Saddle-Up the Palomino

Saddle-Up the Palomino

A bike has four contact points - where you (normally) come into direct contact with the machine.  Handlebars, two pedals, and the saddle.  Note, saddle, not seat. A seat is a flat thing that you park your butt onto.  Like a sofa.  A saddle is more of a ridge-like feature, with your legs coming down either side.  Think horses, think motorbikes, think bikes. 

 The only bikes that have seats are recumbents, those odd-looking machines that ride low with the rider in a reclined position, legs pedaling high up front.  Although 'bents may invite ridicule, the world speed record for human-powered bikes was set on a 'bent.  To quote Wikipedia, "The IHPVA hour record is 90.60 km (56.30 mi), set by Sam Whittingham on July 1, 2009. The equivalent record for an upright bicycle is 49.700 km (30.882 mi), set by Ondřej Sosenka in 2005. "

But, this project is for a regular road bike, so we are talking saddles.

The basic form of the bike saddle has changed little over the decades.  A wide rear to support your derrière, and a narrow nose that supports the base of your pelvis while your legs come down either side.

Many saddles are sprung in the rear, with varying amounts of padding.  To secure padding, a rigid shell gives the saddle shape, and a flexible surface is stretched over the padding and stapled underneath the seat.  This surface can be anything from leather, still used on Brookes saddles and high-end racing saddles, through to vinyl and plastic.

Saddles are secured to the top of the seat post by either a ring-clamp that tightens around the top of the tube, or the more modern arrangement of an arc-grip that secures the saddle by its rails, two frame-rods that give structural tensile strength to a lightweight shell, made from either nylon or carbon fibre.

The modern, light road saddles have minimal padding, the comfort coming from the light shell that flexes with the weight of the rider.  That is, instead of having compressible foam on a rigid shell, the shell itself curves to suit the rider.

Choosing the right saddle is the feature topic of many forum discussions, both online, on rides, and in magazines.  This is a consequence of the saddle being perhaps the most intimate of the contact points.  The risks of having a bad saddle choice include numb-nuts (that is, loss of sensation to your genitals, caused by compression of certain nerves and blood vessels), chafing, and pressure sores.

First off, get the width of the saddle right.  

The bottom of your pelvis is shaped like a ring. This is smaller in guys, as they don't have to push a baby through it.  The rear of the pelvic girdle (yeah, I know.  That is what it is called.) has two projects about 13 cm apart when you sit down.  These are referred to by cyclists as the "sit-bones".  These should be centred in the middle of the side pads of the saddle, so the wider apart these bones are in your butt, the wider the saddle is that should be on your bike.  if in doubt, take a look at saddles that are labelled as women's saddles.  They will typically be wider and shorter than mens' seats.

And that brings us to the numb-nuts issue.

The main nerve to your goolies runs from the base of the spine to a point in front of your anus, and then along to your genitals.  It just happens that that point between your wedding tackle and your anus happens to be the principal pressure point on the saddle, so sustained pressure will cause a temporary loss of sensation that will not enhance your sex life.  That concentrated pressure, together with the regular lateral motion from your legs will also promote the development of chafe spots and pressure sores, often caused by tension on hair follicles.

Some saddles have different cushioning materials along the prong of the saddle, and others have nothing at all - the cut-out saddles.  Personally, I prefer these to traditional saddles, as I find them more comfortable on long rides.  The challenge is finding one that works.

My saddle choice has the same (narrow) dimensions as the saddles I have been riding for the last five years.  My current saddle provides a good platform, but at times it feels as if I am sinking into padding on an inflexible shell, so my main priorities were first dimensions, followed by materials, price and weight.

A carbon shell made specifically to flex is ideal, and after considering a few options, including the Selle Italia range, Specialized Body Geometry range, and the Ritchey Biomax saddles.  The weights of the considered saddles ranged from 219 grams (Selle Italia Flite, NZ$150 from Torpedo 7), through to 325 grams (Ritchey Comp Biomax, NZ$48.85 from Ribble).  There is a distinct premium on weight, and there are many ultralight saddles with non-ultralight prices, which is fine if you are on a professional contract and the manufacturers give you their saddles to road-test for them.  But aging riders on teacher salaries cannot be so picky.

This aging rider on a teacher salary ended up buying a 280 gram Ritchey Pro Biomax saddle (microfibre surface, carbon shell, alloy rails) for NZ$92.43, from wiggle.co.uk.  This is it:

It has the same dimensions and shape as my last two saddles, although I will need to ride it for a few thousand km to confirm that it is the right saddle for me.  

It is not the lightest or cheapest, but it is at the lighter end of the scale and the price compares favourably to other saddles of similar specifications.  If you ever find that your saddle gives you problems as described above, try a different saddle. 

In addition to the cut-out style, manufacturers are experimenting with some decidedly odd-looking shapes, each designed to boost comfort, if not performance. 
if you ride with a group ask around, as other riders often have old saddles sitting in a cupboard somewhere.  I do - but from different bikes, different designs and purposes.  Just make sure that you get it right, even if it means trying a few different saddles before you find the one for you.  It is worth it.