Saddle Selection Criteria
 

Reading the many posts and review on saddles it amazes me how many guys say, “This is saddle number 40 and I’m still not happy.”

I have a question about saddles. Not the usual, what one do you have and do you like it question. But HOW did you choose your saddle. What CRITERIA did you use?

When I purchased my bike it came with a Selle Italia XO saddle. OK for short rides, but murder on a >25 mile ride. Then my wife, at the recommendation of a LBS purchased a Selle Italia TriMatic (or should I say Traumatic?). It felt better than the XO, but on a 50-mile ride I was literally Black and blue. I also tried a Bontrager Race Lite Lux Saddle. Again, felt great the first 10…..

Is there any way, besides trial and error to pick a good saddle?

I sat on an Arione in the bike shop, in civvies, and knew it was right. Obviously, riding it for awhile would have been more proof, but I was right. I had a Nisene earlier - also by fizik - and it was good, but the Arione was better. Never looked back.

Is there any way, besides trial and error to pick a good saddle?

The answer is "no". You can get close based on similar styles, but riding the miles is the only way I've found to know for sure.
Now, I'm going to watch this thread and see if anybody has a better idea!

I don't know, I think the Specialized system works pretty well. One thing I noticed when I dug into the specs of a lot of saddles is that they are all pretty narrow. When I did the Specialized fitting it told me to get one of their 143mm saddles. Of the two saddles I had at the time my SLK felt like an ass hatchet and my WTB Speed V Comp was pretty good but too much padding. Well it turns out the SLK is 133mm wide and the WTB is 147mm wide. So I took a shot and got the Specialized Avatar in a 143 and guess what...I LOVE it. Now I know I sould be in the mid 140s when looking at saddle width and I will be safe...that said I should probably buy a second Avatar before they change it or something because I really like it.

Which goes to show every's Ar$e is different, I go 225 and ride only narrow saddles, bought one of those wide WTB for my mountain bike becuase I ahd seen them all over and I went out for a ride and walked funny the next three days. I loved my Tri-matic and now my Poggio, legendary trade outs for many.

Which goes to show every's Ar$e is different, I go 225 and ride only narrow saddles, bought one of those wide WTB for my mountain bike becuase I ahd seen them all over and I went out for a ride and walked funny the next three days. I loved my Tri-matic and now my Poggio, legendary trade outs for many.

I have a box of old saddles at home just collecting dust. Every one a pain in the *ss, pun intended.

I bought a Brooks. Absolutley the finest saddle I've ever owned. Don't let anyone tell you about cut outs for dead dick or any other crap. I weigh a 150 lbs and the Brooks wasn't even the least bit stiff. After several hundred miles it is really working well. My first ride was about 25 miles and I wasn't even sore. A nice B-17 is relativley cheap compared to some of those Fizik's that are nothing more than an expensive piece of trendy plastic.

Tim

Really the only thing you can do is try to measure your sit bones and pick a saddle with an appropriate width. Other than that it's trial and error.

If I were looking for a new saddle I'd use this strategy:

Try one that seems to get good reviews across the board and has a good reputation (Fizik would be #1 on that list). They work for lots of people, but if they don't work for you at least you can put them on eBay and get most of your money back.

Stay away from the lower end saddles. Most of them (yes, I'm sure there are exceptions) are low end for a reason, and you won't get much money back when you go to sell them. Go through about 5 and you've lost enough money to have bought a higher end saddle.

That is a great analysis of the economics.


Also, the Brooks mentioned above is starting to look very attractive to try out.

I look for padding which is very firm, a shape which avoids pressure between my sit bones and a one-piece unstitiched, leather cover.

In the world of shoes, if a shoe doesnt fit properly, you can usually get the same style in a different size. With saddles it seems that you have to take pot luck again, each saddle is a random throw of the dice and may-or-may-not work.

I have a dream. A dream in which you can borrow a medium saddle at your LBS for a trial week. If you want one wider, you order the W. If you want one shorter you order S. If you want firmer padding you go for the F option.
You could have an option for the countouring, eg the relative height of the sit-bone support and the inbetween.
You could have a vegetarian or carniverous saddle covering with or without fancy stitching. Saddle rails from ultra-light to extra-strong.
Once you know your code, you can re-order and the get exactly the same saddle from some busy far-eastern sweat shop at cut price rates.
OK the last is not part of my dream but is closer to reality.

Would any of you guys pay extra for this kind of service? How much?

The people who are on their 40th saddle probably don't have a saddle problem, but they have a bad fit! I did the Specialized thang and got an BG Avatar, but it wasn't all that comfortable (it was better than the stock saddle) until I got a shorter stem which helped my sit bones to stay on top of the thing. Still not as perfect as some people seem to describe, although there are other body parts which hurt more at the end of a long ride. My point is just that fit - specifically reach - can have a dramatic impact on what might otherwise be perceived to be a saddle issue.

I think the basic premise (well stated by Sheldon Brown) that your weight is borne by the sit bones is definitely the correct approach to strive for. This explains perfectly why "squishy" saddles are uncomfortable.

There is a book called Finding the Perfect Bicycle Seat" which may help. Or, it may be overkill.

Many places do have reasonable return policies and will take things back if the item is not too worn. Ask before you buy, and get specifics if you think there's a good chance you'll return it. This is one of the cases where a brick-and-mortar store may have more of an edge than online. Find a good LBS and work with them.

