How to Choose a Bike Seat or Saddle

Language:

When it comes to comfort on a bike, it doesn’t get more important than your saddle. Sure, tacky grips are nice, and the right pedals make a big difference, but nothing has such a profound and lasting impact on your comfort and enjoyment of the ride as choosing the best bike seat. A good bike saddle is one you don’t notice. A bad one, well, it’s a literal pain in the butt.

Why do we feel saddle discomfort?

Saddle pain is mainly related to compression of nerves and arteries, but it may also appear in the form of wear. Discomfort such as acute pain, numbness and tingling occurs. If you encounter any of the above, it means that your saddle is putting too much pressure on the sensitive nerves and arteries on the pubic bone. The pressure here reduces blood flow and hinders the delivery of oxygen to the tissues, which may lead to wider medical problems. Generally, because women's lower pubic angle is wider and more pubic bone is exposed, the female perineum is more susceptible to direct pressure.

Researchers in the United States and Italy have found that the longer men cycling, the greater the risk of impotence and loss of libido. Austrian scientists conducted a survey of high-intensity cyclists and found that about 5 percent of them suffer from moderate and severe impotence. FRANK SOMMER, a professor at the University of Cologne, believes that no saddle can completely avoid the inhibition of blood circulation. If the blood flow is inhibited by more than 50% after 2 hours of continuous cycling, it will be more harmful to the human body. If the inhibition is controlled to within 10%, it will not cause harm to the human body.

Eliminate saddle discomfort through a more suitable body posture and a more suitable saddle. Choosing a suitable saddle that reduces compression is essential. But how to choose a saddle that suits you? We recommend considering the following 4 dimensions

How to Measure Your Sit Bone Width

1: Determine the width of the saddle according to the width of your seat bones.
Many cyclists it is impossible to determine the width of the saddle to use. There are many ways to measure ischium, I will briefly introduce a few. 1: Taking X-rays, this is the most accurate method, but you must go to a hospital or a professional institution. 2: Use professional sitting bone measuring instruments, which are usually available in professional bike shops, and the accuracy is slightly worse. 3: Find a wallen paper, light clay, and slow-resilient silica gel by yourself and spread it on a flat stool. Then the human body sits up and measures the distance of the pit. Although the accuracy of this method is not too high, it can basically meet the needs.

2: Choose different saddle widths for different riding postures and seat bone widths, refer to the following comparison table.

30-60 degree riding position:
Seat bone width:	Saddle width:
75-100	130
100-120	145
120-135	155
135-150	170

60-90 degree riding posture:
Seat bone width:	Saddle width:
75-100	155
100-120	170
120-135	200

Men’s vs. Women’s Bike Saddles & Seats

: Male:
The shape of the male pelvis is narrow and long, the upper mouth of the pelvis is small, similar to a peach heart, the shape of the pelvic cavity is like a funnel, and the angle of the pubic arch is 70 to 75 degrees.

: Female:
The female pelvis is wide and short in shape, the upper mouth of the pelvis is large and approximately round, the shape of the pelvic cavity is barrel-shaped, and the angle of the pubic arch is 90 to 100 degrees. See the picture as follows:

The angle of the male pubic arch is small, and the front end force area is small when the human body leans forward. You can choose a saddle with a narrower nose and a longer length. The female pubic arch has a large angle and a wider stress point, so you need to choose a saddle with a wider and shorter front nose.

The physiological structure of men and women

Based on different physiological structures, men are also full of blood vessels and nerves in the V-shaped groove area of the ischial bone. There are relatively few women. As shown:

Female

Male

Therefore, after determining the width of the ischium, men should choose a saddle with a hollow or mid-slot structure as much as possible, which can minimize compression. For women, due to the position of the genitals, try to choose a saddle with a flat or grooved saddle in the middle. Some saddles have silicone in the middle of the saddle. This design is to avoid sitting pain caused by women cycling for a long time.

Cycling Position

Different cycling postures have different stress points on the saddle.

Generally, the cycling position of city bicycles is more casual, and we classify it into a 90-degree cycling position. Mountain bicycles or similar commuter and sports bicycles are classified as 60-degree cycling positions. The road bicycles category can be classified into a 45-degree cycling position. Both road bicycles and production vehicles belong to the speed competition category. In order to reduce wind resistance and increase speed, cyclists generally use a relatively small cycling angle.

The Ischium support part is based on an included angle of 30 to 40 degrees, so when the cycling posture leans forward, the stressed part will also move toward the center of the saddle. Therefore, different cycling postures are different when choosing a saddle.

The smaller the cycling angle, the closer the force is to the sitting nose. Therefore, the saddle is required to have sufficient support for the sitting nose, and the width of the sitting nose should be appropriate. Too wide will rub the inner thigh, and too narrow force area is too small. The oppression is severe.

Based on the above reasons, the focus of the saddle selection consideration will be different in different cycling postures.

1: In the 90-degree cycling state, you can choose a saddle that is as wide as possible and the length is as short as possible, and the cycling comfort will be better, so you don't need to consider your Ischium width too much.

2: You can choose a saddle with a width of 30-50MM greater than that of the ischium for cycling around 60 to 45 degrees. At the same time, the support of the saddle is required to be good. It is better to have a groove or a middle hole and a relatively flat surface in the middle of the saddle.

3: For cycling postures of 45 degrees and below, the saddle width should be about 30mm larger than the Ischium width. The saddle nose must have good strength and sufficient length. If the leg muscles are relatively developed, choose a narrower saddle nose, a flat upper surface of the saddle nose and a saddle with a through groove. Since everyone's body structure is different, the best choice for this type of saddle is through trial. To determine the saddle that suits you, otherwise there will be undesirable consequences during cycling.

Cycling Purpose

It is also necessary to choose a saddle based on the Cycling Purpose . If you are only cycling leisurely or accidentally, but you choose a saddle that is only used by a professional rider, it is actually inappropriate and unnecessary.

The general purpose of cycling can be roughly divided into three categories. 1: For the purpose of casual cycling, the cycling frequency is particularly low. Go out and play on weekends or vacations. 2: It is a hobby to exercise. There will be a planned cycling saddle, and the cycling distance has certain requirements. 3: Cycling enthusiasts training or competition saddle.