- 6 hours ago
If you’ve ever experienced numbness or pain when riding your bike, this is the video for you. We team up with Specialized to explain the different types of saddles and what they mean for your comfort, focusing on whether you should consider a cutout.
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00:00If you've ever experienced numbness or pain down below when riding your bike then this is the video
00:07for you. Today I'm going to talk you through all the different types of saddles and what exactly
00:12they mean for your comfort when riding your bike and I'm especially going to focus on whether you
00:17need to consider getting a cutout. There's so much information out there available on saddles so we've
00:29partnered with Specialized to help explain the differences and the design principles between
00:34different seats. Thanks to its body geometry design principle Specialized has become a global leader
00:41when it comes to saddles and this is for good reason. Body geometry is informed by thousands of
00:47bike fit data sets and this allows Specialized to identify problems that riders are having and then
00:53design solutions for them and those solutions are these saddles. Now in today's video I'm going to
00:59focus on the Specialized Power Saddle, the Specialized Roman Evo and the Specialized Phenom and that's
01:04because these three saddles encompass a very broad swathe of saddle design and all of them demonstrate
01:11different design principles that help riders become more comfortable.
01:21Before we jump into exactly how different saddles affect your riding experience and whether you need
01:27a cutout or not we actually need to understand what all the different parts of the saddles do.
01:32This is because all the different parts have quite a determined effect on how comfortable you'll feel
01:37and on your riding experience. Now I often hear lots of riders say that saddle looks so uncomfortable
01:43because it's hard and thin. Now I can promise you that there are many determining factors in a saddle's
01:50comfort not just its squishiness. Starting at the back you have your saddle's flare and this is how far the
01:56size
01:57drop off and how steeply they go down. Now saddles can have more flare or less flare and we have
02:03examples of saddles here that have both. Then there's the shelf. This is what your sit bones sit on. Now
02:10saddles come in a variety of different widths everything from 130mm all the way through to 155mm so
02:17there really is a seat for everybody's bottoms. The upper of a saddle is usually made from a foam or
02:23a gel
02:24with a varying level of density. However recently brands have started doing something which is really
02:29cool and 3D printing the upper of the saddle. Now this the specialized power with mirror technology
02:36is a great example of that and it allows brands to sort of tailor the saddle that bit more to
02:41a
02:42rider's fit. For example the front of the saddle can be squishier to add comfort in the soft tissue area
02:48whilst the area where the sit bones sit the shelf is that bit denser to provide more support.
02:56Then there's the cutout or lack of cutout as the case may be but it's common for most saddles to
03:01be
03:01available in easier designs. And then you need to consider the nose as well. Some saddles have a very
03:07long nose and some saddles have a much shorter nose and this can have a big impact on how comfortable
03:13you
03:14find a saddle. Then the final piece of the puzzle is the saddle's profile. Now saddles can either be
03:21completely flat or they can have a curve. This is known as a kickback and you can see that this
03:27Roman
03:27Evo has a good demonstration of that here.
03:35To work out exactly what type of saddle you need you need to ask yourself a couple of different questions.
03:42The first one revolves around your position on the bike and how long you ride your bike for. Whilst the
03:48second one you need to ask yourself do you already experience any saddle discomfort? Because that can
03:54help you pinpoint exactly what's going wrong. Ask yourself what is your preferred position on the bike?
04:00Is it being tucked in on the drops and in a really slammed position or is it riding on the
04:05hoods or the
04:06tops in a slightly more relaxed one? Then take a note of how far below your saddle height your handlebars
04:12sit because this will determine how far forward you have to roll in which to access your preferred
04:18position and this will apply pressure from the saddle. Now this will be increased or decreased depending
04:25on your position with more pressure being applied when you get onto the drops and less pressure being applied
04:30when you're sitting on the tops. Sometimes riders find that when they assume this position they kind
04:37of have to move around quite a lot to get comfortable or they can't hold it for a very long
04:40time and then
04:41when they do hold it they find they start to experience numbness down below. For this reason the power saddle
04:49is a very popular saddle amongst amateurs and world tour pros alike and if I compare it to the Roman
04:55Evo here
04:56you can actually see just how much shorter the nose of this saddle is. Now having a short nose people
05:04find that comfortable for quite a few reasons but the main one is that if you have a long nose
05:09you can
05:10sit on it when you roll forward and it can inhibit you from finding your preferred position or even apply
05:16pressure when you're tilted or rotated forward whereas when it's chopped off that's not there to apply
05:22that pressure so it works as a really useful pressure relief. However not all riders like to have a
05:29saddle with a short nose because you might be the type of rider that likes to move around on their
05:32saddle
05:33when they're assuming different positions. In this case you're going to need to look for a saddle range
05:38which has a high amount of variety because you'll want something with a long nose but also with a cutout
05:44to relieve pressure when you assume that forward position. So going back to that second question we need
05:51to ask ourselves is are we already experiencing any pain or discomfort from our saddle because
05:57actually identifying and isolating that pain can be a really useful diagnostic tool in helping us
06:03understand exactly what shape and design saddle suits us the best. For example if you are experiencing
06:10numbness you should definitely try a saddle with a shorter nose and with a cutout. Now cutouts help relieve
06:17pressure down below in your soft tissue area and most importantly help improve blood flow so they
06:23should really work quite nicely to remove some of that numbing feeling you might be experiencing.
