Moon Saddles

I went on a week-long tour earlier this year. There was one guy who had one. He let a couple of us try it out, so I took his bike for a spin around the parking lot of one place we were staying. He loves it, so more power to him. For me, I can't imagine that thing ever being comfortable. It dug into my upper hamstrings from the moment I started pedaling that bike.

For more traditionally-shaped saddles, it just takes some time to build up your "sit bones" to get used to the saddle, provided it's a proper fit in the first place. A pair of cycling shorts with a chamois go a long way with that, too--gotta keep the boys dry.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Soonercolt [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I am new to road biking and found out really fast how rough the seats/saddles are on my butt and perineum.

You've got your answer right there. Dedicated riding calls for a 3-way distribution of body weight; pedals, seat, bars. As a rookie rider, your legs (probably) aren't carrying as much as those of a more seasoned rider would.
Next thing is quite simply a question of surface area.
The area of your sit bones, where your body is actually being supported, isn't much bigger than two coins. Just as your hands would need time to adapt to crutches if you were to break a leg, your sit bones need some time to adapt.
Heck, if I've been away from riding, say 3 weeks, I can certainly feel it when I get back in the saddle.

And there's fit. Saddles and riders aren't entirely cross-compatible. Even ignoring the above, yours may simply be a poor fit for your anatomy from the start.

But whatever you do, don't fall for the simple "soft = comfortable". A softer saddle will let your sit bones sink farther in, allowing the padding to start compressing other areas of your butt. Your sit bones may not like it, bu they can do the job. The soft tissue inbetween - not quite so.

There are, and has been, plenty of noseless and other designs. But the wide majority of riders do perfectly well with the traditional configuration.
Obviously you're free to experiment to your heart's content. But I'd try some more hours first, then maybe a few traditional saddles before looking to adopt a minority solution

The issue I see for the "noseless" saddles is that there is nothing to keep the body centered over the bike and in contact with the saddle during fast descents or on bumpy roads. Saddles with noses automatically keep the body over the saddle and allow for using the thighs to grip the nose as needed when encountering bumps in the road or doing fast corners at speed.

Saddles don't have to make you hurt, even if you're a new rider with few miles on the saddle. Saddle comfort is a function of your body's morphology and your fit on the bike. I'd be hesitant to make any change like you're considering until I've tried easier, better solutions, like having your fit checked and working with your LBS to find a saddle that works. Note that any LBS worth your money will have a saddle test or exchange program wherein you can try different saddles until you find one that works. Certainly, a saddle should not hurt as yours did on your first ride. Go to an LBS to have your fit checked, to try a new saddle, or both.

Thanks for the replies. I did find the topic of Moon Saddles on other bike forums after I posted this. There were several riders who posted that they flat out loved the Moon Saddle / nolesless saddle. They said that all of the pain was gone and they didn't have any handling issues. Of course there were also plenty of riders that said that you should just keep trying traditional style seats until you get used to them. I should get my new Moon Saddle today. I can't wait to try it! I may be the minority, but If something hurts that bad then your body is trying to tell you it ain't right. If they have better ergonomically correct seats then why on earth would riders not want to try them? Quick answer to that is, most people are resistant to change, and they don't want to be made fun of by traditionalists. I will try the new seat for a while and post later what I really think. It just seems to be so obvious to me that this is a no brainer. May be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Thanks for the replies. I did find the topic of Moon Saddles on other bike forums after I posted this. There were several riders who posted that they flat out loved the Moon Saddle / nolesless saddle. They said that all of the pain was gone and they didn't have any handling issues. Of course there were also plenty of riders that said that you should just keep trying traditional style seats until you get used to them. I should get my new Moon Saddle today. I can't wait to try it! I may be the minority, but If something hurts that bad then your body is trying to tell you it ain't right. If they have better ergonomically correct seats then why on earth would riders not want to try them? Quick answer to that is, most people are resistant to change, and they don't want to be made fun of by traditionalists. I will try the new seat for a while and post later what I really think. It just seems to be so obvious to me that this is a no brainer. May be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Thanks for the replies. I did find the topic of Moon Saddles on other bike forums after I posted this. There were several riders who posted that they flat out loved the Moon Saddle / nolesless saddle. They said that all of the pain was gone and they didn't have any handling issues. Of course there were also plenty of riders that said that you should just keep trying traditional style seats until you get used to them. I should get my new Moon Saddle today. I can't wait to try it! I may be the minority, but If something hurts that bad then your body is trying to tell you it ain't right. If they have better ergonomically correct seats then why on earth would riders not want to try them? Quick answer to that is, most people are resistant to change, and they don't want to be made fun of by traditionalists. I will try the new seat for a while and post later what I really think. It just seems to be so obvious to me that this is a no brainer. May be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Soonercolt said:

