Saddle discomfort can suck the joy out of riding your bike, but with so many variables at play, finding the ‘right’ saddle can be a minefield.
According to bike fit expert, James Thomas (also known as Bikefit James in the world of YouTube, and a previous guest on the BikeRadar Podcast), the problem is complicated by the fact that, in many cases, saddle discomfort isn't always caused by your saddle.
So, what are the causes of saddle discomfort? Why are there so many different types and shapes of bike saddle? And why can’t you just get a more heavily padded saddle to solve all your problems?
In this article, we’ll answer all of those questions, reveal what Thomas thinks are “the two killers” when it comes to saddle discomfort – and, most importantly, what you can do if you’re having issues.
How comfortable is a bike saddle supposed to be?
Before we dig into the specifics of saddle design and bike fit, it’s important to understand how comfortable riders are supposed to be on their bikes.
After all, many experienced cyclists might simply say “It’s never going to be comfortable, so you just need to get used to it” – essentially, some variation of “toughen up”.
Thomas, though, disagrees with that sentiment. He says your interaction with the saddle “shouldn’t be the loudest part of your awareness” – meaning, you shouldn’t be constantly thinking about it while riding.
Likewise, “it shouldn’t be painful, by any stretch of the imagination”, Thomas says, though he acknowledges “comfort quite often has a time value attached to it”. Riding for six hours is different to riding for one or two, after all.
In a nutshell, though, Thomas is clear that your interaction with your bike’s saddle “shouldn’t be that uncomfortable at all.”
So if it is, you might have some issues worth exploring.
Why there are so many different types and shapes of saddle
A major problem riders are faced with when it comes to choosing a bike saddle is that there are so many different brands, types, shapes and price points.
If you’ve spent any amount of time thinking about the subject, you might also wonder what any of it is based on – why are bike saddles shaped the way they are?
According to Thomas, “a lot of it is legacy led”. The traditional shapes used by the likes of Brooks and other manufacturers of early bicycle saddles have, for better or worse, basically stuck around because that’s the way the industry has always done things.
There are brands producing saddles in shapes that diverge from this template, such as ISM, but for the most part saddle shape is a broadly settled topic within cycling.
Most bike saddles tend to have a wider rear to support your sit bones and weight, with a thinner nose to prevent you sliding forward off the saddle.
Where brands and philosophies tend to diverge from this starting point is in relation to things such as width, length, whether a saddle is curved or flat, or has a pressure relief channel or not, the quantity of padding and so on.
How saddle shape affects your interaction with a bike
It’s often assumed that since every person is different, then every rider simply needs to find the ‘right’ saddle for them – the one that’s perfectly shaped to their derrière – and all their saddle problems will be forever solved.
Indeed, some manufacturers now offer custom 3D-printed saddles to riders (typically at great expense, as you might have guessed).
In reality, though, Thomas feels saddle choice isn’t as subjective as many believe it to be.
Saddles which lack pressure relief channels, such as the Fizik Arione (which were popular amongst professional and amateur racers in the early 2000s), for example, can be problematic for many riders, Thomas contends.
This is because they can often put an excessive amount of pressure on the soft tissue of your perineum and/or genitals – or encourage you to interact with the saddle in a way which helps avoid that, but has knock-on effects on other aspects of your bike fit.
If you’re forced to rotate your pelvis backwards to prevent this soft tissue pressure, for example, this can make the reach to your handlebars feel excessively long, which can lead to difficulties with interacting with key components such as your shifters and brake levers.
Conversely, Thomas says “around 75 per cent” of the riders that come through his bike fit studio in London end up with Selle Italia’s SLR Boost saddle – a relatively short, yet narrow saddle with a large pressure relief channel.
And to be clear, that’s not because Thomas has any affiliation with the Italian brand.
Why excessive saddle width can cause issues
The most influential saddle of the previous decade has undoubtedly been Specialized’s Power.
