How to pick a bike seat // Shape, Size, Style for you? 

After many years of cycling and many many saddles I finally found a saddle that is very comfortable. Actually I have them on my two road bikes, and they are Specialised. As I have narrow sit bones and the 130/134 saddles are perfect for me. Wide saddles tend to give pain in the inside ligaments of my thighs and rounded padded saddles tend to make me slide to one side creating pain on the inside of my crotch on that side. Specialised are the only saddle I find it easy to sit right in the middle on.

I have experienced 5 road saddles before i found best one. I had two SMP's and i think they are great, but they are not competitive saddles at all- they do not support pelvis from side-to-side rocking. My final saddle is typical flat profile with cut, so i can do a lot of agressive low position stuff in one ride. Also, i found that people completely misunderstand the saddle width thing. For example, my wife's new road bike came with crappy saddle and she didnt like it. I have her my widest SMP and it was much better, but wasnt good enough. So we did a sit bone width measurement and we got 147mm. Here is where width myth comes in- people in shops offered us 155 and they were in doubt when i asked to go for 167. We ended up with 167mm saddle and she is completely happy. Also, i had another experience with wrong width. A guy showed my his new MTB and he was riding a 130mm fizik saddle. His proportions were wligtly larger than mine and i use 143. I asked if saddle feels right and he said "well, i have choosen it by my sitbone width and i have 110, so i thought 130 would be fine. But it does not feel right." There is a huge misconceptions about saddles. What width, where to sit.

How come no saddle fit review ever starts with 'measure your sit bone width'? Made a massive difference for me. Turns out I needed a wider saddle width. I now ride spesh ronin and toupe at 155mm

The most comfortable saddle I have ever had the pleasure of sitting my arse on, on a road bike, is an SQLab saddle. It was unbelievably comfortable; however rarely disgussed or seen in bike shops.

I have tried MANY saddles over the years, Selle Italia in all shapes, Selle San Marco in all shapes and after all these years, the saddle that my bones love most is the Fizik Arione VS. I can sit on it for 5+ hours with no numbness or other problems (of course there is no one saddle to rule them all, but I know what works for me).

Two of the most aggressive (& competitive) riders I know run hella curved saddles. And I'm a commuter chump and run a flat sella. Reviewer #3 calls for MORE EXPERIMENTS! Eventually you'll find what works for you.

I have saddle issues! I recently received a full bike fit on a Guru fit bike, and it 100% resolved all problems I had with knee pain, shoulder/neck tightness and pain, and back pain. It did not, however, resolve my saddle issues. I have VERY BAD flexibility in my low back due to multiple ruptured and herniated discs. I ride road bikes and focus my training on 'winning' century rides and also to get back into legit road racing, so I like a moderately aggressive setup on my bike with about 10cm drop from sadddle to bars. I'm riding 6 days a week for about 13-15 hours a week, and I am really dedicated to getting back into this sport after a long period away. I think I can realistically get to around 5 watts/kg FTP within the next 2 years, but that will take a lot of training and I can't risk getting set back by a stupid saddle. When I showed up to my fit, I had been riding a Fizik Aliante Gamma for about 1500 miles. It worked OK for most things, and I could comfortable ride 6+ hours on it with no major complaints. However, for sustained efforts in the drops, like a 30 minute effort on a long flat road, I would get bad numbness and huge pressure on the perineum. I could not for the life of me stay in an aggressive position with that saddle. My bike fitter put me on a Selle Italia Flite Flow saddle. This saddle feels ok, but in different ways. It feels narrower and firmer, but lets me ride in the drops for longer without pain, but the pain does set in. My main sit bones just barely fit on the saddle- a very small movement in either direction puts one sit bone off the seat. The problem I'm having is where the sit bones, if you follow them forwards as they narrow down and go beside the perineum, I end up with my weight bearing down about 1.5" forward from my main sit bones that people usually measure with their cardboard or gel measuring devices. This is causing me a lot of pain and beginning to cause saddle sores from the concentrated pressure, in addition the numbness that sets in from getting in an aggressive position. I can hardly bend my low back at all, so for me to get in the drops, I have to rotate my hips forward since my back won't flex. This is obviously what is causing the pressure to come off my sit bones and onto the narrow bones by my perineum, but what sort of saddle is good for this position? Would the ISM be a good one to try? Or one of the Selle Italia with the much larger cutouts? I don't see any Selle Italia saddles any wider than mine, and most are narrower, so I'm not sure how that would work out. I am getting incredibly frustrated and disheartened by this, but am continuing to ride through the pain anyways.

I just got the Power in the most narrow width, and it is awesome. It is designed for road bikes in a super low position, so it was perfect for my crit bike. It was so awesome that I got one for my mtb too.

Not much on how to pick a saddle really.

Can you do a review for commuter / long distance saddle. For commuters looking for comfort riding in suit

It's a personal thing. Buying based on looks could be expensive. Banana Seats ! Enjoyed🚲👍

Color is the most important!

Hey John, As some kind of study fore you.... For my early racing life I used a Rolls (mid to late 90's). I bought a new (for me) frame set,seat and bar on ebay. It was actually a revaluation (Scott addict RC 2011) with a Fizik Aliante. The Fizik Aliante was the most comfortable seat I had ever used, Being 20Kg more than my teenage years I was happy. Until I started to ride hard and serious. I read about seat angle, changed that ( it helped), then I noticed many Pro's use the Fizik Arione. So I bought the Arione just to try. Now I'im stuck, when I climb I love the Aliante but when I do hard efforts and long duration at the front of the saddle (in the most aero position) I feel more at home with the Airone. I'm an aggressive rider when its flat but when its vertical I like to do the old skool and sit back on the saddle and push hard.... What should I do? Keep a spare saddle in my back pocket? Or learn different hill climbing technique?

