- Bigger isn't necessarily better
and that certainly is true for choosing
the right bike saddle.
It is easy to think that the wider, the softer the saddle,
the more comfortable it will be,
but actually there's far more to choosing
the right saddle for you and I know
that it does come down to personal preference
to a certain extent, but I'm going to do my best
to let you know what options are out there for cycling
and for triathlon, but I have to apologize
to all of our male viewers
because it's slightly selfish of me,
we're going to be looking at the topic
that I know more about and that is women's saddles.
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It's hard to know where to start with this video
and also the hunt for the correct saddle.
There are so many options
and in some ways, as women, we are quite spoiled,
because we've got the selection of standard
or male saddles and also a growing aray
of women's specific saddles.
Now, it's brilliant that is such a large choice,
but that doesn't mean
that any women's specific saddle will do.
There's still a lot to consider
and before we go any further,
I just want to point out,
if you are one of those really lucky people
that is completely happy and comfortable
on your bike saddle, please don't change it
unless obviously you're going to be changing
your bike position or the type of riding you're doing,
then stick with that, 'cause I can tell you
there'll be a lot of jealous people out there.
However, if you're not happy,
then think about what could be causing these issues.
Now, comfort on the saddle isn't necessarily
down to the saddle itself.
Your riding position, the type of riding,
and your physical conditioning can all play a part too,
so before going out to buy a new saddle,
it's best to address these problems
otherwise you might just be delaying
finding a more deep rooted problem.
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When riding your bike you have three points of contact,
your hands, your feet, and your bottom
and if there's too much pressure
going through any of these areas,
then you'll soon start to notice some pain
and, or numbness.
And when you're sat in the saddle, riding,
the majority of force will naturally be going
through your bottom onto that saddle
more so than through the handle bars and the pedals.
Now, it's easy to see exactly where your contact points are.
With your hands, it's quite visible,
and with your feet on the pedals,
but when it comes to your backside, it's less visible
and it's hard to know the exact contact points
until it's too late and you start to feel uncomfortable.
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All right, let's get into detail
on that main contact point, your bottom.
Now, men and women unsurprisingly sit on their seat bones.
So, if you are sat down watching this,
or not anywhere too public,
then have a feel, they're basically the bones
at the bottom of your pelvis
and if you're sat slouched on the sofa right now
you'll probably find you're sat more on the fleshy part
and not on your seat bones,
but if you've got good posture, or like us,
you're riding a bike, that's when you'll find
most of the pressure will be going through your seat bones.
For example, if you have a About Town Bike,
then you are going to be very upright
and that will be the majority of the pressure
going through the fleshy part and your seat bones.
If though, like most of us, you're on a road
or a time trial bike, your pelvis is naturally
going to be rotated further forwards as you reach forwards
and this is then going to put pressure on the soft tissue parts
that you don't want pressure,
so that's where women's specific saddles come in.
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Most saddles come in different widths,
but how do you know how wide your bottom is?
Well, for this one it's probably not a good idea
to ask your friend, as we're not talking about
your whole bottom, we're actually taking about
the distance between your seat bones
and admittedly, this is quite hard to measure.
There are some special devices out there for it,
or you could go and get a bike fit
and have a saddle mapping session,
when basically you sit on a saddle with pressure pads
and it will then show you where those pressure points are,
but obviously an overall bike fit will look at
the far bigger picture and we've already eluded
to the fact you need to address all the areas
before going too specifically onto the saddle.
So, one of the first things you want to check
is that you've got your saddle at the right hight.
So, a simple test for this is sit on your bike,
nice and level so your hips are square
and then put your pedal down to six o'clock
and rest your heel on that pedal
and your leg should be straight,
but your knee isn't quite locked out
and that'll give you a rough idea,
although obviously when you're moving
it will feel a little bit different.
The other easily adjustable area is the front end.
You can change the distance away and the hight
of your handle bars and this will then affect
your position on the saddles.
The further you are away, the more anteriorly rotated
your pelvis will be, which will then naturally
put more pressure on the soft tissues at the front,
but before you veer away
from this nice aerodynamic position,
I'm going to be discussing the saddle options
that can actually solve any potential discomfort,
so stick with us.
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Hopefully you're happy with your bike fit
and your position now, so it's time to focus
on the saddles and to avoid unwanted pressure
on your private parts.
Women's saddles have been designed with a cutout
or a groove, but as you can see,
the choice doesn't end there.
So, to narrow it down
you need to ask yourself a few questions,
what type of riding are you going to be doing?
Are you predominately on a mountain bike?
Maybe you're doing time trials in triathlon,
or it's mainly road riding you're doing,
then you need to think about your budget,
although on this point I would say,
don't squirm, 'cause if you can find something comfortable,
you can't actually put a price tag on that, within reason.
Then it's what type of rider you are,
if you're going to be racing, or riding for leisure
and also how many hours you're planning
to spend in the saddle.
Saddles do vary per discipline,
but not as much as you might think
and fashion has played a big part in the past
as to what bike saddle looks good on which bike,
but we're seeing a move away from that
as women are finding a saddle they're happy with
and comfortable with and putting it on
whichever bike they're riding.