Launched in early 2015, the Specialized S-Works Power saddle borrowed the large cut-out from a women’s-specific saddle, the broad and gently curved rear of a mountain bike saddle and the short length of a time trial saddle.
Pitched as an ideal saddle for riding in aggressive positions, the design has been endlessly copied and iterated on in the years since, to the point that it now sits in a category of its own: short-nose saddles.
Thomas, though, says the design has its flaws – especially relating to the selection of widths it’s available in, and the impact this has had on bike saddles in general.
The Power, for example, starts with a narrowest width of 143mm (measured at its widest point), but is also available in 155 or 168mm widths.
As a result, many similar models from other brands are also made in similar widths.
According to Thomas, though, even the narrowest of these widths is excessive for many riders and can promote increased interaction with the nose of the saddle, leading to excessive pressure on sensitive areas and, ultimately, discomfort.
This can be especially problematic, he says, if the ramps of the saddle (the area where the saddle transitions from nose to tail) flare out at a steep angle, as a rider’s thighs can struggle to clear past these areas.
While brands that use such devices will doubtless disagree, Thomas says he believes this trend towards increased width has arisen as a result of the increased use of sit bone measurement tools within bike shops, which he feels are designed primarily as a tool to help make the selling of saddles “feel more scientific”.
In his experience, measuring a rider’s sit bones and matching that to a saddle width “usually results in a saddle being too wide.”
The problem with too much padding
If you’ve been having issues with saddle discomfort it can be tempting to think you might just need a bit more padding.
However, Thomas warns against doing this as excessive padding “usually serves as a driver to destabilise the pelvis”.
“You don’t want something that gives your pelvis autonomy to rock,” Thomas says, “as that’s going to cause a litany of issues – things like lower back pain and potentially issues with your feet as well.”
It’s worth remembering almost every pair of cycling shorts contains a padded insert nowadays, too, so your saddle doesn’t actually need as much padding as you might think.
This is why even full carbon saddles with no padding whatsoever can be comfortable, provided they’re a good shape and are set up correctly in the context of a solid bike fit.
So, assuming you’re wearing padded cycling shorts while riding your bike (and Thomas says “you should be”, if you’re riding a bike for sporting purposes, rather than just for leisure or commuting), less is usually more when it comes to saddle cushioning.
Your saddle may not be the problem
The crux of the matter is that saddle discomfort can be, and often is, caused by things entirely unrelated to your saddle.
Unfortunately, Thomas says, “the cause of saddle discomfort is more convoluted than just [picking between] different saddles”
The “two killers” – the key things to watch out for – when it comes to saddle discomfort are excessive saddle height and excessive handlebar reach.
Beyond those, Thomas says his work with saddle pressure mapping tools has shown he’s able to reduce pressure through the saddle as much as 50 per cent, “just by putting arch support in the shoes”.
So while you can spend hundreds of pounds or dollars on different saddle models, shapes, widths and so on, searching for saddle nirvana, you might be looking in the wrong place.
Quick fixes for saddle discomfort
Fortunately, there are some simple things you can try at home that can often alleviate saddle discomfort.
Since two of the most common issues are excessive saddle height and reach, Thomas suggests experimenting there first, rather than rushing out to spend hundreds of pounds/dollars on a fancy 3D-printed saddle and hoping for the best.
This simply means lowering your saddle and reducing the distance to your handlebars, either by reducing your stem length or decreasing your saddle setback.
Beyond that, it’s worth ensuring your saddle is “relatively level – and if you level the saddle and that causes you genital problems, have a go at lowering it too, as that’s likely to improve things.”
If those basic interventions don’t solve your issues then Thomas says “there’s no substitute for carrying out comparative testing in a controlled environment”, and your best bet is probably to book a professional bike fit.
James Thomas is the director of bicycle. in Richmond, London and is certified as a Level 4 Master Bike Fitter by the International Bike Fitting Institute, with more than a decade of experience. For more information about James and his services, head to www.bicyclerichmond.co.uk.
