Guys, i always suffered from saddle pain and genital numbness. Indoor riding only made it worse. Never standing up, my butt is firmly and stably planted on the torture saddle.
I see these 3D printed / honeycomb saddle all over the place now. Aliexpress is full of them. The prices are quite higher than you typical aliexpress saddle Even for “copies”. Are they any good?!
They’re good if it’s the right saddle for you.
What’s your current saddle model, does it have a cut-out? How did you come by it, were you measured and tested on it? How have you arrived at its current set-up i.e. tilt, fore and aft, and height?
What shorts do you use, do you wear anything under them?
For the pain and numbness: I highly suggest you get a proper bike fit like Retul. They will measure your sit bones to get the right saddle width and they will test out you flexibility to see what seat shape you need.
Also, I found having the proper bibs helped a lot. I can only do Maap & certain Rapha bibs.
People have sworn on Pas Normal Studios & Assos, but they don’t work for me
I also struggle to find a comfortable, even non painful, bike saddle. Black bib shorts helped a lot. I tried a mirror 3-D saddle. For me it was awful.
Sharing my usual resource with most of the common possibilities listed.
I would look up a fitter that can set you up with different saddles. Some are on a demo plan so you can try before you buy.
Your indoor trainer will amplify any issues you have regarding fit.
I have the Roman 3D printed saddle and it works great for me. So do other long nose saddles with cut outs.
I’ve had success with Mirror saddles REDUCING the issue, but not relieving it completely. Same for a rocker plate. I would buy them again.
I bought one of those aliexpres/eBay knock off mirror saddles.
Save your money. Complete garbage.
I got a Ergon SMC sport Gel women, even tough i’m a man. I got the woman model because it is larger. And because the cutout is closer to the tip. On a road bike, you lean more, so i don’t understand why the cutout is so many times so far in the back.
Also, i got shorts with gel pads, I usually wear underwear for an extra layer of protection.
Been thinking about that. Even tough i think i can fit my bike well enough, like, not at all that badly, but i’m not a pro fitter tough.
Sorry man, but what does “black bib shorts” do more than the usual bib shorts?
Thanks for the link. Will read.
Romin you mean. Yeah i’m thinking getting one of those specialized saddles and i can’t believe i’m close to spending 300€ on a saddle!
Yeah… 300 € for a saddle. But i’m desperate! Rocker plates, hmmm interesting…
I can see at least 3 or 4 different models there, which one you got?
Don’t buy this. I ride a 30 dollar knock off specialized lower saddle, the EC90 which is 100x better. But after 2 hours my butt hurts too.
Black bibs referenced above me a brand.
I always wear nice bibs on trainer. Not cheap. That helps. Better chamois helps
Bib/shorts with pads are not designed to be worn with underwear. The extra layer of protection is causing unnecessary friction.
Gel pads don’t stay uniform like foam pads. They may work ok brand new but, I think you will find the gel will offer less material between you and the seat over a short period of time.
There is nothing magic about 3D saddles. Shape profile and outline still have to jive with your body and how you sit on the machine.
All the Chinese knockoffs are really bad. The shell is very soft and they sway very quickly. Good way to save money in the short term but, a potential injury long term. Shorts and saddles are not areas to be a penny pincher IMO.
For whatever reason I find the Black Bib shorts more comfortable than others I have used. No science at all.
So, i’ll be doing a Retul avaliation. Still, if i had to pull the trigger, what would be the best bet, specialized ou Fizik?
For those that find they only have saddle pain on the trainer, has anyone tried using a padded saddle cover? To be removed when you go outside?
There’s a problem, they will raise your height and afect your position on the bike.
It will raise it a marginal amount, not really worth worrying about. Optimum saddle height is a range anyway.
I did have to lower mine just a bit and also adjust fore/aft of both the saddle and my cleats
I have a Fizik Argo Adaptive and really like it. But I wouldn’t recommend buying a 3D saddle unless you already know the shape that works for you the best.
I know for me that long saddles with no cutouts cause pain. But longer ones with cutouts like the Specialized Romin work well enough. But lately I’ve been using “stubby” nose saddles with the least amount of pain, which is why I went with the Argo. The Specialized Power saddle is what popularized it.
I ride an S-Works Power on my road bike/trainer and the Argo Adaptive on my gravel bike. Overall I want to say the Argo Adaptive is comfier, but there is a chance that the gravel bike is just a comfier position.
I’d highly recommed a bike fit / saddle fit program. There’s no one universal “best” saddle and finding one that suits you takes some effort. The 3D-printed part of the saddle is basically just the cover / padding of the saddle. If the general shape or the width of the saddle doesn’t suit you then saddle won’t be any good regardless of the 3D-padding.
Some of the basic characteristics to consider are:
Wavy saddles generally offer more stability and a certail amount of “locked-in” feeling whereas flat profiled saddles allow the rider to move around more. See for example Selle Italia’s flite (flat) and novus (wavy).
Saddles with curved rear allow for more side-to-side pelvic tilt while pedaling but can cause some unwanted pressure on soft tissue. Flat saddles on the other hand put more pressure on sit bones and offer more support, both of which can be a good or a bad thing depending on the rider. Specialized power and power arc is a good exaple of both profiles.
T-shaped saddles are usually preferred by riders who sit more towards the rear part of the saddle with less anterior pelvic tilt requiring more clearance for hamstrings. V-shaped saddles offer wider middle part of the saddle thus suiting better for riders with more pelvic tilt but can cause upper hamstring pain. Short-nosed saddles, such as Specialized power and Selle Italia SLR boost are usually more V-shaped. Sqlab’s 612 is more of a T-shape.
Cut-outs obviously relieve perineal pressure but shift the pressure to other parts. Generally though, cut-outs are a good thing especially if you are experiencing numbness.
And finally, more padding isn’t automatically a good thing. Padding helps to absorb bumps and vibrations from rough roads but too much padding and you “sink in” to the saddle. There are many nerves around your pelvis and sinking too deep into the saddle can cause irritation in those nerves, especially on longer rides. Heavily padded saddles can also hide fit issues delaying the initial saddle pain.
Tl;dr: Many things to consider. Hope this helps!
I have a Romin Mirror (i.e. 3d printed one). It’s made numbness worse. But, it makes sit bone pain better. The numbness is scary. So on the hunt for whatever my next trainer saddle is.
I think for me, I need saddles with large cutouts. Bontrager Aelous is what I have run with the best luck on my gravel and mountain bikes. But, it causes a little to much sitbone pressure on the trainer.