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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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00:00If you've ever experienced numbness or pain down below when riding your bike then this is the video
00:07for you. Today I'm going to talk you through all the different types of saddles and what exactly
00:12they mean for your comfort when riding your bike and I'm especially going to focus on whether you
00:17need to consider getting a cutout. There's so much information out there available on saddles so we've
00:29partnered with Specialized to help explain the differences and the design principles between
00:34different seats. Thanks to its body geometry design principle Specialized has become a global leader
00:41when it comes to saddles and this is for good reason. Body geometry is informed by thousands of
00:47bike fit data sets and this allows Specialized to identify problems that riders are having and then
00:53design solutions for them and those solutions are these saddles. Now in today's video I'm going to
00:59focus on the Specialized Power Saddle, the Specialized Roman Evo and the Specialized Phenom and that's
01:04because these three saddles encompass a very broad swathe of saddle design and all of them demonstrate
01:11different design principles that help riders become more comfortable.
01:21Before we jump into exactly how different saddles affect your riding experience and whether you need
01:29to understand what all the different parts of the saddles do. This is because all the different
01:33parts have quite a determined effect on how comfortable you'll feel and on your riding experience.
01:39Now I often hear lots of riders say that saddle looks so uncomfortable because it's hard and thin.
01:46Now I can promise you that there are many determining factors in a saddle's comfort not just its squishiness.
01:52Starting at the back you have your saddle's flare and this is how far the sides drop off and how
01:58steeply
01:59they go down. Now saddles can have more flare or less flare and we have examples of saddles here
02:04that have both. Then there's the shelf. This is what your sit bones sit on. Now saddles come in a
02:11variety
02:11of different widths everything from 130mm all the way through to 155mm so there really is a seat
02:18for everybody's bottoms. The upper of a saddle is usually made from a foam or a gel with a varying
02:24level
02:25of density. However recently brands have started doing something which is really cool and 3D printing
02:31the upper of the saddle. Now this the specialised power with mirror technology is a great example of
02:37that and it allows brands to sort of tailor the saddle that bit more to a rider's fit. For example
02:43the front of the saddle can be squishier to add comfort in the soft tissue area whilst the area where
02:50the sit bones sit the shelf is that bit denser to provide more support. Then there's the cutout or lack
02:58of cutout as the case may be but it's common for most saddles to be available in easier designs. And
03:04then you need to consider the nose as well. Some saddles have a very long nose and some saddles have
03:09a much
03:09shorter nose and this can have a big impact on how comfortable you find a saddle. Then the final piece
03:16of the puzzle is the saddle's profile. Now saddles can either be completely flat or they can have a
03:23curve. This is known as a kickback and you can see that this Roman Evo has a good demonstration of
03:29that
03:30here. To work out exactly what type of saddle you need you need to ask yourself a couple of different
03:41questions. The first one revolves around your position on the bike and how long you ride your bike for.
03:48Whilst the second one you need to ask yourself do you already experience any saddle discomfort? Because that
03:54can help you pinpoint exactly what's going wrong. Ask yourself what is your preferred position on the bike?
04:00Is it being tucked in on the drops and in a really slammed position or is it riding on the
04:05hoods or the tops in a
04:07slightly more relaxed one? Then take a note of how far below your saddle height your handlebars sit
04:13because this will determine how far forward you have to roll in which to access your preferred
04:18position and this will apply pressure from the saddle. Now this will be increased or decreased depending
04:25on your position with more pressure being applied when you get onto the drops and less pressure being
04:30applied when you're sitting on the tops. Sometimes riders find that when they assume this position
04:36they kind of have to move around quite a lot to get comfortable or they can't hold it for a
04:40very long
04:40time and then when they do hold it they find they start to experience numbness down below. For this reason
04:48the power saddle is a very popular saddle amongst amateurs and world tour pros alike and if i compare it
04:54to the roman evo here you can actually see just how much shorter the nose of this saddle is. Now
05:02having a short
05:03nose people find that comfortable for quite a few reasons but the main one is that if you have a
05:08long
05:09nose you can sit on it when you roll forward and it can inhibit you from finding your preferred position
05:15or even apply pressure when you're tilted or rotated forward whereas when it's chopped off that's not there
05:21to apply that pressure so it works as a really useful pressure relief. However not all riders like to have
05:29a saddle with a short nose because you might be the type of rider that likes to move around on
05:32their
05:32saddle when they're assuming different positions. In this case you're going to need to look for a saddle
05:38range which has a high amount of variety because you'll want something with a long nose but also
05:43with a cutout to relieve pressure when you assume that forward position. So going back to that second
05:50question we need to ask ourselves is are we already experiencing any pain or discomfort from our saddle?
