Reports of the demise of this Web site are greatly exaggerated! We at sheldonbrown.com thank Harris Cyclery for its support over the years. Harris Cyclery has closed, but we keep going. Keep visiting the site for new and updated articles, and news about possible new affilations.



find us on FB

More Articles by Jobst Brandt
Next: Bottom Bracket Bearing Adjustment
Previous: "Sealed" Bearings

spoke

Subject: Soft Bicycle Saddles
From: Jobst Brandt
Date: December 10, 1999

I was wondering if someone could direct me to a bike seat that is soft. I have a Specialized-brand bike and the seat is hard. What is the softest seat available?

You may already have heard something like this but I think it bears repeating. Bicycle saddles are much harder and narrower than you might expect because they are designed to bear on a small area, primarily the protuberances of the pelvic bone that you can feel as solid bumps if you feel under your buttocks as you sit in a chair.

If you sit on a larger area, for instance on a soft cushion, you will be sitting on the muscles that propel the bicycle. Although this may be comfortable sitting still, pedaling, it causes a "charlie horse" in these muscles for lack of adequate blood circulation. You will want to avoid such soft saddles if you plan to ride more than a few hundred yards, because riding will become painful.

A better course is to ride a conventional firm saddle, repeatedly, until your seating is no longer sensitive. All bicyclists who ride substantial distances achieve this condition, albeit with various saddles, none of which have the broad, deep cushion often sought by newcomers.

Even an experienced rider who is laid up or otherwise cannot ride for more than a month, experiences much the same discomfort you do when he returns to riding the saddle that he previously never gave a thought.

The big cushioned saddles are made for people who don't ride bicycles. That is why there are so few of them available, and they are generally not found in bicycle shops where the regulars shop.

Jobst Brandt

Spoke Divider

See also Sheldon Brown on Comfortable Saddles and Pain

Spoke Divider

More Articles by Jobst Brandt
Next: Bottom Bracket Bearing Adjustment
Previous: "Sealed" Bearings

Spoke Divider

Spoke Divider

Articles by Sheldon Brown and others
Harris
Home
Beginners Brakes Commuting
Lights
Cycle-
Computers
Do-It-
Yourself
Essays
Family
Cycling
Fixed Gear
Singlespeed
Frames Gears &
Drivetrain
Bicycle
Humor
Bicycle
Glossary
Bicycle
Links
Old
Bikes
Repair
Tips
Tandems Touring What's
New
Wheels Sheldon
Brown

Reports of the demise of this Web site are greatly exaggerated! We at sheldonbrown.com thank Harris Cyclery for its support over the years. Harris Cyclery has closed, but we keep going. Keep visiting the site for new and updated articles, and news about possible new affilations.

Harris Cyclery Home Page

If you would like to make a link or bookmark to this page, the URL is:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/soft-saddles.html

Last Updated: by John Allen