Starting to get a bit of numbness down there, so thinking it’d be worth trying one of these saddles with the centre channel cut away.

Anyone got any experience or recommendations they’d like to share

Thanks

Depends on the shape of your bits (or rather pelvis).

Most higher-end saddles come in different versions (or the manufacturer will make different models to cover that range).

The width is determined by how wide your sit bones are, typically saddles come in about 130, 140 or 150mm wide, bear in mind the bones aren’t parallel so if you lean forwards or sit up the width changes, so you MTB might not be the same as a road bike if you adopt different positions.

The width of the cut out is largely determined by how bad your posture is. The more your pelvis is cranked forwards due to short hip flexors and weak hamstrings the bigger the cut out needs to be as you soft bits are being rotated down into the saddle. e.g. Selle italia offer the same saddles with no cutout, a channel, a cutout, or a massive cut out.

The fore/aft shape, some are flat, some form a hammock. The first lets you slide around more to mve your weight where it needs to be for climbing (e.g SLR), the second offers more support if you like to sit in one position and mash on the pedals (e.g Flite).

The shape looking down will depend whether you have massive thighs 9narrow nose), or a tendency to shuffle forwards (wide nose) or backwards (an extended wide tail section), etc.

Basically, if someone says “Fabric Scoop” they’re possibly right if that’s what fits them, but there’s 3x4x2x3(ish) other options. Trying to figure out what actually fits you is mix of trial and error and educated guesswork. If you’ve got a saddle that kinda fits, then you can make a judgement as to what’s similar but different.

SLR Lady Flow

(Men’s version comes in two widths, one narrower than the Lady, and one wider… the Lady version comes in just the one intermediate width which is good for most folks… and always seems to be significantly cheaper).

I use a variety of ISM saddles on all the bikes and no numbness whatsoever.

Is your bike set up correctly?do you have too much weight on the saddle?

I’m running a fabric Line that I highly recommend and they are cheap to try

In all seriousness, have you tried tilting the front of your saddle down a little. I can’t ride my friends’ bikes because their saddles are usually tilted too far upwards – leading to painful pressure on my bits.

Massive dong and huge heavy balls here*

I use women saddles, have done for ages

*joking, bang average I’m afraid.

Thanks for the replies, looks like I’ll need to give this some proper thought!

Fit wise, I’ve always got on with pretty much anything so that gives me hope

Just had a look at the SLR saddles, that’s the sort of thing I’m thinking of (but since when did saddles get so expensive?!)

Looked at the fabric line saddles before , fairly certain I’ll get on with the shape, but too my eyes not convinced the cut out is enough?

ISM saddle, looks interesting, something I’d need a test on first

but too my eyes not convinced the cut out is enough?

How big do you want it? They didn’t come up with the size of the gap by random! There’s science and everything.

Try one first. They are £20 on ebay

How big do you want it? They didn’t come up with the size of the gap by random! There’s science and everything

Fair point!

I got one of those Ergon Sm Mtb Pro saddles recently that had a sterling review from STW Towers. First two rides out I hated it, like it was some weird torture device. Was ready to consign it to the bin but instead tried a slightly different setup, slid it forwards 5mm and pointed the nose down a few degrees and it was like ‘Bing’ now one of the comfiest things ever…Lil’Jim and the twins are happy, sitbones happy. Padding level spot on and gusset relief design is good for mtb in that it’s almost fully protected with only a small hole at rear rather than a wide open slot, so you don’t get too douched when its wet out. Recommended.

Bontrager aeolus solved the problem for me.

As @jonhnhe says, saddle nose down by about 5 degrees will make a big difference.

I do long rides (7-8hrs is short for me) so having a correct setup is important. When I started doing these I’d be fine up to about ten hours but on longer rides would get numb fingers that would take a month or more to return to normal. I’d try one change, go for a ride, no improvement so wait a month an repeat.

After around 18 months I made one change, tilting the nose of the saddle down that made all the difference, it now doesn’t matter if I swap bars, lift/lower the bars by a few mm, change saddle, etc.

It turned out that getting numb fingers was a secondary symptom, the primary one having sore “fleshy bits” due to the level saddle – as you lean forward you naturally move pressure from the sit-bones where it should be and onto the forward part of of your crotch. That starts to hurt so I’d be transferring weight to my hands to alleviate that pain.

Unless you’ve got a really strong core I’d get a saddle with some sort of texture to it to help prevent you sliding forwards.

