Saddle Shopping is not Saddle Fitting

Of the 5 primary contact points on a bicycle, the bike saddle is the most up-close and personal, and can either make or break your overall relationship with a bike. Before you entered this bike to body relationship did you do any saddle dating, or just accept it at face value?  And did the bike saddle you are on come with the bike you bought, or was that one less than great, and you went shopping for a new saddle, or have you had a bike saddle fitting?

Complaints about saddles are up there as one of the most common reasons someone decides it’s time to pay up for a bike fit. But before doing that, you may have tried a few other strategies, that didn’t work. Or maybe they did, in which case why are you reading this? And if Pros are riding a certain style or brand surely they couldn’t be wrong. Or could they?

Common Bicycle Saddle Shopping Options

The “Influencer”

Speaking of Pros, why might a bicycle saddle brand sponsor a pro team or rider? To get media exposure and credibility through association. If the fastest man or woman to the finish line or summit rides Brand P, surely if I ride Brand P I can emulate their success!  Realistically not, but go ahead and buy one of those saddles and see how you go. Might be a winner. It’s only going to cost some dollars and time to find out. And if Brand P doesn’t work for you, try Brand F, as seen underneath other go-fast types, who surely cannot be suffering at all on their saddle.

Photo Credit: Alex Hunt, Escape Collective

The Social Media Ask

I love this one – for the entertainment value I get out of it. Someone posts a question on Facebook / Reddit / Instagram (and probably TikTok): “what’s your favorite bike saddle???”  Subtext: “mine sucks, and I want to know what you are sitting on that enables you to ride happily for hours…”  I’ll guarantee that whatever the answer is, it probably won’t be the right one for you. Everyone has an opinion. No one has your anatomy, bike fit position, riding experience, cycling bibs, pressure sensitivity, and so on. My favorite response to these posts is: “a dream saddle for one rider is a nightmare saddle for another”.

The Bike Shop Visit

Bike shops sell bikes, and they sell bicycle saddles. Surely those guys (and they are mostly guys) working there can recommend a good saddle?  Yeaaaaahhhh….No.  Here are the more likely responses, none of which have a high probability of success:

• “Here is what I ride.  Works great for me!”  (young lean and muscled crit racer talking to somewhat overweight desk bound middle aged cyclist).
• “Here is our most popular saddle“. Sales don’t always translate to comfort, but at least the probability of it being suitable is higher
• “There are all the saddles. Take a look and see what you like”  (looking at saddles is not a great selection criteria for those without considerable saddle and body expertise)
• “This one has the most cushion. I’m sure that will do the trick” (selecting a 200mm wide saddle packed with foam and intended for an upright cruiser bike, when the rider is on a road or mountain bike)
• Menopausal woman experiencing increasing saddle discomfort walks into bike shop. Sales associate is her son’s age. Decides not to have “the conversation”, and quietly exits

Bike shops are great for buying a saddle if you already know what works for you, and are looking for a replacement saddle or another one the same for a different bike. But buyer beware. Brands change their saddle design but keep the same name. The newer Specialized Romin felt nothing like the original Specialized Romin for those that loved that saddle, and the same could be said for the Selle Italia Flite and SLR models. Updated designs can be good, but keeping the same name for what is now a different saddle is deceptive.

What about demo saddles – don’t shops offer those?  Well they used to, and maybe some still do. Many saddle brands have moved away from providing (making and selling) demo saddles to retailers, who in turn could offer them to customers to try out.   Some brands still do, and it used to be a common sales strategy.  Less so now, but if you can find a shop that offers demo saddles go for it. However, it will be a limited selection compared to the full range available.

The Generous Return Policy Demo Program

Some online retailers (no names given) offer quite a generous satisfaction guarantee and return policy.  More than one desperate cyclist has used (and abused) these policies to run their own saddle demo program.  Buy a saddle, install it, ride it, not like it, take it off, send it back, get a refund, buy another saddle, repeat, for months, and still not be happy.  Seemed like a good strategy initially, but how do you remember how one saddle was compared to another one, weeks apart? And do you even know what you are doing?

Saddle Fitting

If all of that doesn’t work, maybe it’s time to think about Saddle Fitting instead of Saddle Shopping. That usually involves seeing a bike fitter.

But I’ve Had a Bike Fit

I heard this recently from a rider.  A young, mobile, fit, strong rider. Experiencing debilitating lower back pain and a lot of grief on their saddle, after the fit.  Do all bike fitters get a position dialed in and address any needed equipment changes? No, unfortunately. My encouragement was to return to that fitter for a follow-up, as I know that when fitting someone on a new bike, no one is quite sure how the saddle it came with is going to prove out, as well as the rest of the set up and position. So fitters don’t always succeed in solving problems before they occur, and should be given a chance to revisit and solve any that arise following a fit session.  Regardless of if you have had a bike fit or not, maybe it’s time for a saddle fit.  But is that a thing? Some bike fitters do offer this as a stand alone service, although I don’t unless it’s a returning customer as there are so many factors that can affect saddle comfort. But it can be the focus of a full bike fit session or a return follow-up session.

The Fitter’s Dilemma

The bike fitter is faced with a number of dilemmas when working with cyclists, the overarching one being: is it the bike or is it the body?  i.e. where are the issues and opportunities? At the level of the saddle, the dilemma is: is it the fit position, including the saddle position, or is the saddle itself unsuitable for the rider, by virtue of shape and design? Hence a saddle fit usually needs to be done in the context of the overall fit, and not in isolation.