One mention of discomfort at my LBS, and he immediately suggested another seat as a direct swap, made permanent only if I want to. In essence, giving me a shot at seeing if his suggestion works out. Way to go! Initially, it is more comfortable, but I'll have to give it an extended ride to see if there's considerable difference. My LBS is Doug at Bike Junkie on Long Island, New York.

How did I select my saddle? Hmmmmm . . . my present saddle is a Fizik Aliante Carbon, which my wife bought in a moment of haste after noticing that a number of female pros ride the same saddle. She rode it, I think, three times and we made various adjustments to it to improve comfort, but she eventually had to give it up. Too late to return, and my SLR (as is common) was looking rather raggedy after only about 3000 miles, so I took the Aliante and put it on my new bike. I find the Aliante pretty comfortable, but nothing to get too giddy about -- I guess I don't really notice it, so that is a good thing. I liked the SLR too, and its going to go on my "winter" bike. I did not like the old San Marco Strada-Sourced Bontrager my mountain bike had, nor did I like the Selle Italia "genuine gel" torture device that my roadie came with. FWIW, I am about 6'1" and 178lbs.

Well your dream is true, somewhat. At my LBS in the fitting section they have a wall of saddles. When you go anbd ask to try out some saddles
you bring your bike downstairs, put it on a trainer, they install the saddle that they think and you get to ride for a little. Not happy, they take another one of the shelf. They do it unti you find the perfect match.

While Brooks are nice, I couldn't get my head into putting an almost 2 pound saddle on my bike so I bought an Arione that's 230 grams of heaven.

My Fizik Rondine (i.e., plastic piece of crap) was way less than a Brooks, weighs 299 grams, and makes me very happy.

I would say, just go ride some saddles and have fun.

i think there is something to the specialized fit system. and just because you're a large or heavy person doesn't mean you should be on a wide saddle, as mentioned above. what matters is the distance between your sit bones. so try their fit thing as a start. i was stunned to find out i should be on a narrow saddle; i didn't really believe it for a while. i also found out that saddles seem to come in two different shapes - flat and curved. i've tried the fizik aliante and the curve of the thing drove me nuts. i'm a flat saddle kinda guy. and, because of past problems, i also know i want a cutout. i won't look at a saddle without it (except that fizik). i got a sella san marco aspide arrowhead about a month ago and have been trying it out. the thing is 131 mm wide, it's carbon-reinforced plastic or something stupid like that, barely has a cover on it, and i've ridden it for four weeks. i went on a 100 kilometer ride last weekend, got lost, and ended up riding over 85 miles. it didn't occur to me until i was driving home that i hadn't thought about the saddle the entire time. guess the trial is over

Those arrowheads are cool looking ;)

IS brooks mail order only? I have had this feeling about trying one out. ONe of the people I ride with has this brooks that she loves and has had for a long long time.

Two comments on this post:

1) All seats seem to feel comfortable on rides less than 10 miles.

2) I live on Long Island. Funny, I went to a local bike shop last Friday to buy a spare Inner tube and asked what saddle he recommended. He pulled out a new Fizik Arione Ti saddle. I asked the price and he said $175. I asked what would happen if I didn’t like it. He paused and said something to the effect that “it was a possibility” (Implying I'd be stuck with it). $175 for that saddle seems a bit high. But I would pay it in a second IF I could have swapped it if I took it for a ride and didn’t like it.

I live on Long Island and Doug at Bike Junkie is not too far from where I work. He is in Las Vegas for the Bike Show Tuesday through Thursday. I may call him on Friday a stop by after work.

I have read about the specialized fit system. Actually that is what I was trying to get at when I said “But HOW did you choose your saddle. What CRITERIA did you use?”

The distance between your “sit bones” is a criteria that sound interesting. What do you do? Go to a specialized dealer and “get measured”?

A curved vs flat is something else I have noticed and was one reason I tried the Bontrager Race Lite Lux Saddle. When I sat on it, the saddle was flat as compared to both the Selle Italia’s. But the Lux model is very soft.

The Selle San Marco® Aspide Arrowhead Saddle is a FLAT saddle? Did you get the regular or Gelround?

Saddle selection criteria? That's easy. Ride on it for at least three hours. If your vertical smile is still smiling, you've found the right saddle.

I went through about six saddles, and could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had just looked at the price tag. Fizik Aliante turned out to be the right saddle for me, with Selle TransAm SLR being second.

The SLR was good, if you sat on it just right. Move a little in any direction, and ouch! The Aliante is good for a variety of positions.

I have some basic criteria for choosing a bicycle seat.

1. The the saddle profile (as viewed from the side) must be relatively flat (not too curved up). This allows me to lean my body at different angles w/o crushing my gonads...
2. The nose part must be about the same length as the thickness of my thighs; the width of the nose obviously have to fit my sit-bones.
3. The nose must have sufficient skirt-->so that my thighs are interfacing with a flat surface instead the edge of the saddle. Many light-weight saddles suck in this regard.
4. The wings must be wide enough where the edge-to-edge of the wings correspond to the "center" of my butt cheeks. Most of the weight are on the sit bones, but that doesn't mean you want all your weight on them-->more comfortable to distribute your weight over a bigger surface.
5. The saddle areas that interface with the rails (nose and wings) must have extra padding so I don't feel the rails (pressure points). In this regard, the whole seating surface must be smooth (no rivets, seams, etc.)

Basically the only trial and error for me is mainly the curvature of the wings to match my butt shape. Of course if you can't view the saddle in person, much of these things can't be determine to see if they fit your but...

Does price always equals comfort and quality?

I read saddle posts. Some guys really seem to like the relatively inexpensive saddles. Performance saddles are an example.