Best saddle for zwift
 

Hi- First off, Happy Holidays!

My bike came with a stock saddle. It’s fine for outdoor riding. I do 25 mile rides and in the city I do a lot of stop and go riding so there’s not as much stress in the crotch area because I get a break every 5 blocks or so.

Riding zwift is non-stop and my crotch gets sore even with padded shorts if I ride over a half hour. I need to lose about 15 pounds which will alleviate some weight adding to the stress.

But I think I need a more comfortable saddle and I’m willing to spend some money. Any recommendations? Looking for long ride comfort. Thanks

Saddles are pretty personal. What works for one person might not work for you.

With that being said:
I was gifted an ISM prologue. I have routinely ridden for two to three hours at a time and have never been bothered by it. When it wears out I plan on getting a new one.

Just plan on buying 5-6 saddles (used will probably be easiest on the wallet), trying them all out, and selling the ones you don't like.

There's not a single person here who can tell you which saddle is comfortable. Case in point, I think the ISM Prologue recommended above is an absolutely horrendous saddle, and I barely made it through one ride before selling it, but lots of people raved about it so I bought it used and sold it for nearly what I paid. No big loss.

I've tried probably a dozen saddles over the year, from Selli Italias to Selle San Marcos to Specialized to ISM to Fizik to Bontrager, etc., etc. Currently I'm riding 100 gram full carbon (no padding) saddles from China. Some things work for some, other things work for others. Just try a bunch until you find the one that works for you.

Thanks for replies. Might try a brooks to start.

Save your money. Remember to stand up for 15-30s every 10 minutes while on Zwift. Do it BEFORE you notice the discomfort.

Try it before you start down the rabbit hole of comfortable saddles.

Concur, BUT with the caveat that if you want to ride farther than 25 miles at a pop, you will need to go down that rabbit hole.

I have noticed that the structured workouts tend to be harder on the tuchus than free riding, because you remain seated the whole time. I've taken to standing up on hills a lot more than I do IRL - basically whenever the grade goes over 5%, whereas IRL I tend to climb seated until the grade's more like 10%.

I had the same problem. I have been using the trainer to dial in my bike fit adjustments (saddle position, etc). I never experienced too much discomfort on the road because as you suggest, you are stopping often or can more easily get out of the saddle. The trainer really seams to exacerbate poor fit. Initially, I would get pretty numb around 30-45 mins. Now I can go a couple of hours on the trainer (taking occasional out of saddle breaks) after adjusting my saddle position.

As others have said- nobody here knows what saddle will fit you best. People will happily name random saddles, but that means nothing.

Go to a shop that has test saddles you can test. Try a few on your bike and then make sure to ultimately buy one from them.
Or buy a few different shaped saddles on amazon/ebay for cheap and try them out. Then buy a quality saddle that has the same shape/design as the cheap saddle that fits.

Personally, if I had no idea what to use, I would lean heavily on a local shop with test saddles.

You say your crotch hurts, but that could be for different reasons than others- you may need a cutout in the saddle, you may need a saddle with a different radius, you may need a saddle with a thinner nose, etc etc.

In addition to the above advice (which is all excellent), be sure to visit a shop that can measure your sitbones width in order to steer you toward a saddle of the appropriate width. A Specialized dealer should have this, and I believe they also allow returns (even of used saddles) in a 30-day window. (At least, they allow that for online purchases - I would bet that retail stores will offer it, too.)

I would pay for a good, "professional", bike fit rather going down the rabbit hole of finding the right saddle first if you haven't done so. The second thing I invested was on a rocker, DIY. With a rocker, the longest I have ridden was just over five hours (time recording 5:14:14 & time moving 5:01:38) and my rear was not the limiting factor. W/O the rocker, I was getting pretty uncomfortable at the three hour mark and had to rest the next day. I'm still using my stock saddle and been lucky with all of my stock saddles since mid 80s. And yes, I have paid for more expensive saddles that were just more expensive for name and weight. Comfort-wise, no so much.