Selle SMP saddles work for me

Right, ordered a Sella Italia superflow saddle, lots of really good advice above so hopefully it’ll help

Agree on all the comments above about set-up, I generally start with the saddle flat, and tilt slightly down which feels spot-on, but recently this just hasn’t been enough

Just bought a Bontrager Aeolus in the widest version – more for a hip injury than numbness…. But I have to say it is the least like sitting on a saddle I have ever known. That’s in a good way. At the end of a 4 hour ride, I’d still be comfortable on say the Fabric Scoop on my other bikes, but you still know you’re sat on a bike saddle. The Aeolus is on another level. Fantastic!

This is on the road bike, don’t know how it would be on the MTB.

I have other bikes with Fabric Scoop, Bontrager Montrose, Prime and Decathlon too which are all pretty good, but not all with a cut out.

As others have suggested, I’d check your saddle position too.

MTB? Phenom works well for me. I’m on the chunky side so like to relieve the pressure to the nth degree. Ergon might be worth a look, I rate their products and use 3 types of their ergonomic grips very impressed. Their saddles look good.

Measure your tuberosities pronto.

Massive minefield. As you would expect, lots of different things work for lots of different people. Personally, I get on with most stock saddles (which are generally designed around the average anatomy) and have ridden many of them literally all day without complaint. Even then, I’ve looked into the perfect saddle (mainly due to the issue you’re talking about, which can occur for me when the ride goes beyond all day and into the next…)

Despite getting on with loads of saddles, many of the channelled options go into some extreme territory and are more often than not mighty expensive. I’ve tried some that have had a good reputation and decided I’d struggle to spend more than 30 minutes on them.

Definitely try adjusting the position of what you have before anything else.

I find it’s saddle shape rather than the cut out that makes the difference. One of the bikes had a cut out, but the shape was quite ‘flat’ like my other saddles and I had no trouble. Saddle previous to this had a cut out, but it was quite rounded, leading to pressure where I didn’t need it.

I’ve got a lovely SLR, but picked that up at a bike jumble for a bargain. Most of my other saddles are Selle Italia, and one is a Fizik, but ‘flat’. When I got the bike I was expecting to have to change to a Selle saddle, but it was OK.

Tried loads of saddles then got ‘measured’ – went with Bontrager montrose comp in widest fitting; have them on all my bikes.

One thing I learnt – expensive isn’t necessarily comfier – lightweight with less padding and stiffer materials (even in the same saddle design) doesn’t mean it’s as nice as the cheap one.

Just had a look at the SLR saddles, that’s the sort of thing I’m thinking of (but since when did saddles get so expensive?!)

They’re not too bad, the same price as most other lightweight carbon/titanium saddles. They do do a massive range though, producing ~100 different carbon saddles probably costs more than Charge/Fabric who only produce a handful.

I’ve got a superflow on my MTB after I rejected it on the road bike and went back to the regular flow.

Fit wise, I’ve always got on with pretty much anything so that gives me hope

If we’re talking about MTB’s then that’s what I found, I can cope with pretty much anything on the CX, MTB or Fixie as I’m in and out the saddle all the time. Whereas the road bike is far more discerning. And the Turbo Trainer is a whole other level, if I can do 20 minutes on the turbo it’s good for 100+miles on the road bike!

Worth a look at SQLabs, too. They do a lot of thinking about ergonomics. Solve the problem in a slightly different way, and get some very good reviews.

Another vote for Selle SMP saddles.

Bontrager aeolus solved the problem for me.

Yep, same for me here. Banging saddle.

The best part is you can try them for 30 days, and if you don’t get on with it – send it back!

Given it’s effectively a free trial, I’d give that a go first – if it doesn’t work out, you’ve not lost anything.

Just make an educated guess on a few buy online be careful not to mark them using masking tape on the rails and return the ones you do not like

This is now my go to saddle

https://road.cc/content/review/171046-fabric-line-elite

get a saddle you generally like and then turn it into a central cut out with a knife.

I have an asymetric pelvis (hip/pelvis deformity since birth) that generally doesn’t cause too much issue but if I do a lot of road miles leads to a swelling where one sit bone is a bit lower and carries more load. I tried literally dozens of saddles and then an old boy in the club told me the best one would be one I made myself.

http://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNFFPESycyzJbDLyWYLCP31ILY7CgXMlnk9l022

I bought what is effectively a fake specialized power by ec90. 20 quid amazon or even less of you want to wait a few weeks from ali express. Its the most comfortable saddle ive used. Seen a you tube review comparing against the specilaised one and its as good.

I bought it for my road bike but my tested it on my hardtail. It was so good i left it on and will by another.

Assuming your bike is set up properly:

Do you spend a lot of time spinning easy gears? I’ve found that when my bike is singlespeed I get no saddle problems on a long ride, yet the same bike and saddle with gears and I’m suffering at the end of the ride.

