Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

Saddle shopping

I am often asked how one finds the best saddle to put on a bike. I wish there was an easy answer. Many brands offer a variant on the "ass-ometer" that measures the distance between the sit bones in order to select the appropriate width amongst a single saddle available in multiple widths. But that still doesn't tell you which model to pick in the first place. Both Specialized and Trek offer a few saddles to pick from, in various quality levels and in multiple widths. The sitting gauge will tell you which width, but not if the saddle itself is suited. There is often little guidance about how the different levels might affect comfort either. The carbon rails are MUCH stiffer than the titanium rails, with the steel rails in the middle. Carbon shells are very tunable, so not necessarily stiffer than a nylon shell - but different shell materials in the same model of saddle definitely impact comfort. And softer is not better for everyone.
There is one rule that has enough research behind it to use as an actual rule: saddle flatness is related to rider flexibility. A flexible rider is capable of moving around on the bike and therefore requires a flat saddle to move on. An inflexible rider benefits from being locked in place. A saddle-shaped saddle helps keep the pelvis at the bottom of the "bowl" and works best with an inflexible rider.
How flexible? For Fizik it is a very low bar. If you can't reach much past your knees, you are a Bull - an inflexible creature - and you should have the saddle-shaped option. If you can reach past your ankles, then you are a Snake - a flexible creature - and you should have the flat-topped option. In between you are semi-flexible and should have a slightly curved saddle - the Chameleon option. For a while they even produced three seats called Bull, Chameleon and Snake. These were variations on the three saddles they've had for 20+ years: Aliante for Bulls, Antares for Chameleons and Arione for Snakes.
Another complication is that different levels of saddles have different types of foam, different rail materials and therefore sit quite differently across the models. The top-line carbon rails are very stiff. The next level titanium rails are very flexible. Steel rails are in the middle. Nylon shells have some give to them. Carbon shells generally have very little give.
This takes me to the second rule of comfort: the longer you plan to ride in one outing and the more often you plan to ride, the less plushness you want on the seat. This also goes a little bit with the position of the torso. If you ride sitting up, you need a wider/softer seat. If you look like one of those "Tour de France guys" then you must have a narrower/firmer seat.
 
Examples:
Fabric offers all their saddles in different rail materials, different flatness profiles for the same plan shape and different foams across the different profiles. I test rode a steel-railed Fabric saddle and thought it was OK. I purchased a titanium-railed one and never quite gelled with it.
Fizik R5 and R3 level saddles have nylon shells. The R1 and 00 levels have carbon shells (which I believe are different between the two as well). The 00 is extremely light, and extremely stiff. It doesn't ride like an R3 (on titanium rails) or an R5 (on steel rails), which are themselves subtly different due to the rail flex.
Specialized also has each saddle at different price points by virtue of the materials used in the seat and rails. I've liked one level of Specialized saddle but not liked an otherwise-identical variant. The whole of the saddle matters.
 
And now many companies have a 3D printed variant. The plan and profile shapes are the same, but the foam and cover are gone in favour of a plastic lattice. Specialized offers 3 models in 3D printing, two of which can be had with carbon rails or titanium rails. Fizik offers perhaps 4 models in 3D printing, again with carbon or titanium rails. And also with or without a groove up the middle for the Antares at least.
 
Around 20 years ago I was selling lots of the Fizik Arione to people and most liked it. It seemed to only disagree with people who sat too upright or were too inflexible. I used Arione from about the time they were released until quite recently. The problem is that there is a new model which is not nearly as accommodating as the old model. It lacks the flexible sides that Fizik called wingflex. This was actually some slots cut in the shell where the pedalling leg brushes the saddle (allowing movement in the "wings"). Wingflex was also the death of all my Arione saddles - eventually one of the slots would crack into the shell and then all support was gone. The new saddle should last better, but it lacks the comfort for me of the older model so it doesn't really matter how long it lasts!
 
The prompt for writing this was my journey on trying to find a replacement seat. I bought a saddle from Trek with the 30-day comfort guarantee. It didn't pass the comfort test and went back to the shop. It was close, but not close enough.
I'm currently trying out an out-of-production Trek seat. If I like it, I cannot get another one. Which makes liking it a risk! But I'm getting quite desperate to find something comfortable. If this one passes muster, it really just postpones the inevitable of finding a wholly new saddle I can put on several bikes. There are certainly a LOT of options out there.