As a bike fitter I’m considering the following factors:

• The overall position and first impression of the rider on the bike. Is there anything obviously “off”
• Saddle position: saddle height, saddle angle, saddle setback
• Handlebar position (reach and drop to bars)
• The rider’s body and build: gender, pelvic width at the sit bones;  tissue overlay – muscle and fat: small or big butt on small skeletal structure versus big butt on big skeletal structure; inner thigh clearance / rub on saddle nose
• The saddle itself – is it a known trouble maker; does it offer enough real estate to support  the size and build of the rider; what are its defining characteristics in shape and style

Additional assessments may include evaluating knee tracking, pelvic stability, and pressure distribution on the saddle using saddle pressure mapping.  These can be used to establish a baseline reference, before making changes to position or equipment.  None of these in isolation are likely to provide “the answer” but all are perspectives to bring to a multifaceted situation. Let’s take sit bone width. Some bike shops rely on this exclusively to recommend a saddle. Some fitters consider it a complete waste of time and don’t even gather this data. Over reliance on this measure does not help the cyclist, but neither does ignoring it. It is often a useful bit of information that can be validated against other feedback and data.

One Approach

My approach to bike saddle fitting is as follows:

Understand the Rider

This encompasses intake interview to get riding history, symptoms, and issues as well as movement analysis, body type assessment and measurement -including sit bone width and pressure distribution using the Velometrik Smartcube. Everyone loves finding out how big their butt really is!

Evaluate and refine position

Initially give the existing saddle the benefit of the doubt and work in the overall position (including saddle adjustments), unless there is a clear reason to cast it aside. Examples would be worn out saddles, (foam padding breakdown), cracked subframe, bent rail.

Baseline pressure mapping

Fire up the Velometrik SmartCover and get a visual guide as to what is happening on the saddle, and discuss with rider.

Saddle speed dating

Yes – it’s a thing. Using either a quick change clamp or a fit bike, have the rider butt test a selection of saddles in quick succession for 30 – 60 seconds, without needing to get off the bike, and elicit first impressions: ugly, ok, good?  The selection of saddles might be 6 – 10 different models. The skill and experience of the fitter factors into which saddles are chosen for this. Include the original saddle in the rotation. Winnow this down to the top 2 or 3.  Retest and pressure map, and ideally combine both qualitative rider feedback and quantitative pressure data to make a final selection.  Sometimes there is a clear winner that stands out from the rest. Sometimes it’s a close contest – and I would expect a rider to like 2 or 3 saddles that have a similar design. Sometimes the dating pool seems unreasonably limited, and we keep adding more candidates.

Is this always accurate?  No, but it’s better than a sight unseen arranged marriage. Plus you can always change your mind, and your saddle.  The question is always, but I need a 2 – 3 hour ride to really know if this saddle works. To be sure. A few minutes on a saddle in the fit studio is not 3 hours on it outside, but those first impressions consistently hold up to real world riding.

Saddle Fitting Without a Fitter

You don’t have a bike fitter nearby, or the time/cost of travel to one is unreasonable, or what can you do yourself?

From thousands of bike fits I know I cannot look at someone and immediately know what saddle will suit that person, but I can quickly identify a trouble maker saddle: too narrow (sitbones are wedged on the sides of the saddle, or are in space); no pressure relief channel or cutout; too wide – forcing the cyclist to sit forward on the nose; too nose down or nose up (resulting in compensatory posture and pressure).  Here is some of what you can do:

1. Define the problem areas:  Sit bone pressure / pain points?  Genital pressure / loss of sensation or swelling? Saddle sores (infection induced lumps)? Chafing, especially to top of inner thigh / edge of butt?
2. Make sure your overall fit position is reasonable.  Consider an online assessment tool like My Velo Fit to increase confidence that saddle discomfort is not from a poor riding position.
3. Assess Body Type: Narrow pelvis and lean body usually prefers a narrower more tapered saddle. More mass on the saddle usually means the rider needs more real estate under them. i.e a wider saddle, not more padding, in order to better support the load and distribute pressure. This commonly applies to riders with a wide pelvic structure and a heavy build (muscle mass and/or overall weight). The deceptive bodies appear narrow and lean but actually have a wide pelvis, and benefit from more support  (saddle width) than visual cues suggest.
4. Identify your current saddle’s shape and width. Saddle shape can be more important than width.  Saddles are commonly marketed in different widths, but shape is very important. Shape encompasses the profile across the rear of the saddle (flat, round, semi round); the shape along the top from nose to rear ( flat, wavy, flat with tail kicker); nose to rear transition  (tapered V shape, abrupt T shape, modified T); width along the nose; pressure relief features (cutout, channel) and profile.  Saddle across all brands and models can be sorted into a few common design types, and the challenge is to find the type that works best for your anatomy.
5. Test the variables (in shape and width), take notes.  Run your own comparative analysis.  Saddle selection is often a process of elimination.  Define what doesn’t work and eliminate those.

The Wrap

Some cyclists can ride any saddle, any distance, on any bike and never give the saddle a moment’s thought. Lucky for them. If that is not you, live in hope that there is a satisfactory saddle, but it can take time and money to identify it. The reality of cycling is that we spend a lot of that time sitting on a part of the body not intrinsically designed for that purpose. There has to be pressure somewhere. The key is to combine a saddle shape and saddle position that minimizes any negative aspects of that pressure, like nerve compression, restriction in blood flow, chafing, painful pressure points. Saddle fitting, not saddle shopping, can provide a time-efficient way to test a wide selection of saddles in quick succession, in the context of your overall fit position.  Not all bike fitters have test saddles and pressure mapping. The better ones commonly will. Not all fitters offer saddle fitting as a separate service – and for good reasons as outlined earlier: it’s not always the saddle. But when it is – know that better options and a resolution can usually be found.

If you don’t have access to a good bike fitter with a decent selection of test saddles, then it’s back to saddle shopping, and running your own fitting protocol to test the variables of saddle shape and position. Measurements and notes help recall what you experienced, can can narrow the options to an acceptable choice.