Bicycles come with a saddle and in most cases that standard saddle is enough for us, but after several uses it is likely that it will damage the intimate area, our buttocks hurt, we feel uncomfortable, we lack grip and security, we feel very bad. potholes, etc. That’s why we want to make your search for a new bike saddle easier with these simple tips.
The discomfort that many cyclists feel is due to an inadequate or poorly adjusted saddle. Throughout this text we are going to learn how to choose and place the saddle of our bicycle. It is something that surely we have never noticed, until we have stopped to think.
The seat of our bicycle is where we support the hips and, therefore, all the weight of the body. Likewise, it is the one who receives a large part of the vibrations, so it has to be resistant and adapted to our needs, that is, if we are on the road, on a Sunday walk or in the mountains.
We are going to extend what is necessary to clarify how to choose a saddle for the bicycle. Among all the aspects, there are 2 where we have to pay close attention, one is the measurements of our sit bones and the other the shape of the saddle.
We do not recommend guiding ourselves by brands, if one design or color is more beautiful than another, nor by money. Let us keep in mind that it is about our health, our comfort and our safety.
Way beyond the sitting bones
We may not even know where the sitting bones are right now, but they are the bones that we lean on when we sit down. These bones are part of the hip and will be decisive when choosing a new saddle for the bicycle.
In the case of men, if the saddle is poorly adjusted and in itself it is not a suitable seat, more or less serious injuries can be caused in the genital area. This is because when we get on a bike we do not sit normally, but rather lean very forward. In that inclination, what we do is rotate the hips forward and this causes the pubic egg to block the nerves and blood vessels that supply the genital area.
That is why many men and some women feel that the area that has become numb, there is discomfort and can even lead to serious health problems.
To avoid these problems, ailments, poor posture and pain in the buttocks due to lack of cushioning in the sitting bones, it is best to take into account the width, shape, padding and fit of the bicycle saddle.
Tips for finding the right chair
The importance of the sitting bones does not stop only in the previous section, but goes further. Being the main receiver of the body’s weight, we must find a saddle that covers its width, in addition to taking into account other factors.
Find the perfect width
From now on we recommend going to a specialized bicycle shop to have the saddle width test performed. If the store does not test us, we can take a large piece of cardboard, place it on a step, chair, floor, or some hard and stable surface and sit on it. Yes, those two indentations are our sit bones and that is the minimum width our saddle should have.
The distance between the sit bones is not standard, each man and each woman has their own and does not depend on height or weight. Rather, it is related to the bone structure of each one of us.
Saddle shape does matter
This aspect is more focused on men since they have genitalia on the outside and that will cause them to discard dozens of saddles before finding the perfect saddle.
- Flats: There are also concaves, and both are the favorites of thousands of cyclists around the world. The vast majority of standard saddles we have today are concave with a slight rise in the seat area. The flats give greater freedom of movement and favor the cyclist especially in speed modalities.
- Wings: we have flat or curved wings, and it is something similar to the above. If the bicycle saddle has curved wings, they offer us more freedom of movement and are recommended for long hours of cycling. However, the flat wings give more firmness when pedaling.
- The length and the point: these are two aspects of vital importance when it comes to the bicycle saddle. This area is popularly known as the nose of the saddle. He collaborated closely in releasing pressure from the perineal area. If it is short and with a narrow toe, it favors cyclists with wide legs or those who lie far forward. However, bike saddles that are long with a wide base favor riders who ride more upright.
- Anti-prostate channel: a key point for men, and is that this type of saddle is specially designed to free up space in the sensitive area through a hole that is created in the center of the saddle itself.
The type of cyclist we are
The same chair does not work for cyclists on Sunday walks as for those cyclists who make long routes of several hours and through the mountains. When we go to the store, we must be honest and tell what kind of cyclist we are.
- Professional cyclist: it will be the one who uses the bicycle very often. In this case, we must avoid very soft and padded saddles, since they tend to cause a lot of discomfort and discomfort. The best thing in this option is a bicycle saddle with firm material that complies with everything that we have explained before, that is, that covers the distance of our sit bones and that has a hole for the genitals.
- Occasional cyclist: it will be those who use the bike a few times a month and do not tend to beat themselves up very badly. If our use is recreational and leisure, the best is a soft, large saddle that covers the gluteal area well. If we carry out certain races a month and do intensive uses sporadically, the best thing will be either to buy an intermediate saddle, or to buy two and change it depending on the day.
Adjust saddle
It does not matter if we buy the perfect saddle for ourselves if we do not adjust it well. If we set it too high, it causes great discomfort by increasing pressure in the intimate area and causes chafing. If we put the saddle too low, we will also have back, hip and knee discomfort.
The perfect measurement is achieved by multiplying the length of our crotch by 0.88 . To measure we must be barefoot and measure from the floor to the pelvis, we can help ourselves with a book or folder that we place between our legs and it will stop when we reach the intimate area.
To know how high we put the saddle, we must locate that measurement that our crotch has given us multiplied by 0.88. To do this, we place the meter on the pedaling axis and, following the line of the seat tube, we look for our measurement and at that height we place the new saddle. The height must be above the saddle, not over it or below it.
