When Cycling, the pelvic bones are under a lot of pressure due to the load of the body. You may experience discomfort or even pain due to an improperly selected bicycle saddle. In addition, the cause of pain and rapid fatigue is often the incorrect setting of the height and tilt of the seat even if you’ve chosen the most comfortable bike seat.
For that reason in the article we will do our best to let you know some basic stuff about choosing the right comfortable saddle and also how to set it to fit your size.
Training is our everything
Before jumping to the list of our pick for the most comfortable bike seat we would like To begin with, I want to say a little about adapting the backside to the bike. Whatever super comfortable saddle is on your bike, the first hundred or two hundred kilometers you will have some discomfort or little pain but don’t worry and don’t put too much attention, this is normal: a specific load.
Don’t rush to buy a new seat if you’ve just started riding. You need at least 5-7 trips to get used to the bike as a whole. Cyclists who have already “rolled in” do not feel any discomfort at all at distances less than 60-80 km.
Most likely, the conditional limit, when unpleasant sensations from below begin to bother and constantly skating fans, is 100 km. If this is the case in your case, then it makes sense to look for the best option.
If the pain comes earlier than at distances of 50 km, then try to ride more often, sometimes the ride starts with a feeling of pain due to a crumpled backside, but this discomfort quickly passes. It often happens that the problem is not in the seat, but in the way it is adjusted. Read up on how to properly adjust a Bicycle saddle.
At the same time, analyze what kind of pain is bothering you. Push on the pelvic bones on which you are sitting, if they hurt stupidly-this means that you have not yet “rolled in”. If the discomfort is caused by chafing, then this is a problem of the fit, shape of the seat and clothing.
Sweating into your underwear may rub your skin. The right work is to buy bike shorts with special padding “diapers”. This diaper is made of synthetic and almost does not get wet, sweat passes through it and evaporates. As a result, you can ride much longer without exposing the skin of too much rubs which may cause redness.
What are the types of Bicycle seats?
For an active cycling enthusiast, there are only two types of seats: sports and tourist. You should not even consider all sorts of comfortable, walking,” sofa ” options designed to move the owner’s backside five kilometers at a snail’s pace.
By sports bike seats, we mean all those that are installed on mountain and road bikes. At the moment, this is the most common version of seats. Moreover, with a certain level of adaptation, sports saddles can be used in Cycling trips.
Narrow or wide saddle which is better
An important parameter of a Bicycle seat is its width. It should be clearly understood that the ass sits on the seat with exactly two pelvic bones, and whether the surface is wider than the distance between them — this will not add comfort at all.
But the discomfort — as much as you want, because the inner surface of the thighs will start to RUB against the wings, with a predictable result. To find out exactly how wide you need a saddle, just measure the distance between the sciatic bones. How? Be creative.
In the description of most bicycle saddles, there is almost always information about the width of the landing pad, usually it varies between 140 and 180 mm. By measuring the distance between the sciatic bones, you can determine whether your backside will fit well on the seat you plan to buy.
By the way, there is a common misconception that weighty people need a wide seat. In fact, a layer of fat on the rear seat does not guarantee a wide skeleton, so the pelvis may not be wider than that of a lean Cycling colleague. Keep this in mind.
Soft or hard bike seat
The pelvic bones dip into the soft material of the seat, and after a while the soft tissues are squeezed, the blood supply slows down, and numbness begins.
On a hard seat, the pelvis hangs above the surface, touching it only with bumps. In my experience, the best combination is a very hard seat and carbon seat post-plus bike shorts with a thin diaper.
This bundle provides maximum comfort over long distances — a thin diaper effectively removes sweat without taking it in, and carbon fiber at the same time absorbs vibrations.
Shape of the saddle bike seat
It’s quite simple here — the seat should have a hard platform (s)for the pelvic bones, wide enough in the back. The platform on which you sit should also be long enough, since during the ride you have to move a little back and forth.
The nose should be narrow, the wings should not protrude — this is important so that the inner sides of the thighs are not rubbed when moving the legs.
Friends, the mileage that you did as an amateur rider is not even close to the mileage of a serious cyclist. because when you ride long distances it’s totally different when you ride for miles.
Of course, why would there be negative effects if I drove 5-10 km a day? for example if this is the work path. You can ride ten kilometers on anything, the saddle has absolutely nothing to do with it. But we’re talking a little bit about long distances here, right?
With or without a crotch hole
This was the subject of the most heated battles in bike forums, especially when such options were just beginning to enter the market. In fact, the idea is quite decent — to completely eliminate pressure on the prostate.
Skeptics of this decision noticed that if the distance between your pelvic bones does not coincide with the calculated one, then instead of benefits, harm can result. Imagine if your backside is slightly wider, then the bones will be located on the edges of the saddle pad, and since it is usually arched, the perineum will be slightly deeper on the seat than necessary.
In the usual case, there will be no problems, since the weight of the perineum will be distributed over the entire area under it. And if instead of a platform there is a perforation, then the perineum, as it were, is impaled on this hole, and its edges press on the prostate with its faces.
Of course, all this is mostly theory, the backside does not sit statically on the saddle, because the cyclist is constantly in motion.
