Comfortable saddle



Brent17

New Member
Aug 9, 2019
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I am new to cycling and I have major problems with the saddle on my Giant Contend 3.
My question is what gel pad or saddle is the most comfortable to use?

I am not an experienced rider and am just beginning (20 miles at a time is a major event for me at this moment).


Any help would be appreciated!
 
This is very difficult to answer as our anatomy is unique to each of us. I've been cycling all my life and I'm 64, but The biggest fatigue that I suffer is pain in the backside, which is debilitating. I think that it helps to relieve the pressure every now and then, so when gliding down hill, I shift over to the side of the saddle to let the blood flow around the relevant area.

I have never found gel saddles to be any good as the gel pad itself tends to sit proud and digs in me. Likewise saddles with a cut out have never worked for me because the edge of the cutout digs in me. Are you wearing proper cycling padded shorts? Leaving your underwear off helps too as any seams will dig into you.

What we need is a club which buys a few saddles and allows members to try each one and see what is best.
 
There is no good answer since everyone varies in anatomy. Trial and error is the only way to know. That being said I have had good luck with the Terry saddles. I never liked gel saddles.
 
Agreed there is no good answer. What you have to do first is measure your sit bone distance, most bike shops should have this ability, or you can sit on a block of styrofoam or memory foam in a lean position similar to riding your bike, sit for about a minute naked, do not take pictures of yourself doing this, and let your entire body weight push into the foam, when you get off the block there should be two indentations, those are where your sit bones dented the foam, measure from the center of one indentation to the other in CM's and write that down, then look for a saddle with that width. This will limit the hunting dramatically.

I happen to like Fizik (Arione) saddles with the flex wings, but that's just me. I got a Specialized saddle and I don't like that one even though it was highly rated, so that shows you that even a highly rated saddle may not work, though it didn't work for me it might work for you. Selle is another brand that makes great saddles as does Pro Logo.

Unfortunately there is no easy way other than to get those measurements and test ride and make sure you get a saddle from someplace that will allow you to return within 30 days if you don't like it.
 
I am new to cycling and I have major problems with the saddle on my Giant Contend 3.
My question is what gel pad or saddle is the most comfortable to use? I am not an experienced rider and am just beginning (20 miles at a time is a major event for me at this moment).
Given the above, it's likely that any saddle is going to be uncomfortable, since your body is not used to carrying your weight on your "sitz" bones. By all means measure yourself for proper saddle width, but remember that you are going to get sore until your body toughens in response to sitting on a bike. Even riders who been at it for decades - like me - get saddle sore, particularly in the off-season when it may be a week or more between rides.
 
Given the above, it's likely that any saddle is going to be uncomfortable, since your body is not used to carrying your weight on your "sitz" bones. By all means measure yourself for proper saddle width, but remember that you are going to get sore until your body toughens in response to sitting on a bike. Even riders who been at it for decades - like me - get saddle sore, particularly in the off-season when it may be a week or more between rides.

Brian, I'm not sure what your meaning is in your first sentence, the sit bone measurement tells you how wide of a seat to get, this has been done like this for many many years! I get what you're saying that you will be sore if your a beginner till you're **** gets use to riding, but that's true with anything, such as you decide to become a ditch digger after spending the last 10 years as an office worker, you'll get blisters even with gloves on till your hands toughen up; beginner guitar players get blisters on their fingertips till they toughen up; feet will get blisters if you start running after years of not running; that's just all common sense...I hope!

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Those are good videos to show the OP how to measure the sit bones for the proper width saddle.
 
Brian, I'm not sure what your meaning is in your first sentence, the sit bone measurement tells you how wide of a seat to get, this has been done like this for many many years! I get what you're saying that you will be sore if your a beginner till you're **** gets use to riding, but that's true with anything, such as you decide to become a ditch digger after spending the last 10 years as an office worker, you'll get blisters even with gloves on till your hands toughen up; beginner guitar players get blisters on their fingertips till they toughen up; feet will get blisters if you start running after years of not running; that's just all common sense...I hope!

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Those are good videos to show the OP how to measure the sit bones for the proper width saddle.
Good to see you back.
 
Brian, I'm not sure what your meaning is in your first sentence, the sit bone measurement tells you how wide of a seat to get, this has been done like this for many many years!
I realize that and I agreed that he should do it.

I get what you're saying that you will be sore if your a beginner till you're **** gets use to riding,
That was exactly my point. If you're a beginner, you're going to get sore even if you have the correct width saddle. Expecting to be immediately comfortable is unreasonable; it's not gonna' happen.
 
I realize that and I agreed that he should do it.


That was exactly my point. If you're a beginner, you're going to get sore even if you have the correct width saddle. Expecting to be immediately comfortable is unreasonable; it's not gonna' happen.

Thanks for welcoming me back, I had to wait till I knew something was different, I hope that is the case.

Anyway, I agree about the beginner, however the starting place to achieve comfort is first making sure the saddle is right width, if not the beginner gets on a seat that is the wrong width goes for rides for about 3 months, can't get comfortable and quits cycling, so at least if they start with the right seat. I wish all LBS's would help their customers better by at least trying to get a more right width seat for the buyer instead of plopping them on a bike and send them out the door with a slap on the back. Just seems to me that besides the initial fit that's done for free getting the right saddle would be a given because it's so easy to do, in fact most LBS will measure the sit bones for free, so if it's a free service they should automatically offer it to new bike buyers. Is that a weird thought?
 
No, it doesn't seem unreasonable at all, though it could create issues for dealers if they end up swapping out a bunch of the same saddle and can't resell them.
 
No, it doesn't seem unreasonable at all, though it could create issues for dealers if they end up swapping out a bunch of the same saddle and can't resell them.

The saddle resale is a potential problem, but I bought brand new swapped out saddles that came originally on bikes from the factory for cheap, and they were both Fizik's! But maybe the bike shops could find another stock seat that is the correct width and simply swap them? Then there would be no cost associated with it, and eventually someone will come in with the sit bone width that will fit the seat that was replaced, so I think it would all balance out. Worse comes to worse and there is no seat in that width on another bike, the LBS sells the factory stock seat for $10 or whatever and sells another for $20 to $40 more to fit the customer.