For example, we're seeing more TT style saddles
on road bikes, 'cause they've got that split
in those design, which is really comfortable
and none other than the new GCN presenter,
Manon Lloyd, was very kindly talking to me
about what saddle she likes
and she actually uses this, an Adamo,
which she had on her track bike
and has now put onto her road bike
and apparently quite a few of her teammates
are following suit
and just to give example of that,
Manon's actually taken a picture
when she had a bike fit recently
and it shows the pressure points on the saddle
and it's all green, which is great
and there's absolutely no pressure
on her sensitive parts either
so, Manon, thanks for sharing that with us, really helpful.
So, let's take a closer look at some of these saddles
I've got here.
A few of them are ones that I've ridden in and liked.
We've got Manon's saddle here
and also my friend, Sarah, brought in a couple of saddles
which she finds really comfortable.
She just rides for fun,
but she did spend a thousand miles on this saddle
last summer when she did John o' Groats to Lands End
with no problems at all.
So it really does come down to personal preference,
but there's a few things you want to look at
more closely as well that do vary.
All of them have some degree of cutout
as I've already mentioned,
but there's a difference in how wide
and how long that cutout is
and then some of the saddles have a ridge in as well,
or a cutout there and it's how deep and long that is
you want to consider.
And then there's the softness of a saddle
and like I mentioned earlier,
softer isn't always better.
For example, if the cushioning just squashes
to nothing after a few minutes,
it's actually going to be doing you less benefit
than a firmer saddle that will also give you
that correct pressure distribution.
However, if you're wanting something
that's going to give you that more shock absorption
where you're going to be riding say, some really bumpy terrain
for quite a long way, you can even consider
a saddle with springs built into it,
but for something more subtle,
then consider the material that the rails of the saddle
are made from.
Carbon has very little flex and give,
but if you go for a metal option,
you'll find a little bit more flexibility
and movement through your saddle that way.
The width of the saddle can also affect your comfort
and wider might look more comfortable,
but you need to make sure that you've got
that correct pressure distribution
and as you are riding your bike,
you're naturally more forward rotated
and you'll find that less of the fleshy part
of your bottom is on the saddle than you might think,
so that's when you need to consider the nose
and the width of the nose of the saddle.
If it's too wide you might find
you get some chafing on your inner thighs
and that can be a problem with the time trial saddles.
I personally actually use cable ties to tie together
the rails at the bottom.
Just bring it in slightly narrower to find that comfort.
While sticking with the nose of the saddle,
you'll notice that the biggest difference between
these road saddles compared to
the time trial triathlon saddles
is the fact that these two have got a split nose
and these haven't and that's because
when you're in a time trial position
your hips are more rotated forwards
so there's more pressure on the front sensitive parts
so that gap is obviously necessary for that
and these ISM style saddles are actually really popular
for both men and women
and it's worth noting whilst we're talking about comfort
and finding the right saddle for you
that ISM are one of the brands
that actually will let you have the saddle
to trial for 30 days
and if you don't like it you can send it back
and get a full refund
and I think quite a few other brands do that too
and it's something I'd really recommend.
Cost obviously plays an important part on any
decision making process when you're buying something new.
I completely understand that,
but if you can find a saddle
that means you can have hours and hours
of riding your bike in complete comfort,
then it's going to be worth a little bit of an investment
and some of the more expensive saddles are expensive,
because they had a lot of research put into them.
I know that Fizik put a lot of research
and development into this saddle, the Luce,
and as a result it's become one of a very popular
women's bike saddles.
And another thing to consider,
that a cheaper saddle does tend to weigh a little bit more
so you need to think about your overall goals
and whether you need to consider that into it as well.
Well, the best bit of advice I can give
is actually go out and try different saddles.
As much as it's brilliant to chat with friends
and see what people have on their bike,
we've all got a different anatomy
and we ride in different ways,
so what works for one person
won't necessarily work for you.
And once you have found that magic solution,
that saddle that's great, just ensure you've got it
set-up on your bike correctly.
So, it needs to be level, or horizontal
and I must admit that I had a saddle a while ago
that I found so uncomfortable
that I actually ended up tilting the nose down
just so it will take the pressure off,
but all this did was mean that I loads of pressure
going through my hands and because
I was trying to stop myself from sliding forwards
so make sure you've got the right saddle
and then the right set-up too
and finally, the part that goes between your bottom
and the saddle, your cycle shorts
and it's really important to make sure you've got
a well-fitting pair of shorts
and you definitely don't wear underwear underneath them
and again, for the reasons we've already talked about,
go for a women's specific pair.
Well, that has been a lot to take in, I know,
but I will just finish by saying
it's really worth taking a little bit of time now
and effort in the process of finding the saddle,
because once you've got the one,
it can absolutely transform your enjoyment for cycling.
Trust me, I found out the hard way.
Well, hopefully you've enjoyed this.
Give us a thumbs up, like if you have
and if you hit that globe on screen
you'll get all of our videos at GTN.
Just let me know how you get on with finding a saddle,
if you've got one that works for you.
You can do that in the comments section below.
And if you want to see a video on a bike fit,
well, Fraser went and had one.
You can see that video just here.
And if you want to learn a little bit more about comfort
versus aero, there's a video on it just over here.