Most comfortable bike seat material
With plastic, everything is clear – this is the worst material. They are usually upholstered with the simplest and cheapest options, as a rule, coming with bicycles. The plastic keeps sweat out, and if you don’t have diaper cycling shorts, the feeling of discomfort will bother you more quicker.
The main symptom is chafing. At long distances this is a terrible thing. Therefore, if you have a plastic saddle, then immediately buy a bike uniform.
artificial leather is a material that is widely used in mid-price copies. The only problem here is that there are many types of leatherette, and there is no guarantee that it is good in the purchased saddle. Bad leatherette lets in sweat just as badly as plastic. A good padded bike short or bike uniforms are also required here.
And finally, leather is the material for the most expensive seats. It “breathes” well, passing sweat, and of course, it is most comfortable to trip for long distances on it. I will add a fly in the ointment: almost all modern leather seats are sports type, so the leather is used there not as a load-bearing element, but only as a coating of a plastic or carbon base.
Sweat still doesn’t have the ability to evaporate quickly, because there is no air under the skin, but just a solid material. What you can do here is to use bike shorts that will help you as a sweat removal which is an ideal solution.
Questions you may ask about the most comfortable bike seat
- Do I need springs for a bicycle seat?
Springs are an attribute of citi bikes where the fit is vertical. On bumps, the rider’s entire body is hammered into the spinal column, and this is not too good.
The springs help to soften these shocks. On modern bikes, whether mountain, road or touring, the fit is elongated, and the rear end accounts for no more than 60% of the weight. Springs have a perfect effect in this case.
- Do I need gel inserts in the seats (gel covers)?
Absolutely not. This is also an accessory for those who like to ride around their yard. The pelvic bones sink into the gel, which even at a medium distance will lead to compression and numbness.
Types of bicycle saddle
Bicycle seats vary mainly in terms of their width, in addition to the type of cycling you are going to practice. Thus, road cycling saddles are narrower than seats for other types of cycling, which gradually widen until they reach cruiser-type bicycles, which are much wider.
Mountain Bike Saddle for Men & Women
Mountain Bike Saddle for Men
Narrow, with medium padding, light, and with a rounded back shape and a low profile, which together is reinforced to cope with the rough sessions on the mountain and dirt roads.
On mountain trails you will constantly alternate your riding position, so a seat with a durable cover or lining and medium padding will be recommended, as well as a slim shape that will help you move more easily, but wider than in the road saddle.
Due to clear anatomical differences such as: wider hips and pelvic bones and generally smaller bodies, women benefit from designs that are specifically made for their anatomy.
The seats for women are not the same as for men, since they have wider hips. Thus, the models for women are slightly wider and shorter.
Basically, manufacturers made wider women’s bike seat designs for greater pelvic support, and although not necessarily, to add more padding.
An uncomfortable seat can cause several consequences, the slightest, that we stop using the bicycle. It could also affect our health generating injuries and bad posture. Although there is no ideal seat, since this will be determined by each user according to their driving style, height and others, it is important to always choose a good quality one.
There is a wide variety of stationary bicycle seats on the market in different models, colors and materials. That is why if your bike has worn out its seat or you simply prefer to buy a more comfortable one, we invite you to invest in a stationary exercise bike saddle. Knowing the characteristics of each of these saddles, it will be much healthier for you to choose the one that best suits you.
The cruiser-type seats (cruise) are characterized by their ability to cushion the irregularities of the road, they are wide to distribute your weight proportionally throughout the saddle and some models may even have suspension in the form of springs,as they have good padding.
Since you are doing a relaxed recreational ride, you don’t need a racing saddle that distributes your weight differently. These types of saddles are widely used in cruiser and children’s bicycles.
Lightweight, narrow at both ends, but with the nose being the narrowest, and covered with very little padding or padding.
In route pedaling, there is little time your bones rest on the seat, while your riding position is more cramped and you require the least amount of foreign material between your legs to avoid chafing and achieve a better transfer of force.
If you are just starting out in road cycling, it is best to try first with a slightly softer saddle as your body adapts to the stiffness of a road saddle –in every expression of the word-.
By heavy cyclist we do not mean exclusively someone who is overweight. but It can also be someone who is giant, due to their height and bulk, cannot find or has trouble finding a suitable bicycle seat. The reality is that many of the bikes and components are designed to support 100kg or so.
This is mainly because its design is based on standards. The good news is that just as there are people of all shapes and sizes, there are also a wide variety of bicycles. In this case, by heavy cyclist we mean someone who exceeds the weight limit of most of the bicycles that you generally find.
The touring bike seats are designed to give the best peace in mind which have padding, but this is not necessarily a must-have feature, as many cyclo travelers prefer the leather seat, its rear end is wide, which allows you to support the bones properly and, in some models have additional suspension in the form of springs.
They are excellent for long distance pedaling and are often designed to absorb some of the shock and vibrations of country roads. Specific saddles for women can fall into this category, as they also have a wider seat to adapt to the female anatomy, a shorter nose and generally, their models have a central cavity and in the case of leather, with holes that help ventilation of the perineum area.
Conclusion
To choose the most comfortable bike seat for your comfort and your health may require some investment which is highly recommended to make the best ride experience with your bike.