If you’ve ever experienced numbness or pain down below when riding your bike, then this is the video for you.
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00:00 If you've ever experienced numbness or pain down below when riding your bike,
00:05 then this is the video for you. Today I'm going to talk you through all the
00:10 different types of saddles and what exactly they mean for your comfort when
00:14 riding your bike and I'm especially going to focus on whether you need to
00:17 consider getting a cut out.
00:25 There's so much information out there available on saddles so we've partnered
00:30 with Specialized to help explain the differences and the design principles
00:34 between different seats. Thanks to its body geometry design principle
00:38 Specialized has become a global leader when it comes to saddles and this is for
00:44 good reason. Body geometry is informed by thousands of bike fit data sets and this
00:49 allows Specialized to identify problems that riders are having and then design
00:54 solutions for them and those solutions are these saddles. Now in today's video
00:58 I'm going to focus on the Specialized Power Saddle, the Specialized Roman Evo
01:02 and the Specialized Phenom and that's because these three saddles encompass a
01:07 very broad swathe of saddle design and all of them demonstrate different design
01:12 principles that help riders become more comfortable.
01:21 Before we jump into exactly how different saddles affect your riding
01:25 experience and whether you need a cut out or not we actually need to
01:29 understand what all the different parts of the saddles do. This is because all
01:33 the different parts have quite a determined effect on how comfortable
01:36 you'll feel and on your riding experience. Now I often hear lots of
01:41 riders say that saddle looks so uncomfortable because it's hard and thin.
01:45 Now I can promise you that there are many determining factors in a saddles
01:50 comfort not just its squishiness. Starting at the back you have your
01:54 saddles flare and this is how far the sides drop off and how steeply they go
01:59 down. Now saddles can have more flare or less flare and we have example of
02:03 saddles here that have both. Then there's the shelf this is what your sit bones
02:09 sit on. Now saddles come in a variety of different widths everything from a
02:13 hundred and thirty mil all the way through to a hundred and fifty five mil
02:17 so there really is a seat for everybody's bottoms. The upper of a saddle
02:21 is usually made from a foam or a gel with a varying level of density however
02:26 recently brands have started doing something which is really cool and 3d
02:30 printing the upper of the saddle. Now this the Specialized Power with Mirror
02:35 technology is a great example of that and it allows brands to sort of tailor
02:40 the saddle that bit more to a riders fit. For example the front of the saddle can
02:45 be squishier to add comfort in the soft tissue area whilst the area where the
02:50 sit bones sit the shelf is that bit denser to provide more support. Then
02:56 there's a cutout or lack of cutout as the case may be but it's common for most
03:01 saddles to be available in EZ designs and then you need to consider the nose
03:05 as well. Some saddles have a very long nose and some saddles have a much
03:09 shorter nose and this can have a big impact on how comfortable you find a
03:14 saddle. Then the final piece of the puzzle is the saddles profile. Now
03:19 saddles can either be completely flat or they can have a curve this is known as a
03:24 kickback and you can see that this Roman Evo has a good demonstration of that
03:30 here. To work out exactly what type of saddle you need you need to ask yourself
03:40 a couple of different questions. The first one revolves around your position
03:44 on the bike and how long you ride your bike for. Whilst the second one you need
03:49 to ask yourself do you already experience any saddle discomfort because
03:54 that can help you pinpoint exactly what's going wrong. Ask yourself what is
03:58 your preferred position on the bike is it being tucked in on the drops and in a
04:03 really slam position or is it riding on the hoods or the tops in a slightly more
04:07 relaxed one. Then take a note of how far below your saddle height your handlebars
04:12 sit because this will determine how far forward you have to roll in which to
04:17 access your preferred position and this will apply pressure from the saddle. Now
04:22 this will be increased or decreased depending on your position with more
04:26 pressure being applied when you get onto the drops and less pressure being
04:30 applied when you're sitting on the tops. Sometimes riders find that when they
04:35 assume this position they kind of have to move around quite a lot to get
04:38 comfortable or they can't hold it for a very long time and then when they do
04:42 hold it they find they start to experience numbness down below. For this
04:47 reason the power saddle is a very popular saddle amongst amateurs and
04:52 world tour pros alike and if I compare it to the Roman Evo here you can
04:57 actually see just how much shorter the nose of this saddle is. Now having a
05:03 short nose people find that comfortable for quite a few reasons but the main one
05:07 is that if you have a long nose you can sit on it when you roll forward and it
05:12 can inhibit you from finding your preferred position or even apply
05:16 pressure when you're tilted or rotated forward whereas when it's chopped off
05:20 that's not there to apply that pressure so it works as a really useful pressure
05:25 relief. However not all riders like to have a saddle with a short nose because
05:30 you might be the type of rider that likes to move around on their saddle
05:33 when they're assuming different positions. In this case you're going to
05:37 need to look for a saddle range which has a high amount of variety because
05:40 you'll want something with a long nose but also with a cutout to relieve
05:45 pressure when you assume that forward position. So going back to that second
05:50 question we need to ask ourselves is are we already experiencing any pain or
05:55 discomfort from our saddle? Because actually identifying and isolating that
05:59 pain can be a really useful diagnostic tool in helping us understand exactly
06:04 what shape and design saddle suits us the best. For example if you are
06:10 experiencing numbness you should definitely try a saddle with a shorter
06:14 nose and with a cutout. Now cutouts help relieve pressure down below in your soft
06:19 tissue area and most importantly help improve blood flow so they should really
06:23 work quite nicely to remove some of that numbing feeling you might be
06:27 experiencing. If you're experiencing pinching you should consider getting a
06:31 saddle with a greater amount of flare. This is how steeply it falls away from
06:36 the top of the saddle. Now this supports your body as it goes away rather than
06:40 creating a shelf which perfectly flat saddles can do which can pinch your skin.
