Guest Post by Caleb
If you’ve ridden a bicycle for more than 5 hours, you will know the pain that comes from a long time on the saddle. From simple soreness to full on blistering the effect of a wrong saddle can wreck your trip and make for one terrible experience.
The bicycling community has a wide variety of opinions on which saddle is the best. I even met a mountain biker who had a plastic spider web like design that he swore by. He stated that the saddle gave just enough to be good, but didn’t let him sink right through to the ribs of the saddle. That is the key to finding the right saddle.
Hard or Soft?
Many people will suggest that you need to get the softest saddle possible. This is generally spoken by your commuters or newbie cyclists. Rarely will you hear an experience cyclist agree to this opinion. The truth about soft saddles is actually quite scary. At this point, I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “why?”
A soft saddle is great for short distances. However, once you begin putting hours on that saddle, your butt will actually begin to sink through that padding and land on the ribs underneath. This will ultimately lead to a much more painful experience.
You have the opposite of that as well. Some people prefer to have a hard saddle. More like a racing bike saddle. Again, for the first hour you’re fine. However, as time goes on, you will again begin to experience pain. So the obvious answer is a saddle that is somewhere in between.
Shape?
Over the years, I’ve seen various styles of bike seats come onto the scene. You have long and narrow saddles, short and wide saddles, saddles without the front, and even saddles that look like a giant fluffy marshmallow. Not really. But some really do have too much cushioning.
When looking for a saddle, there will be an aspect of trial and error. However, you can begin your search by knowing what type of riding you will be doing. For cruisers or communtors you will generally be getting shorter and wider saddles. For racers, you will be opting for the narrow and long saddles.
Saddles that are missing the front are supposedly more ergonomic, but we’ve heard numerous pros and cons to them. It’s safe to say the average touring cyclist does not use those. The remaining super cushioned saddles are just average saddles that come with your traditional walmart bike or for someone just cruising around town.
The best Saddle for Touring (Opinion)
It’s our opinion that some of the best saddles for touring are made by Brooks, specifically the Brooks B17.
The Brooks B17 is a leather saddle. The downside is you have to treat the leather and try to keep it out of the rain. For many, this may be too much of an inconvenience. However, after riding with this saddle, I think they will quickly change their mind.
Since the B17 is made out of leather, the saddle has the ability to shape to your sit bones over time. Once shaped to you, it eliminates the sit bones movement thus eliminating extra chafing. The leather gives just enough to shape it, then hardens back down giving you the perfect fit.
While this is not the only saddle to use for touring, we do believe it’s one of the best. Reach out to your local touring community through companies like REI, Dick’s, or another bike shop and ask around to see who uses one. They are on the pricier side coming in at around $100.00 but again, it’s so worth it.
Best of luck finding that perfect saddle!