My theory is the greater pressure exerted on the pedals in SS and the periods out of the saddle relieves the pressure on those parts, even if it is only momentarily.

Do you spend a lot of time spinning easy gears? I’ve found that when my bike is singlespeed I get no saddle problems on a long ride, yet the same bike and saddle with gears and I’m suffering at the end of the ride.

Exactly the opposite, i’m definitely a gear masher! Think you are right, if i’m on a charge in and out of the saddle then things feel a bit better

Just been out for a couple of hours on my new saddle, felt a little odd at first but quickly settled in. Post ride, feel better, which is good… but could definitely be better. Think i’ll tinker around a bit more with position, could probably drop bars down a bit (which should help front end grip to boot)

I’ve been using a £40 (from PX, now OOS) San Marco Mantra Supercomfort since around Xmas. It’s helped, possibly, but just like with other saddles I’ve tried in the last ~4 years the tilt angle is quite critical for comfort.

+0.5 degrees using free app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.saddl&hl=en_GB seems to be about right for me.

I have a Fabric line elite and a Pro Griffin, which both help with reducing pressure down there. My most comfortable saddle however is a Tioga Stratum, it doesn’t have a cutaway as such (just a slight indentation) but the flex of the saddle provides the comfort

Thanks to suffering with chronic prostatitis, I’ve been using a Spesh Power saddle on the MTB and a Bontrager Aeolus on the road bike, for the past six months.

Both have been good but the Power edges it on the MTB as it’s flatter than the Bont. I’m now trying the Power on the road bike and so far it’s not as comfy again because it’s flatter.

Interesting thread, I’m still experimenting with Selle Italia Flites on my road bikes (great shape for reducing friction and chafing) and a Fabric Line on my gravel bike.

The Fabric was a revelation today, almost disappeared underneath me over 105km of mixed road and off-road terrain.

Still got some slight pain in the gentleman’s bits by the end, need to experiment with more tilt on the saddle, although the pain co-incided with the loss of my big ring so I was spinning a 31 tooth granny ring along flat tarmac, suffice to say there wasn’t much pressure going through the pedals…

Also intrigued by the new Selle Italia Flite Boost saddles, basically Selle Italia’s equivalent to the Bontrager Aeolus, same idea but a bit skinnier so hopefully less chafing etc.

Very timely thread, another ride yesterday where I definitely experienced some pain at the base of my right bollock unless I held my pelvis in a very particular way on the saddle (rotating it back more e.g. sucking in my belly and arching back a little). It wasn’t as uncomfortable a position as it sounds but still didn’t feel natural.

I’m beginning to think that the narrowness of the Flite design that I liked so much is also its downfall, I guess maybe more weight is falling on the central squishy bits instead of being supported by the sitbones. Shame, as otherwise I thought I had found a winner in terms of saddle comfort!

Am intrigued by ISM but will try Aeolus first as a cheaper, lighter (how often is that the case?) alternative. Hoping the wider nose supports sit bones better and takes pressure off soft bits. Just worried that chafing will return!

Sorry, am turning this thread into a bit of a monologue!

Just to say, Upgrade bikes offer a 30 day demo scheme for ISM saddles, you pay full RRP but this is refundable at the end. As a distributor I don’t think they even care if you return it then go buy it somewhere else cheaper!

Very tempted by ISM now the more I read about them but will wait until I’ve tried the Aeolus first.

although the pain co-incided with the loss of my big ring

Sounds excruciating… 😉 😀

Useful thread this, I’ve been making do with the OEM saddle on my Ribble, but it’s not quite right (occasional numbness, chafing) and I should really experiment with something better

got one of those Ergon Sm Mtb Pro saddles recently that had a sterling review from STW Towers. First two rides out I hated it, like it was some weird torture device. Was ready to consign it to the bin but instead tried a slightly different setup, slid it forwards 5mm and pointed the nose down a few degrees and it was like ‘Bing’ now one of the comfiest things ever…Lil’Jim and the twins are happy, sitbones happy. Padding level spot on and gusset relief design is good for mtb in that it’s almost fully protected with only a small hole at rear rather than a wide open slot, so you don’t get too douched when its wet out. Recommended.

Good to know, because I have an SM saddle. And it is very uncomfortable – even after measuring carefully …
however, i think i find every saddle uncomfortable …. 🙁

I’ve bought four Ergon saddles since the new year, three SM Enduro and one SR Road. Was love at first arse for me. Angling the nose up or down was key though, mine ended up looking pretty flat but my seat angles are all pretty steep