Image Source: Bere, P. et al. 2019
“It seems counterintuitive, but a good saddle is a hard saddle. ”
Your sit bones, or ischial tuberosities, are designed to bear your weight when seated. Bicycle saddles are designed to provide a contact at these two points which protects the soft and delicate areas in-between your “sit bones.”
If a bicycle seat/saddle is too soft or squishy, your sit bones will compress into the seat, pushing your seat into delicate areas and compressing into your nerves - possibly causing numbness, pain, and chafing.
This is why bicycle seats are firm with minimal to no padding.
Too much padding = “bottoming out”
“Cycling on a gel saddle resulted in 37% more loss of penile oxygenation than cycling on an unpadded saddle.”
This seat is also too narrow for Skully (image above). But notice how the seat is pushed up into this cyclist’s delicate parts?? With too soft of a seat, the padding pushes up between your sit bones into sensitive body areas and can pinch nerves.
A saddle with too much padding causes your sit bones to sink into the saddle. As you sink into the seat, your delicate areas will press into the padding and compress nerves.
A bike seat is designed to support your weight by providing a firm foundation for your sit bones. A saddle with proper width and firmness essentially lifts you up. This “lifting” keeps your delicate areas elevated, instead of pressing into the seat and compressing nerves.
You Don’t want your lady or boy parts smooshed
A female and her sit bones. If these sit bones compress into the seat then her girl parts will get smooshed into the seat, possibly go numb, or be subject to chafing or saddles sores. All are very uncomfortable (Image Source: Adapted from Wikimedia Commons)
Saddles: Gel, Foam & No-padding
“It seems logical and it is tempting to get a saddle with lots of squishy gel, but these saddles are not as comfortable as they look. The gel moves around and can pinch, and cheap gel often breaks down quickly. Saddles that offer firm support where you need it are better in the long run”
Generally, saddles come in 3 levels of firmness:
Gel
Foam padding
No Padding
Four different bicycle seats tested in the study; A) narrow, heavily padded seat; B) narrow seat with medium padding and V-shaped groove in the saddle nose; C) wide unpadded leather seat; D) women's special wide seat with medium padding and no saddle nose. (Image Source & Text: Schwarzer et al.)
The above image is from a 2002 study published in European Urology, which is the official medical journal of the European Association of Urology. The researchers looked at the 4 saddles types above and it’s effects on penile oxygen.
The results:
1) The nose-less saddle performed the best
Saddle D (nose-less) performed the best with minimal perineal compression
The nose of the saddle allows you to control the bike with your legs. Nose-less saddles are hard to maneuver as you lose this ability
2) The non-padded leather saddle = 2nd best
Saddle C, the unpadded leather seat, performed 2nd best, among the 4 saddles.
This firm, non-padded leather saddle had less groin compression and better oxygen flow than both saddle A and B
The leather, non-padded saddle outperformed the medium-padded saddle (B) by 13.5% and the heavily-padded saddle (A) by 26%. However the noseless saddled performed 103% better than the leather saddle and 121% better than the heavily padded bike seat.
Final Thought
You have four layers between your saddle and sit bones:
Chamois (cycling shorts)
Skin
Fat
Muscles
The more you ride and get into cycling shape, your muscle tissue gets firmer. This will provide you with more muscle mass between your sit bones and seat.
If you don’t cycle much or are just starting, these “soft” muscles will become uncomfortable. Assuming your saddle is the proper width, the best saddle for riding is a hard and firm platform that supports your ischial tuberosities (sit bones) and keeps your lady/boy parts from being smooshed and compressed.
Jesse is the Director of Pedal Chile and lives in La Patagonia. Jesse has a Master of Science in Health and Human Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. Hobbies: Mountain biking, bicycle commuting, reading, snowboarding, researching, and sampling yummy craft beers.
Sources & References for “Saddle Too Soft”
Bere, P., Raul Rozsos, C. Dudescu and C. Neamtu. “MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR BICYCLE SADDLE FROM CARBON/EPOXY COMPOSITE MATERIALS.” (2019).
Chaitow, Leon, et al. Chronic Pelvic Pain and Dysfunction : Practical Physical Medicine : Towards an Ecology of Occupation-Based Practices. Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 2012.
Cheung, Stephen S, and Mikel Zabala. Cycling Science. Champaign, Il, Human Kinetics, 2017.
Chen, Yi-Lang, and Yi-Nan Liu. “Optimal protruding node length of bicycle seats determined using cycling postures and subjective ratings.” Applied ergonomics vol. 45,4 (2014): 1181-6.
Fink, Melanie, and Don Fink. IronFit Triathlon Training for Women : Training Programs and Secrets for Success in All Triathlon Distances. Guilford, Connecticut, Lyons Press, An Imprint Of Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.
Haine, Charles. The Urban Biking Handbook : The DIY Guide to Building, Rebuilding, Tinkering With, and Repairing Your Bicycle for City Living. Beverly, Mass., Quarry Books, C, 2011.
Jeong, SJ., Park, K., Moon, JD. et al. Bicycle saddle shape affects penile blood flow. Int J Impot Res 14, 513–517 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3900929
Partin, Sarah N et al. “Les lanternes rouges: the race for information about cycling-related female sexual dysfunction.” The journal of sexual medicine vol. 11,8 (2014): 2039-47. doi:10.1111/jsm.12606
Petersen, Grant, and Retsu Takahashi. Just Ride : A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike. New York, Workman Pub, 2012.
Schwarzer, Ulrich, et al. “Cycling and Penile Oxygen Pressure: The Type of Saddle Matters.” European Urology, vol. 41, no. 2, Feb. 2002, pp. 139–143, 10.1016/s0302-2838(01)00028-8.