If they have better ergonomically correct seats then why on earth would riders not want to try them? Quick answer to that is, most people are resistant to change, and they don't want to be made fun of by traditionalists. I will try the new seat for a while and post later what I really think. It just seems to be so obvious to me that this is a no brainer. May be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Uhm, you mean that Moon Saddles "claims" their seats are "better ergonomically correct seats". if the test is that we only have to believe a company's marketing.....that's not a very stringent test. You rode a bike a very short distance, had pain, and bought a Moon Saddle. Well, you obviously didn't build any wealth of experience on other bike saddles. The fact is that traditional saddles work well for the vast majority of cyclists, no matter what Moon Saddles claim. Those of us on the forum that have been cycling for a long time have been doing so on traditional or quasi-traditional saddles, without suffering in pain while riding, all the while being able to fully inflate John Thomas. Not using Moon Saddles is certainly not resistance to change when those non-Moon Saddles work so well. Since you didn't participate in the forum, what reward did you get from Moon Saddles to come here and shill for them? Are your a blood relative of Moon Saddle employees? Do you work for them? Do you believe everything you read?

No affiliation to Moon Saddles or any of their employers at all. Just wandering what riders on this forum thought of the seats. So far it looks like no one has tried them to give me a real honest answer. I have seen testimonials on other forums from riders who flat out love them. Hopefully I will feel the same. I pretty much expected these kind of replies from riders that haven't tried them. I saw the same kind of replies on the other forums. It is always " you are new, just get used to the pain " or " try all of he other traditional seats until you fin he one that hurts the least ". Very few of the riders who had actually tried the Moon Saddles didn't love them. Most who had actually tried them raved about them. Most of them said they didn't even need their padded shorts anymore. I have noticed the same attitude in other sports / activities in the past. If you bring up any kind of out of the ordinary or different way of doing things, even if it might better the sport or activity, people will go out of their way to say you are just a rookie and just get used to the norm.

I never saw a pro riding one in the TDF so I assume that Wiggins and the rest are not hip to this technology as yet.

Soonercolt said:

No affiliation to Moon Saddles or any of their employers at all. Just wandering what riders on this forum thought of the seats. So far it looks like no one has tried them to give me a real honest answer. I have seen testimonials on other forums from riders who flat out love them. Hopefully I will feel the same. I pretty much expected these kind of replies from riders that haven't tried them. I saw the same kind of replies on the other forums. It is always " you are new, just get used to the pain " or " try all of he other traditional seats until you fin he one that hurts the least ". Very few of the riders who had actually tried the Moon Saddles didn't love them. Most who had actually tried them raved about them. Most of them said they didn't even need their padded shorts anymore. I have noticed the same attitude in other sports / activities in the past. If you bring up any kind of out of the ordinary or different way of doing things, even if it might better the sport or activity, people will go out of their way to say you are just a rookie and just get used to the norm.

Wow. That must mean something those raves about Moon Saddles. After all it's on the internet. Given your lack of experience with bike saddles in general, it's only smart to take your comments with a very small grain of salt. It's funny that you completely ignored jpr95's comments about his experience with the Moon Saddle.

Didn't ignore his post. He just took it for a spin in a parking lot. Think any saddle needs more time than that. It does give me hope knowing that his buddy loves his. Time will tell. I will try mine out very soon after it arrives. Who knows, I might not like it either. In that case I will not recommend them, but I highly doubt that I won't like it better.

It also sounds like it needed to be adjusted to fit him if it hurt his hamstrings.

Soonercolt said:

It also sounds like it needed to be adjusted to fit him if it hurt his hamstrings.

Interesting. Yet, you had no interest in hearing about how fit/positioning affect saddle comfort for your problem. Hmmm.

I just don't see how any saddle with a nose no matter how small or soft it is would not cause friction in the groin area and pressure on the perenium. The noseless saddles would completely do away with that problem. IMO

Soonercolt said:

I just don't see how any saddle with a nose no matter how small or soft it is would not cause friction in the groin area and pressure on the perenium. The noseless saddles would completely do away with that problem. IMO

You won't know because you already drank the Moon Saddle koolaid. Go ahead and ignore the successful, pain-free use of traditional saddles for decades by hundreds of thousands of cyclists.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Soonercolt [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

( pro's & cons )

The pro's are using traditional sadlles
The cons are selling Moon Saddles

davereo said:

The pro's are using traditional sadlles The cons are selling Moon Saddles

And why is that? If they work, why all the hate????

alienator said:

You won't know because you already drank the Moon Saddle koolaid. Go ahead and ignore the successful, pain-free use of traditional saddles for decades by hundreds of thousands of cyclists.

If traditional seats are so pain free why do I read so many stories about how riders just have to get used to it and, if they quit riding for any length of time, they have to go through the pain all over again? Why not just get the noseless set in the first place and be pain free? Why all the hating on something that works? Are you guys traditional seat salesmen? lol!