Saddle pain is not normal

Spring is when it shows up. The rides get longer, the Saturday bunch stretches past two hours, and somewhere around 60 km you start shifting about, looking for a spot on the saddle that doesn't hurt.

Most riders treat that as something to harden up through. The first few weeks back on longer rides are never comfortable, but pain that's still there in week six is a fit problem, and the saddle is usually where it shows up first.

Sit bones, width and shape

Rock forward and back on a hard chair and you'll feel two bony points. Those are your sit bones, and they're built to carry your weight. The soft tissue between them isn't. A saddle that works puts your weight on those two points and leaves everything in between alone. A saddle that doesn't fit puts your weight on soft tissue full of nerves and blood vessels, which is where numbness, hot spots and sores come from.

Sit bones vary a lot between riders, and the width you need has nothing to do with your size, your speed, or whether a saddle is labelled men's or women's. Too narrow and you drop onto soft tissue; too wide and it rubs the inside of your thighs. It takes a couple of minutes to measure, and guessing is how most people end up on the wrong saddle.

The old split into men's and women's saddles has largely given way to sizing by sit bone width and riding position. Some brands still make shapes designed around gender and anatomy, and they work very well for some riders; others build one shape in several widths. Either way, the measurement decides it.

Saddles come in three main shapes. Flat saddles suit riders who sit fairly upright and move around. Curved saddles hold you in one spot, which helps if you tend to slide forward. Short nose saddles suit a low, aggressive position, like time trialling or long stretches in the drops.

A relief channel or cutout often fixes numbness on its own, but only once the width and tilt are right. On a saddle that's too narrow, a cutout just moves the pressure to the edges of the hole. One of the lines we stock is Secret Saddle, made by gebioMized in Germany after more than fifteen years of saddle pressure mapping for bike fitters. Each model comes in a V or T shape, with a relief channel or a full cutout, which is why it's sold through fitters rather than off a shelf.

The saddle is one part of the fit

Plenty of saddle pain isn't the saddle. Too high and your hips rock to reach the bottom of the pedal stroke, which causes most chafing and sores. Nose up puts pressure exactly where you don't want it. Too far back or forward and you're sitting on the wrong part of the saddle altogether.

A bike fit treats the saddle as one of three contact points, with the bars and the pedals. It checks sit bones, saddle height, setback and tilt, then reach and cleats, because a change at the front or at your feet changes how you sit. The answer may not be a new saddle at all.

What to do next

Start simple: clean shorts for each ride, a chamois that isn't worn out, and chamois cream on long days. Then book a bike fit, so your saddle width and position are checked together. The saddle your bike came with was picked to suit all sizes and all riders, by someone who has never met you.

Don't ride through numbness that lingers after you get off the bike, or a sore that keeps coming back in the same place. Those are worth a conversation with your doctor as well as with us.

In a fit we measure your sit bones and set the saddle first, then work through the bars, reach and cleats, because each one changes how you sit. If a new saddle is part of the answer, you'll know which one and why before you commit to anything. The quickest way to start is to book a fit.

Long days should be hard on your legs, not your backside.