What I've learned from experience also,is to just lower your seat post a little bit sometimes that works well too

hi, i have a unique saddle fitting problem, i have had several pelvic reconstruction surgeries that have altered my pelvic bone structure to a major degree, i am not symmetrical in any way, the whole left half of my pelvis is pretty much a free floating fragment held together with pins. its hard to explain with out posting pics. i have healed a lot over the years, and i have started to ride as part of my therapy, however my saddle has been an issue usually only on the left side. (i have not had a proper bike fit so that is probably also part of the issue). i would like to know what to look for as a starting point. i have sat on the foam seat device, but that is about it. from that i found a Selle Royale Lumina Gel (for my mountain bike). it is better than the stock saddle that came on that bike, but i still have issues with pain and irritation on the left side. the saddle i have on my road bike is somewhat better and it is the stock saddle, (it is a Gravity Road with comfort groove) i have less issues with this one than the other but it does cause some discomfort. im not sure where to start since i have such an odd problem im not sure what to do for a proper fit.

Just sharing my own case: saddle choice was always difficult for me, and my current one is a fizik ardea vs. With this saddle i never had numbness or sores again, and I can rotate my pelvic bones as much as I want without any undesired pressures, as long as do not move myself forward in the saddle. I dont know if it is the versus design together with the 140mm width, but the confort I feel on it and the performance that it allows me, is beyond any previous expectation.

I tried the default one on my giant bike. Little width no cutout and very tough. Just by sitting it the pain was excrutiating. I suffered 2000 km with it. After i got a Selle Italia Novus. It was fine, until one day for some reason after 40-50 km i got a terrible pain and numbness in my genital area. I switched to an ISM PR and i ride it currently for 1 year. Not satisfied but i can do 50 km at least. Though i still search for a good saddle. My aim is long distances and i am stuck in 50 km rides cause of saddle pain... Probably give PRO Griffon or Stealth a try?

Saddles that have the nose down design are better at providing the rider an easy entry back on the saddle after a hard sprint out of the saddle. They don't grab the shorts. Saddles made of plastic can be too slippery when riding mountain bikes. Mountain bike saddles need more grip to help stabilize the rider on undulating, twisty, and rocky terrain. Mountain bike saddles that have a wider back help the rider stay in the sweet spot because the rider can push back against the wide part.

Opo container malapit sa maric sa luob ng robinson

Do they make a non penetration model ?

interesting perspective… you definitely have a more detailed perspective including more factors in decisions about more types of saddles and not something as simple as fizik's "spine concept" marketing guideline for choosing road saddle based on power and flexibility. probably for many people, the saddle that comes with the bike will work pretty well and you see a lot of special cases for the people who need advice about specific issues they're having.

Great Video..I just noticed fizik is Now offering some open Saddles now too..decisions decisions to try Now. Thanks

Interesting video, I recently purchased two Fizik Aliante VS based on their spine concept system, getting on ok with them but noticed on one bike I feel heavier in the saddle after 30 miles + almost like my weight is bearing more on the saddle, only difference is that this bike uses an alloy seatpost, the more comfy bike is carbon. Realising how everything on bikes makes a difference!

Can i use WTB rocket race for road bike? Or shall i say can i use MTB saddle on Road Bike? Thanks and love your channel.

I definitely get numbness and definitely not flexible and I've tried a Terry, Selle SMP Glider, and have a test Aliante, but so far with every saddle I go numb in about 10-15 minutes. I've had a basic bike fit, but one thing I'm not sure about is how to level these saddles.

Appreciate the videos. I'm probably gonna try a split nose soon because I've been curious about how they could feel lately.

thanks for all these informative videos! You often show the Flow version of the Selle Italia SLR, do you think the cut out is big enough for pressure relief. There is also the non flow version and the Super flow, what are your thoughts on those?

Hello if your familiar with the specialized toupe saddle how do you set it level? Where do you place the level ? Thanks

Have you tested Sq Labs Ergo wave saddles?..... Very informative and helpful channel!

How wide should saddle be for the situation when handlebar and the saddle are at the same level? I'm a man.

I am learning how to ride a bike currently. I have not actually started peddling yet because I get nervous about falling. The saddle I have is very uncomfortable for me and I have no idea what to get. I don't understand some of the phrases he uses like "aggressive rider." Is there more of a beginner guide to choosing saddles?

My saddle kills my butt. I don't ride because​ the saddle hurts so bad. I need a big cushy saddle. I need to find one.

Crappy question, but... What's the name of the track you always use in your outro? I'm a moderately inflexible Clyde (lumbar injury), and a flat seat seems to work pretty well for me. For what that's worth.

Looking for saddle with springs at the bottom for maximum comfort for long tour.

what is an agressive rider ? and why it is better for them to have a narrower surface at the moment of riding ?

whats the best sadlle for a skinny trail mtb rider?

Don't you have a specialized romin model? I love it

Love my Adamo.

flow of consciousness on saddles. sorry, but i cant say i got much from that

One more thing, I was wondering how you treat the "issue" of toe overlapping when fitting a bike. I do have overlap on my bike that is otherwise a pretty good fit, but it kinda bothers me since I'm planning on racing cross on it this winter and it can get cumbersome on hard turns...

Boss i dont understnd what u want to says until 5.25 :(

Suppose because we are anatomically different from one another.

Can i have some?

My saddle kills me even with padded skids on

How do you judge flexibility?

audio level dropped off significantly after the intro. Can't hardly hear. Stopped watching to find another youtube video.

I hate narrow seats. They are not for me I get pain in my balls when riding a narrow and stiff bike saddles.

What? to start out with it doesn't really sound like you know what you are talking about

Horrible.