Seat pain is the number one complaint when it comes to people’s comfort on the bike. Saddles are also one of the most marketed bicycle parts. There are all sorts of shapes and sizes of saddles out there and it is easy to fall into the trap of trying saddle after saddle hunting for the right one, however one of the most common issues we see that associates with saddle discomfort is people riding the incorrect position for their mobility. This leads to an improper interaction between their body and the saddle. In order to get comfortable on your bicycle seat, whether it is a road bike, triathlon bike, hybrid bike, or mountain bike, follow the instructions below.

Saddles are also one of the most marketed bicycle parts. There are all sorts of shapes and sizes of saddles out there and it is easy to fall into the trap of trying saddle after saddle hunting for the right one, however one of the most common issues we see that associates with saddle discomfort is people riding the incorrect position for their mobility. This leads to an improper interaction between their body and the saddle. In order to get comfortable on your bicycle seat, whether it is a road bike, triathlon bike, hybrid bike, or mountain bike, follow the instructions below.

As always, start by ensuring your position on the bike is neutral to begin with by checking it with the MyVeloFit software. If your position isn’t neutral to begin with, start by getting a neutral position. If your position was drastically off to begin with that could be what was leading to the pain.

If after getting into a neutral position you are still experiencing saddle discomfort the next step is to make some adjustments to your bike.

There are three positional issues that can typically lead to saddle discomfort. They are: excess reach, excess drop, and excess saddle height. We recommend adjusting all three of these if riding in a neutral position hasn’t helped your saddle discomfort. To do this you should reduce handlebar drop, reduce handlebar reach, and lower your saddle. All these adjustments should be small and still keep you in the recommended ranges, but should be more conservative than they were previously.

If after all these adjustments you still aren’t comfortable on your saddle you may need to start trying different options. When trying saddles it is important to check your position after each saddle change as a different saddle can drastically change how you sit on your bike. We recommend running your position through the system after each change to make sure you are still within the ideal ranges for you.