I tried the standing up approach, 45 secs every 10 mins and that seemed to work fine. So thanks for the tip. Guess I’ll keep this one until spring. Then I want to check out some other saddles and experiment when I can get back to outdoor riding.

zwift really kicked my a$$ today but that that’s a story for another thread. I’m on week 2 of a 12 week training program. Lucky there is a pause button or I wouldn’t have made it. Lol

My road saddle is a SLR Superflow. Absolutely kills me on the trainer though.

So I pulled the saddle off my Peloton bike to give it a try... it's still a fairly road bikey shape, but with actual padding (and heavy as a brick which matters not indoors).

I thought it might work out well and so far it has.

I'm thinking of picking up a used or unused Peloton saddle on ebay to put back on the Peloton bike.

Pro Stealth.

Food for thought:
STOP THE SIT BONE MADNESS!

I know nothing of anatomy -- but from my own experience, I think this guy may be on to something. But an ass-o-meter at least gives you a starting point.

Even though I have narrow sitbones, I find that a wider saddle almost always feels better, as long as my inner thighs don't rub on the sides while I'm pedaling. But I do just fine on the width suggested by the Specialized system.

A couple of recommendations:

• Trainer Ride Position - I have noticed that I not only ride the tops more on the handlebar, but my hip position is more upright when on the trainer. I think this is due in large part to the elimination of the elements, meaning that you naturally no longer feel the need to get lower and more aero on the bike. It is amazing how riding upright puts so much more pressure on your rear end, and that coupled with not necessarily being off the saddle (at intersections or starting back up to speed - which helps to reduce the consistent and constant time on the saddle), means your sitting on the same pressure point for longer, and more consistently.
• Saddle height - nothing scientific, but I have seen others comment that you should slightly lower the saddle height while on the trainer. I do not condone nor am against this, as bike fit changes can cause other issues (knee for example), so do that at your own risk. But I will admit, when on the trainer, my bike just feels "bigger". I wonder if anyone else has noticed this.
• Saddle Width - as someone mentioned above, narrow saddles when in a more aggressive position may be optimal, but on a trainer, a wider seat might be considered a more optimal approach. I am going to switch from my 143MM Specialized Romin to the larger 168MM saddle on my single-speed and see if that helps.
• Chamois Cream - i normally never use chamois cream when outside (it helps that it is so dry here in Colorado, that moisture evaporates which helps reduce chaffing). However, in the basement on the Kickr, it has been a different story, and it seems to have helped to use chamois cream.

Hear, hear! "People on bicycles" sit bolt upright on their sit bones. Cyclists do not. We ride on our pubic ramus. Huge difference. How the saddle is shaped as it necks down to the nose is everything, and everyone's different there. Experimentation is the only way. I've figured out what basic shape of saddle works well for me. In looking for a slightly different saddle, or a very similar saddle to what I've been using, I print out plan views of various addles, scaling them to get the printed size the same, then hold them up against a window or other light to see how they differ. That's worked well for me. I can sit my current saddle for 2 hours without a problem. Mostly I don't do that, but I have when I've been really tired, no numbie, no damage. It has the largest slot I've ever seen on a saddle.

Truthfully I’ve learned a lot about saddles from this thread, thanks!

Sounds similar to mine. This is what I'm using on two different bikes. Took a gamble on it for $30 bucks and it's worked well. Plus one of them weighs only 98 grams (the other 112)! Super light.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...af01b2fe89.jpg

Mine were a lot more money. OK. What is it, where'd you get it?

Just a generic saddle from China. They have them on ebay and aliexpress. Here's one I bought: https://www.ebay.com/itm/TOSEEK-Full...72.m2749.l2649

I've never had an unpadded saddle that wasn't leather. Do you think I could ride bare carbon for 10 hours? I understand they do flex a little, maybe a bit of the Brooks kind of thing but a better shape?

I use a Meld and SLR superflow on the road but needed to put the stock power saddle on my bike for zwift.

my experience with zwift is similar. Now I try to always get out of the saddle with any bigger inclines. Been working for me.

I was really surprised when we got a Peloton how comfortable the stock saddle is. For indoor riding, it is excellent.