Think of your riding style
Your saddle should match your riding style so if you have Indurain’s time trial technique, you want a stiff, light, thin saddle. If you’re pummeling over rocky surfaces you might want something a bit heavier, cushioned, and forgiving.
Comfort
Your saddle should be comfortable so try out a few in your local bike shop. Evansa in the UK lets you test ride bikes for a 1p deposit, so there’s no excuse not to try out a few saddles. Don’t ride off with the bike, or they’ll charge it to your card! Bike thieves beware…
Like bike, like saddle
Regardless of the type of bike you want to ride, the lighter the better, the stronger the better, both strong and light will be more expensive, and a carbon or titanium chassis will cost you. Beware that many of the expensive saddles are designed with the assumption that you’ll be wearing padded shorts on your ride.
MTB
Mountain bikes encourage the rider to get out the saddle, so when you need your bum to connect with the saddle, you’ll want some flex for comfort. For this reason, MTB saddles are, generally speaking, more appealing to the uninitiated – but take a look at any Danny Macaskill video and total up the time spent in the saddle. Not long, is it?
Road bikes
Saddles for road bikes are designed to be comfortable for the long haul on tarmac, so compromise on the padding to better support the power you put into your pedals. To the inexperienced they can seem uncomfortable at first, but given time your rear will toughen up, and your legs will thank you after 10 miles or so.
Commuter saddles
Comfort saddles are sometimes marketed as commuter saddles, and are generous with padding and space to plant your behind. This might seem appealing, but the width of these saddles can interfere with your legs’ range of movement and reduce the power you can push into the pedals. They may be comfortable on short journeys, but your legs may tire more easily.
Watch your crown jewels
Avoid numbing your private parts by choosing a saddle with notches and grooves. If your appendages go numb after a long ride, you probably need to change your saddle.
Heritage saddles
Heritage saddles like Brooks are for connoisseurs of style as well as comfort. Made from quality leather, and chamfered with the sharpest of knives by grizzled veterans in England’s Black Country, these saddles will only look better with age – providing you look after them. Maintenance and care is essential, but the saddle will shape to your body, and provide you with a pleasure beyond your last cycle ride.
Forget the advertising
Ignore the mystical hype companies like Fizik use when marketing their saddles, and think about the benefits instead. Fizik ask if you’re a snake or a bull when you ride. The best thing to do is find a retailer that lets you try all their saddles. In spite of this, Fizik produce some great saddles – and with the right support and a happy bum, your ride will only get faster.
