Ollie: You want to buy a new saddle. Chances are the most likely reason is that your current isn't
very comfortable for you, but don't worry this is a pretty common thing and that's why there are
loads of different options, shapes and sizes when it comes to saddles. Now, although this is great,
that there are so many options out there, it can also be a little bit confusing.
[music] In this video, I'm going to
explain what the differences are between different saddles and also tell you how to go about choosing
one that hopefully suits you. [sound effect]
First up, a quick bit of explanation as to why different people find different
saddles comfortable. When you sit on a bike, your weight rests upon ischial tuberosities,
otherwise known in non-nerd speak as your sit bones. Sit bones come in different sizes and
shapes, and they're positioned differently on different riders. Also, the amount of weight
that is distributed through them will change depending on the angle you sit on your bike, and
also the geometry and set up of your bike. There are men-specific saddles, women-specific saddles,
and a lot of saddles are listed as unisex. [music]
Big, wide saddles that you've seen with loads of padding are typically designed for leisure
and town bikes, bikes that aren't intended for long journeys where you typically won't
be wearing a padded short with a shammy inside it and you're going to be sitting
more upright on a bike like that, putting more pressure through your sit bones. Consequently,
a wider padded saddle is often preferable on that very specific kind of bike.
Conversely, road bike saddles don't need as much padding to be comfortable. This is because the
geometry of a road bike dictates that you sit on it at a different angle with a less upright back.
This puts less pressure through your sit bones. They're also designed to be used in conjunction
with a padded short, with a nice shammy pad inside of it as well, such as these rather beautiful GCN
Castelli ones available in the GCN shop. [music]
Comfort is mostly dictated by the shape of the saddle and not the amount of padding on
it. That is something that's important to realize. Also, saddle brands make different
shape saddles depending on how you sit on the bike. Depending on the angle of your back,
this affects the angle of your hips and your pelvis as well. This, then, changes how the
pressure is distributed through your sit bones and also the soft tissues, or gooch.
I'm now going to show you some Fizik saddles to illustrate this point. I'm using Fizik because
we're sponsored by them on the channel, but what I'm telling you applies to other saddle
brands as well. They typically have a similar structure to their range. The first thing
within the range are different saddle profiles. Fizik, for example, has the Arione, the Antares,
and the Aliante and depending upon how flexible you are, if you're able to touch your toes,
you have a sharper hip angle and they'd say go for the longer, thinner Arione saddle.
For less flexible riders, you then go through into the Antares and then all the way into
the Aliante saddle. It doesn't mean that you're a rubbish cyclist if you're less flexible as-- Well,
Pete Sagan often favored the Aliante model and he's pretty good, isn't he?
[music] After different-shaped profiles, the next thing
you need to be aware of is width. Saddles come in different widths, usually. In the case of Fizik,
you can usually get regular or large in the same saddle model. Other brands sometimes offer small,
regular and large. The reason for this is that sit bone widths can vary. People with wider sit
bones might find it more comfortable to have a wider saddle to better support them. Now,
in order to get your sit bones measured you can usually head to your local bike shop,
where they will have special devices that can do this and point you in the direction, help you
narrow your search down a bit more for the perfect saddle. Before you start sniggering at the back,
no, wider sit bones doesn't always correspond with having a bigger bottom. You can have a big bum and
narrow sit bones, and vice versa. [music]
The next thing is cutouts. This is a saddle with a cut out. Basically, a hole in the middle of it.
These are designed to relieve pressure on your soft tissues and some people absolutely swear
by them. Personally, I don't use them, I'm happy with a solid saddle with no cutout. You can also
get kind of a halfway house, which is a relief channel. You can see this saddle has a relief
channel in it. [music]
Regarding cutouts, my advice would be once you've determined what you think will be the
right saddle profile for you, and then you've also maybe measured sit bones and determined a saddle
that's going to be the right width for you, if you're still uncomfortable, it might be a
good idea at that point to start considering a cutout as it may work wonders, and like I say,
some people do absolutely swear by them. Again, cutouts are often available in different shapes
and different sizes for different people. [music]
The next type of saddle to point out is this, which is a short-nosed saddle. They're
relatively new in their conception, I think Specialized was the first to come up with it,
with their Specialized Power Saddle. This is Fizik Argo. Now, you can see if I put it next
to a regular length saddle, it's quite a bit shorter. It's a similar idea to the time trial
and triathlon saddle. The thinking is that by having a shorter nose, it enables you to sit
with your pelvis rotated further round, which can then open up your hip angle and then better engage
your most powerful muscle groups in a wider range of motion, so you get better glute activation.
