Bike seat recommendations PLEASE

HGarcia1527

Any recommendations for a good bike seat?

My husband bought me a new bike but the regular bike seats are so uncomfortable especially being heavier. Can anyone recommend a great comfy seat that will make riding more pleasant?

rileysowner

I cannot recommend a seat, what I do recommend is find a good local bike shop, and shop there. The shear number of seats out there means you will probably have been success speaking with someone who specializes in the area.

Machka9

You have to try saddles and find one that works for you.

Personally, I like the men's Brooks B17s. But that might not work for you.

eduardosl

A good bike seat supports your sit bones, bony protuberances of your coccyx which you can feel when you sit on a sidewalk. It can take a long time to get used to supporting a large portion of your weight on them.

By riding short distances and gradually increasing the length of your rides, you will get more comfortable. No saddle can substitute the adaptation process your body undergoes as you increase your endurance. And all cyclists, regardless of weight, experience some discomfort from sitting on a bike since our bodies are not exactly built for it.

However, some saddles can be problematic. A saddle can be too soft or the wrong width. If that's the case, you'll rest on the soft tissues of your groin instead of your sit bones--ouch!

So, what can you do? Try to figure out if your pain is localized to your sit bones (good!) or if you have soreness in your genital area or chafing due to rubbing (bad!). If the pain is only on the sit bones, congratulations! You own the right saddle for your body and it's just a matter of time before you can rack up relatively pain-free miles.

MeanderingMammal

HGarcia1527 wrote: »

Any recommendations for a good bike seat?

My husband bought me a new bike but the regular bike seats are so uncomfortable especially being heavier. Can anyone recommend a great comfy seat that will make riding more pleasant?

I'd first recommend using cycle shorts, rather than changing the seat.

Other than that, it depends on what style of riding you do, how much, and what you find uncomfortable about the current one.

jennybearlv

I have a Brooks B68. It's a hard leather saddle, so you wouldn't think it's comfortable, but it somehow is. Nice and supportive and my butt seems to get less sweaty which always makes the ride more pleasant. The B17 is more popular, but I prefer a wider saddle. I think the B67 is still in production. It's the same size as mine, but has springs. I always find when I haven't ridden in awhile it takes time to work up to more mileage. You would think the legs would be sore, but nope, it's always the butt and wrists that need to get used to it.

NorthCascades

This is incredibly personal and what's a pillow for one person is a hatchet for someone else. Find a bike shop with a demo program, try several, and see for yourself what's most comfortable for you.

ssbbg

I bike a lot and I never found the default saddle got comfortable. All this stuff about adding mileage and magically adjusting to the hard saddle has not worked for me. I've given it almost a full year on my road bike and am tired of having all my bits go numb at mile 8 and then suffering for the rest of the ride.

I bought this off amazon for my mountain bike and found it very comfy- https://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Cloud-9-Bicycle-Suspension-Tri-color/dp/B000H87PUI/

I do actually do off-road biking with my mountain bike and the extra suspension helped a lot. (It also helps if your city stores potholes in the bike lanes as mine does. ) They do have versions without the suspension, but I haven't used those. I have done longer rides (~20 mi) on paved surfaces with the mountain bike & the comfy seat and it is a world of difference compared to the regular saddle.

I've not been able to find real bike shorts (with the padding) for larger sizes, so I've not tried that solution myself. A friend said it helped him a lot, but he was smaller and could find bike shorts at Walmart (?). Some big box store with a bike section. The local bike store does not have any larger sizes at all.

merrellmichael03

I struggle with this problem if my rides go over an hour. I think the main thing to do is suck it up and rest when you can

scorpio516

I'm partial to Specialized, cause they fit my butt.

EddieP50

I bought a Diamondback Trace Comp Dual Sport Hybrid bike and it had a narrow hard performance seat. I tried a gel pad cover but it still got uncomfortable after about an hour. I bought a Diamondback Pillow Top to replace it and have been on rides now up to 3 1/2 hours with no discomfort.

Mens Diamondback Pillow Top
https://www.amazon.com/Diamondback-Pillow-Bicycle-Saddle-Black/dp/B00MJYPL4A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487976635&sr=8-1&keywords=diamondback+bike+seat

Womens Diamondback Pillow Top
https://www.amazon.com/Diamondback-Womens-Pillow-Bicycle-Saddle/dp/B00MJYPNNE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487976635&sr=8-3&keywords=diamondback+bike+seat

gobonas99

If you are serious about riding, you need to go to a local bike shop and get a bike fit done. It could be something as minor as the saddle is not positioned correctly for your body, so it is putting pressure on the soft tissue vs on your sits bones. Or it could be that the saddle is simply too large or too small for you (part of your fit will be measuring the distance between your sits bones to determine the width that you need the saddle to be). Or it could actually be something unrelated to the saddle - your handlebars may need to be raised or lowered to put you in the proper body position. In all likelihood, it is probably a combination.

cwolfman13

gobonas99 wrote: »

If you are serious about riding, you need to go to a local bike shop and get a bike fit done. It could be something as minor as the saddle is not positioned correctly for your body, so it is putting pressure on the soft tissue vs on your sits bones. Or it could be that the saddle is simply too large or too small for you (part of your fit will be measuring the distance between your sits bones to determine the width that you need the saddle to be). Or it could actually be something unrelated to the saddle - your handlebars may need to be raised or lowered to put you in the proper body position. In all likelihood, it is probably a combination.

And to add to this, I would recommend a good pair or two of cycling shorts.

jennybearlv

ssbbg wrote: »

I bike a lot and I never found the default saddle got comfortable. All this stuff about adding mileage and magically adjusting to the hard saddle has not worked for me. I've given it almost a full year on my road bike and am tired of having all my bits go numb at mile 8 and then suffering for the rest of the ride.

I bought this off amazon for my mountain bike and found it very comfy- https://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Cloud-9-Bicycle-Suspension-Tri-color/dp/B000H87PUI/

I do actually do off-road biking with my mountain bike and the extra suspension helped a lot. (It also helps if your city stores potholes in the bike lanes as mine does. ) They do have versions without the suspension, but I haven't used those. I have done longer rides (~20 mi) on paved surfaces with the mountain bike & the comfy seat and it is a world of difference compared to the regular saddle.

I've not been able to find real bike shorts (with the padding) for larger sizes, so I've not tried that solution myself. A friend said it helped him a lot, but he was smaller and could find bike shorts at Walmart (?). Some big box store with a bike section. The local bike store does not have any larger sizes at all.

Check out aerotechdesigns.com/. I haven't tried their padded shorts, but I had their compression and commuter shorts in a 3x and wore them regularly until they got too big.