06:28If you're experiencing pinching you should consider getting a saddle with a greater amount of flare this
06:34is how steeply it falls away from the top of the saddle. Now this supports your body as it goes
06:40away
06:40rather than creating a shelf which perfectly flat saddles can do which can pinch your skin. Also if you're
06:47experiencing lower back pain when you're riding your bike consider getting one with a greater amount
06:53of kickback. This is because if you're riding a flat saddle and you've got back pain your glutes actually
06:59have to tense up to support your back rather than being able to put out the wattage you require
07:04when you're cycling along. By having a kickback that does the role that your glutes are currently playing
07:10and supports your lower back not only making you more comfortable but giving you access to some more watts.
07:16There's a reason Peter Sagan loves the saddle with a high amount of kickback.
07:21Finally if you feel discomfort through your sit bones after a couple of hours of riding
07:26it's a sign that you're potentially not being supported enough by your saddle and in this case
07:31you might want to look at going for a wider option. Now Specialized Ranges all have a massive variety
07:38and this phenom that I'm holding my hand here is a really wide 168mm so there is truly something for
07:45everyone. The place to start however is to measure your sit bones. Now there are guides to this online
07:51but your best bet is absolutely going into a store and asking for some help because it is a little
07:57bit tricky.
08:04A lot of time has been spent discussing saddle soreness amongst men and for that reason
08:09saddle technology has advanced as a solution. However solutions like cutouts to relieve pressure
08:15aren't necessarily going to work as well for women. Now I'm absolutely not best placed to discuss this
08:22so I'm going to hand over to Michelle to help explain the ins and outs of it. I've yet to
08:28lead
08:29a beginner women's ride or be part of a women's cycling Facebook or WhatsApp group where conversation
08:34isn't at some point dominated by talk about saddle discomfort. Former British cycling physio Phil Burt
08:42put it very very well when he said to me there are more varied presentations of soft tissue among
08:47women than men and as a result it can be harder for women sometimes to find the right saddle. That
08:54doesn't mean that it is impossible. There are very many women saddles out there as well as some unisex
08:59saddles that some women will find very comfortable. As an example the Specialized Power Saddle was
09:05initially developed with Evelyn Stephens when she was riding for Bell's Dolments. It was a saddle
09:10designed to help her get into an aerodynamic tucked position with a forward rotation without soft tissue
09:16discomfort. It just so happened that many men found they also got on with that saddle which is how it
09:23became known as a unisex saddle. For some women the cutout can become a problem however and this is
09:29predominantly caused by the harsh border of the edge of the cutout. Now recognizing this as a problem
09:36Specialized uses body geometry data and it developed what it calls mimic technology. This is a soft insert
09:43which mimics the biological entities of soft tissue. This layer is designed to provide the comfort of
09:50a pressure relief channel or cutout without the danger of falling into the recess. So all the principles
09:57that Rupert already described earlier in this video, listening to your body, working out where you're
10:02currently experiencing pain and using that as a tool to inform your future saddle choices applies. If the saddle
10:09cutout feels that it's not roomy enough look for a cutout that is much wider. If you're finding that
10:15you're falling into it then something like mimic technology might well be the answer for you. One
10:20other thing that women should be aware of is that because of the basic biological requirements of
10:25childbirth in general women have wider hips and also wider sit bones. Now the reason that you want to
10:32have a saddle that is wide enough at the rear is that you want to provide enough support for your
10:36sit bones.
10:37If there isn't enough support for your sit bones what can happen is the pelvis twists very slightly
10:42and this can create issues that would effectively mimic a leg length discrepancy which means that
10:47one leg is having to stretch further to reach the pedals than the other and that can have a ricochet
10:53effect throughout your bike fit. Now to find out if your saddle is wide enough for your sit bones
10:58many local bike shops will have a tool that allow you to measure this and then choose the saddle accordingly.
11:04So there you go those are the things I think are really important if you are considering buy a
11:09women's saddle or looking for one that will help you alleviate pain you're experiencing.
11:14So do you need a cutout saddle? Well as this video has probably shown you there is a lot at
11:21play when it
11:21comes to finding the right saddle for your riding. However I hope this video has helped you determine
11:27exactly what type you need and whether you do need a cutout saddle. If you have any further questions
11:34do leave them in the comments section below and I'll do my best to answer them for you and if
11:39you
11:39have found this video useful give us a thumbs up and do subscribe to the channel it really does help
11:44us
11:45out. Now I'll be back soon with some more great tech content and I'll see you then.