hard skinny seats

enewmen

hi all.

After gettingy first "real" road bike with a lightweight seat, I notice my buns can't take more than 1 hour of riding.
So, if I want light weight, just get used to the seat.
Or give my buns a rest and just get a wide seat.

How do most people ride with those skinny light weight seats for hours?

thanks!

g00se

Your backside will get used to it. If not, try a different saddle, but don't be tempted to get a soft cushy number.

It's a saddle, not a seat - by which I mean it's supposed to support your two 'sit' bones. Make sure your seat width matches these two bones - bike shops should have an arse measurer to make sure it's the right size.

Too big or too much padding and your legs will start chafing over a distance and you'll end up with saddle sores. That - or you'll sink into the foam, cut off the circulation to your bits and...

So it's a sore arse vs weeping sores and impotence

meanredspider

I love my Specialised Toupe. It's hard but flexes a bit too. But g00se is right - your butt will get used to it. In fact, I've had issues with some padded seats before now. They allow your butt to bounce against the hard part of the seat and give it a right bashing.

Duffer65

After trying a variety of saddles, of various thickness and padding, I now use a Prologo Nago which is pretty thin. I've found it to be the most comfortable (for me), wearing padded bib-shorts helps a lot with comfort as well. Also, as with any saddle, it's always a good idea to do a bit of riding out of the saddlle once you've been out for an hour or more.

cougie

You'll get used to it. If wider seats were more comfy then pros would ride them. But they don't.

seanoconn

Yeah, what the guys above said. Its all about the right kind of support, mainly for your sit bones. Wide with loads of padding doesn't work i'm afraid. A few more miles and a decent pair of padded shorts and you'll be fine.

racingcondor

It's a bit of a quest finding a saddle that works for you but they are out there. Road saddles don't have much padding because the padding should be in your shorts (guarantees that it's in the right place).

Ride for a few weeks and if you find you're getting any numbness then worry about your saddle.

desweller

Are you wearing padded shorts? You need to be wearing padded shorts!

Pokerface

I use a full carbon saddle. No padding whatsoever. And guess what? It's more comfy than any padded saddle I ever used.

Wrote about it here: http://637daystogo.blogspot.com/2011/10 ... -king.html

It's all about finding a saddle that fits you (and I've found the best saddles support your sit bones perfectly.) Sometimes you have to try a few until you find the right one.

EFCdaveMCR

DesWeller wrote:

Are you wearing padded shorts? You need to be wearing padded shorts!

This. I thought my arse was going to fall off the first two weeks I got my bike. Riding around like the lad in the Hovis ad (showing my age now!)

kev77

Fizik have test saddles you can try all there models to give you an idea

redroad44

I've always found its critical to get something that fits in relation to supporting your actual sitbones rather than how much padding its got.

jehannum5

hate to diagree with the masses...but it depends on your body flexibility and shape. A sadle that only provides support on the sit bones (ischia) will be intolerable for many folk with poor flexibility. For these riders a saddle that provides a wider surface area ie over perineal tissue and ischia will be better.
Surprisingly, these saddles may have minimal padding (and are usually more comfortable for it as previous correspondents have described) but the shape distributes pressure over a larger surface. If you are inflexible, congratulations your ass may never get used to a flet saddle no matter how much you ride, try a curved firmsaddle and a new world of long distance may result.