06:45 Also if you're experiencing lower back pain when you're riding your bike
06:50 consider getting one with a greater amount of kickback. This is because if
06:55 you're riding a flat saddle and you've got back pain your glutes actually have
06:59 to tense up to support your back rather than being able to put out the wattage
07:03 you require when you're cycling along. By having a kickback that does the role
07:08 that your glutes are currently playing and supports your lower back not only
07:12 making you more comfortable but giving you access to some more watts. There's a
07:16 reason Peter Sagan loves the saddle with a high amount of kickback. Finally if you
07:23 feel discomfort through your sit bones after a couple hours of riding it's a
07:27 sign that you're potentially not being supported enough by your saddle and in
07:31 this case you might want to look at going for a wider option. Now specialized
07:36 ranges all have a massive variety and this Phenom that I'm holding my hand
07:40 here is a really wide 168mm so there is truly something for everyone. The
07:46 place to start however is to measure your sit bones. Now there are guides to
07:50 this online but your best bet is absolutely going into a store and asking
07:55 for some help because it is a little bit tricky.
07:58 A lot of time has been spent discussing saddle soreness amongst men and for that
08:09 reason saddle technology has advanced as a solution. However solutions like
08:14 cutouts to relieve pressure aren't necessarily going to work as well for
08:18 women. Now I'm absolutely not best placed to discuss this so I'm going to hand
08:23 over to Michelle to help explain the ins and outs of it. I've yet to lead a
08:29 beginner women's ride or be part of a women's cycling Facebook or Whatsapp
08:33 group where conversation isn't at some point dominated by talk about saddle
08:38 discomfort. Former British cycling physio Phil Burtt put it very very well when he
08:43 said to me there are more varied presentations of soft tissue among women
08:48 than men and as a result it can be harder for women sometimes to find the
08:52 right saddle. That doesn't mean that it is impossible there are very many women
08:57 saddles out there as well as some unisex saddles that some women will find very
09:02 comfortable. As an example the Specialized Power saddle was initially
09:06 developed with Evelyn Stevens when she was riding for Bell's Dolmans. It was a
09:09 saddle designed to help her get into an aerodynamic tucked position with a
09:14 forward rotation without soft tissue discomfort. It just so happened that many
09:20 men found they also got on with that saddle which is how it became known as a
09:24 unisex saddle. For some women the cutout can become a problem however and this is
09:29 predominantly caused by the harsh border of the edge of the cutout. Now
09:34 recognizing this as a problem Specialized uses body geometry data and
09:38 it developed what it calls mimic technology. This is a soft insert which
09:43 mimics the biological entities of soft tissue. This layer is designed to provide
09:49 the comfort of a pressure relief channel or cutout without the danger of falling
09:53 into the recess. So all the principles that Rupert already described earlier in
09:59 this video, listening to your body, working out where you're currently
10:03 experiencing pain and using that as a tool to inform your future saddle
10:06 choices applies. If the saddle cutout feels that it's not roomy enough look
10:11 for a cutout that is much wider. If you're finding that you're falling into
10:15 it then something like mimic technology might well be the answer for you. One
10:20 other thing that women should be aware of is that because of the basic
10:24 biological requirements of childbirth in general women have wider hips and also
10:29 wider sit bones. Now the reason that you want to have a saddle that is wide
10:33 enough at the rear is that you want to provide enough support for your sit
10:36 bones. If there isn't enough support for your sit bones what can happen is the
10:40 pelvis twists very slightly and this can create issues that would effectively
10:44 mimic a leg length discrepancy which means that one leg is having to stretch
10:48 further to reach the pedals than the other and that can have a ricochet
10:53 effect throughout your bike fit. To find out if your saddle is wide enough for
10:58 your sit bones many local bike shops will have a tool that allow you to
11:01 measure this and then choose the saddle accordingly. So there you go those are
11:06 things I think are really important if you are considering buying a women's
11:09 saddle or looking for one that will help you alleviate pain you're experiencing.
11:14 So do you need a cutout saddle? Well as this video has probably shown you there
11:20 is a lot at play when it comes to finding the right saddle for your
11:24 riding. However I hope this video has helped you determine exactly what type
11:29 you need and whether you do need a cutout saddle. If you have any further
11:33 questions do leave them in the comments section below and I'll do my best to
11:38 answer them for you and if you have found this video useful give us a thumbs
11:41 up and do subscribe to the channel it really does help us out. Now I'll be back
11:46 soon with some more great tech content and I'll see you then.
11:51 (whooshing)