[music] The next thing
I'm going to tell you about is time trial and triathlon-specific saddles such as this. They
often look a bit weird and that's because riding on a TT bike requires a very aggressive position
in order to be as aerodynamic as possible. Riding in a really aggressive aero position can put a lot
of pressure on your soft tissues and also your weight distribution is often shifted on to your
pubic bone. To relieve this pressure, the front of the saddle is effectively just lopped off. You can
see this Fizik Mistica is very similar in profile to a Fizik Arione, but it's basically-- You can
see it's missing the nose piece. [music]
The next thing I'm going to discuss is what saddles are made from and what this means. Like
many cycling components, the more you spend, the more exotic the materials. the component becomes
made from, and the lighter it gets. Incidentally, if you are looking to save weight on your bike,
saddles are one of the most cost-effective ways to do so. It's a lot more cost-effective saving
100 grams on a saddle than it is trying to save 100 grams on a set of wheels or a frame.
Saddles come in a hierarchy with the cheapest and heaviest at the bottom,
and the most expensive and lightest at the top. The good news is that it doesn't matter where you
buy a saddle within that hierarchy, the shape and the profile of that saddle model usually remains
the same. A great example is the Fizik Arione. I picked this because it's my go-to saddle. You'll
see it perched on top of all of my bikes. Now, you can get the entry-level saddle typically
with steel rails on here and a plastic body to it. Then, you can go up into a manganese rail, they're
slightly lighter. Then, a Kim or a titanium rail that's slightly lighter still. Then, you can get a
carbon body on the upper instead of plastic, which saves a bit more weight. Then, you can go to the
all-singing, all-dancy, fancy-pants model like this, which is just fully carbon and very light,
but the overall silhouette and shape of the saddle, and comfort derived from it, is the same.
If you are looking to save loads of weight on your saddle, well, you can take it even further now,
because the latest fancy-pants saddles, such as this Fizik adaptive saddle feature
this incredible 3D-printed mesh padding on the top, which is-- It looks incredibly bling and
it feels rather squidgy and interesting, but yes, saddle brands are now starting to-- as a trend on
their top-of-the-range saddles, putting rather fancy-pants 3D-printed mesh on there, but the
profile remains the same as the less expensive one, just not got a 3D-printed mesh on it.
Something to be aware of, though, if you do want a really bling lightweight saddle
with carbon rails is to check that your bike can accommodate it, because carbon rails are oval and
not all seat post clamps will fit an oval rail. You might need to change that. Metallic rails,
alloy rails, they're round in cross section, so just be aware of that.
[music] How to find the perfect
saddle for you. Well, my advice is go visit your local bike shop. Many shops stock a range a test
saddles that are brightly colored from ranges like Fizik, that you can take out on a test ride
and see how you get on with them. They also often have bumometers to measure the shape of your bum
and the width of your sit bones. I mean, they're not technically called bumometers. I made that up,
but they should be, because that's what they do. Different brands have different measuring
systems in bike shops as well. Selle Italia has its ID match system, Specialized has its body
geometry bumometer system, and other brands have other types as well. In some really fancy bike
shops that are really well-equipped, you even get these fancy pressure mapping systems that
can really see as to where the pressure comes out when you sit on a saddle and that can really help
determine what kind of saddle will suit you best. I hope you found this video useful. One final
thing to really bear in mind with saddles is that a road bike saddle is never going to be
an armchair. So, don't expect La-Z-Boy levels of encapsulating comfort, it's not going to happen.
But, hopefully, armed with this knowledge, you'll be able to find the right saddle for you. Let us
know in the comments how you get on, and good luck finding a saddle that suits you. If you've
got any questions that we haven't answered, fire them down below and we'll do our best to answer
them. If you're looking for a nice pair of padded shorts to go with your saddle, as I mentioned,
head over to the GCN shop, we've got all manner of different padded shorts for both men and for
women. I'll see you next time. Bye. [00:11:49] [END OF AUDIO]