportif, but most bikes have cheap seat, because the manufacturers know that most people are going to change out the saddle.

After you read the Steve Hogg articles, you'll understand that your riding position will probably be different on the hybrid than on the comfort bike. And if you move to a road bike, it will probably be different on that bike, also. And the different riding positions may mean that different saddles work better on the different bikes. A lot will also depend upon you bike fitness. When I first got my Fuji, the saddle worked pretty well for 2 reasons. I was sitting very upright on the bike, and I wasn't going very far. As my fitness has increased, I've been rotating my pelvis more, and I've been going further. This exposed some of the weaknesses of the stock seat on the Fuji, so I had to look for a new saddle to relieve pressure on my perineum.

Good Luck on finding a comfortable seat.

GH

Shuffleman

I have to agree with all of this to an extent. I do find that there is a difference in shorts but I can ride cheap ones and expensive ones. For me expensive may be Assos on sale for $100.
I have never had a problem with a stock seat. One thing that I will ad though is that the OP mentioned a comfort bike and a hybrid bike in his post. I have a hybrid and I can honestly say that I can not ride that bike for long periods of time anymore. I have a torn hip which is the cause of that. My road bike is far more comfortable than my hybrid and I can ride all day on that. Many times people do not realize that hybrids are really not as comfortable. You are sitting more upright and that puts added stress on your sit bones, not less. 2 years ago, I switched from a relaxed geometry road bike to a more traditional style geometry bike. It puts far less weight on my sit bones and with my injury it makes things much more comfortable. Thus, it is not always the seat that is the problem. Some times it is but sometimes it is the geometry and your core strength. They all come into play. Big squishy seats may sound comfy in theory but they are not.

Dragon25

Yeah brooks saddle solved my problems. Definitely worth the investment.