05:57because actually identifying and isolating that pain can be a really useful diagnostic tool in helping
06:03us understand exactly what shape and design saddle suits us the best. For example if you are experiencing
06:10numbness you should definitely try a saddle with a shorter nose and with a cutout. Now cutouts help
06:17relieve pressure down below in your soft tissue area and most importantly help improve blood flow so they
06:23should really work quite nicely to remove some of that numbing feeling you might be experiencing.
06:28If you're experiencing pinching you should consider getting a saddle with a greater amount of flare.
06:34This is how steeply it falls away from the top of the saddle. Now this supports your body as it
06:39goes away
06:40rather than creating a shelf which perfectly flat saddles can do which can pinch your skin. Also if you're
06:47experiencing lower back pain when you're riding your bike consider getting one with a greater amount of
06:53kickback. This is because if you're riding a flat saddle and you've got back pain your glutes actually
06:59have to tense up to support your back rather than being able to put out the wattage you require
07:04when you're cycling along. By having a kickback that does the role that your glutes are currently playing
07:10and supports your lower back not only making you more comfortable but giving you access to some more
07:15watts. There's a reason Peter Sagan loves the saddle with a high amount of kickback. Finally if you feel
07:23discomfort through your sit bones after a couple of hours of riding it's a sign that you're potentially
07:28not being supported enough by your saddle and in this case you might want to look at going for a
07:33wider
07:34option. Now specialised ranges all have a massive variety and this phenom that I'm holding my hand
07:40here is a really wide 168mm so there is truly something for everyone. The place to start however
07:47is to measure your sit bones. Now there are guides to this online but your best bet is absolutely going
07:54into a store and asking for some help because it is a little bit tricky. A lot of time has
08:05been spent
08:06discussing saddle soreness amongst men and for that reason saddle technology has advanced as a solution
08:12however solutions like cutouts to relieve pressure aren't necessarily going to work as well for women.
08:18Now I'm absolutely not best placed to discuss this so I'm going to hand over to Michelle to help
08:25explain the ins and outs of it. I've yet to lead a beginner women's ride or be part of a
08:31women's
08:32cycling Facebook or WhatsApp group where conversation isn't at some point dominated by talk about saddle
08:38discomfort. Former British cycling physio Phil Burt put it very very well when he said to me there are
08:44more varied presentations of soft tissue among women than men and as a result it can be harder for
08:51women sometimes to find the right saddle. That doesn't mean that it is impossible there are very
08:57many women saddles out there as well as some unisex saddles that some women will find very comfortable.
09:02As an example the specialised power saddle was initially developed with Evelyn Stevens when she was
09:08riding for Bell's Dolments. It was a saddle designed to help her get into an aerodynamic tucked position
09:13with a forward rotation without soft tissue discomfort. It just so happened that many men
09:20found they also got on with that saddle which is how it became known as a unisex saddle. For some
09:26women
09:26the cutout can become a problem however and this is predominantly caused by the harsh border of the
09:32edge of the cutout. Now recognising this as a problem specialised uses body geometry data and it developed
09:39what it calls mimic technology. This is a soft insert which mimics the biological entities of soft tissue.
09:47This layer is designed to provide the comfort of a pressure relief channel or cutout without the danger of
09:53falling into the recess. So all the principles that Rupert already described earlier in this video,
10:00listening to your body, working out where you're currently experiencing pain and using that as a tool to
10:05inform your future saddle choices applies. If the saddle cutout feels that it's not roomy enough
10:11look for a cutout that is much wider. If you're finding that you're falling into it then something
10:16like mimic technology might well be the answer for you. One other thing that women should be aware of
10:22is that because of the basic biological requirements of childbirth, in general women have wider hips
10:28and also wider sit bones. Now the reason that you want to have a saddle that is wide enough at
10:34the rear
10:34is that you want to provide enough support for your sit bones. If there isn't enough support for your
10:39sit bones what can happen is the pelvis twists very slightly and this can create issues that would
10:44effectively mimic a leg length discrepancy which means that one leg is having to stretch further to reach
10:49the pedals than the other and that can have a ricochet effect throughout your bike fit. Now to find out
10:56if
10:56your saddle is wide enough for your sit bones many local bike shops will have a tool that allow you
11:01to measure this and then choose the saddle accordingly. So there you go those are the things i think are
11:06really important if you are considering buying a women's saddle or looking for one that will help you
11:11alleviate pain you're experiencing. So do you need a cutout saddle? Well as this video has probably shown you
11:20there is a lot at play when it comes to finding the right saddle for your riding. However i hope
11:26this
11:26video has helped you determine exactly what type you need and whether you do need a cutout saddle. If
11:32you have any further questions do leave them in the comments section below and i'll do my best to answer
11:38them for you and if you have found this video useful give us a thumbs up and do subscribe to
11:43the channel
11:43it really does help us out. Now i'll be back soon with some more great tech content and i'll see
11:49you then.
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