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Never Suffer Pain While Cycling Again – Find the Perfect Bike Saddle for Your Touring Bike
To ensure your cycling tour isn't a torture: We're sharing tips on how to find the perfect saddle for your touring bike.
Maybe you're familiar with the issue: Even the most beautiful bike tour can turn into agony if your butt starts hurting after just a few miles. Often, the cause is an ill-fitted saddle. Recommendations from friends can be helpful, but every rear end is different and thus feels comfortable on different saddles. If someone recommends a super comfy saddle to you, it simply means it suits them well. That's why it's even more crucial to ask: Which comfort saddle suits you? We'll share tips on finding the right saddle for you and your touring bike.
Your Seating Position and the Right Saddle Width What’s the Purpose of the Cutout in the Saddle? Different Saddles for Men and Women? The Right Padding for Your Touring Saddle (Core-)Leather Saddles Suspension Saddle vs. Suspension Seatpost Special Case: E-Bike Saddle Getting Used To It The Right Saddle Setting Suitable Accessories for Your Touring Saddle
The right saddle is essential for comfortable cycling.
Your Seating Position and the Right Saddle Width
Your seating position is a crucial criterion for choosing the right saddle. On a trekking or city bike, you usually sit quite upright. As a result, your pelvis is more upright on the saddle, and more weight is on your buttocks than on a mountain bike or road bike. For this reason, saddles for touring and city bikes are generally wider to better distribute the pressure on your buttocks.
To find the right saddle width for you, you should know your sit bone distance. It's not visible from the outside, and the old saying: Wide rear, wide saddle (or vice versa) is not accurate. In our article Measuring sit bone distance at Home, you'll learn how to proceed with the measurement. Additionally, if you're between two sizes for your desired saddle, you should generally opt for the wider option if you have an upright seating position. If you sit more sportively, go for the narrower option!
What’s the Purpose of the Cutout in the Saddle?
There are saddles with a closed surface and saddles with a cutout in the middle. Depending on the saddle model, the cutout can be a slight indentation in the padding or a hole through the saddle shell and padding. The cutout is there to relieve pressure on sensitive body areas, to prevent numbness or pain. Numbness or pain in the genital area often occurs when nerve pathways and/or blood vessels are squeezed between the saddle and your pelvic bones. So, if you feel excessive pressure or pain in the genital area while cycling, a saddle with a cutout might help you.
Different Saddles for Men and Women?
Whether special men's and women's saddles are necessary is not a straightforward question to answer. Depending on the manufacturer, the concept differs: Some manufacturers offer gender-specific saddles for touring bikes, while others opt for unisex models. Moreover, not all women's saddles are the same, just as not all men's saddles are the same. There are so many features that can be modified in a saddle that there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for what makes a women's or men's saddle for touring bikes. If your saddle issues are mostly marked by pain and numbness in the genital area, you should ensure the saddle has sufficient width and that you can sit far enough back, on the wide part of the saddle. If you often slide forward unintentionally while riding, then the saddle might be too wide in the middle, causing you to push forward while pedaling. It may also look like a hammock from the side, causing you to slide into the middle of the saddle. In this case, you should look for a saddle that is straighter. If you have a sensitive genital area, the saddle should also not be too rounded, meaning it should not slope too sharply to the sides, as this puts too much pressure on sensitive areas. If you have sensitive sit bones, however, a curvature may be useful as it evenly distributes pressure. It is also important that your saddle is correctly adjusted. More on that below.
The Right Padding for Your Touring Saddle
Most touring bikes come with saddles consisting of a saddle shell and a foam padding covered with microfiber. Depending on the model, they are suitable for beginners to frequent cyclists. How much padding you need and how soft it can be depends on the following factors:
- Your intended use
- Your riding duration and frequency
- Whether you ride with or without padded shorts
The more frequently and longer you ride, the firmer your saddle should be. The less often and shorter you ride, the more "sofa-like" your saddle can be. If you ride with padded shorts, your saddle can also be a bit harder and less thickly padded. Here’s why: A soft saddle creates a comfortable initial riding impression by gently cradling your buttocks and distributing the pressure well. However, after a while, this effect turns counterproductive because sinking too deep into the padding squeezes nerve pathways and blood vessels. Therefore, a soft saddle may be comfortable for short rides to the bakery, ice cream shop, or office. For longer distances or tours, a harder saddle, in combination with padded shorts and possibly a Chamois Cream, is usually the better choice.
(Core-)Leather Saddles
(Core-)Leather saddles are particularly suitable for frequent riders. Instead of having a shell, padding, and cover, they are made from a single piece of core leather that is stretched over the saddle frame. They have the advantage of shaping to fit the form of your butt after a break-in period, making them very comfortable for many tour riders. However, since they are not padded, you should ride regularly, or else your sit bones might get unused to the saddle pressure, and you might feel uncomfortable pressure on them while riding. You should note that leather saddles require a bit of attention and care: They should be protected from rain, regularly greased, and occasionally tightened. Other than that, they are very robust and the first choice for many touring cyclists.
Suspension Saddle vs. Suspension Seatpost
Saddles with built-in suspension – often these are leather saddles – have the advantage of absorbing shocks and impacts, thus reducing the pressure load on the spine, especially on the discs. A saddle with suspension might be advisable if you have back issues. Alternatively, some manufacturers offer saddles with built-in dampers. They are slightly lighter than spring saddles and a bit less bulky.
Alternatively, for issues with the lumbar spine, a suspension seatpost might be worth considering. Here, you have two options: telescopic and parallelogram posts.
Special Case: E-Bike Saddle
The E-Bike boom is ongoing, so it's no surprise that there are now special E-Bike saddles. They are characterized by an elevated rear to prevent you from sliding backwards during steep climbs and acceleration. Additionally, some saddles also have a kind of "carry handle" to make lifting the E-Bike easier.
Getting Used To It
No matter which saddle you end up choosing, always remember: getting used to it takes time. New pressures can be uncomfortable at first. And you just can't bike without some pressure on your butt. So, it's totally normal if your butt hurts a bit on the first few rides. However, if the saddle itself fits, that will soon pass – provided you ride regularly. If you take long breaks between your rides, unfortunately, your butt's adaptation to the saddle usually starts over from the beginning.
The Right Saddle Setting
Once you've found the right bike saddle, you should perfect your saddle ergonomics with the right bike setting. In our Ergonomics 101, we explain the ideal saddle setting to you, how you can further optimize your ergonomics, and how to find out which bike setting is the right one for you.
Suitable Accessories for Your Touring Saddle
Rain, snow, and cold can really wear out a saddle over time. That's why it makes sense to use a waterproof saddle cover for protection, especially if your bike is constantly outdoors. That way, you can also enjoy a dry saddle after a rain shower. For leather saddles, a special leather grease is also a good idea, keeping the saddle surface smooth and supple for a long time. Also handy: Small saddle bags. In them, you can stow small items like minitools, keys, or a spare tube.
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