My saddle is probably something I have struggled with in the past. It is certainly not something you want to get wrong as you really suffer the consequences….
I have tried quite a few saddles and often found them to feel just not quite right…. Especially hard saddles (that may more suited to men- feel free to let me know if that is true?).
Fizzik
The first saddle I remember having on my road bike was a fizzik, it was so hard and extremely uncomfortable! I honestly felt like I was being pummelled in the wrong kind of area, so much so I ended up tilting the saddle downwards to basically get it out of the way. (Apparently this was really unstylish aswell, you can see how bad it was in the photo as well!). I also ended up riding more upright as I felt I couldn’t roll my hips down and forward which also led me to get back and shoulder pains on the bike.
Liv saddle
I have since tried two different liv saddles, I have to say they were so much more comfortable than the fizzik. Much softer and not the same need to the tilting downwards. A big improvement but I still didn’t feel completely comfortable.
ISM saddle
The famous two prong saddle that allows you to actually sit on your sit bones rather than your soft tissue. After reading many reviews I decided to get myself an ISM saddle. They had really good reviews but I also found out you must get used to the saddle, as it turns out your sit bones arn’t actually that happy to be sat on! Who knew!
Once you get over the initial bone bruising then the saddle feels great! It allowed me to get in a more comfortable position on the bike and enabled me to tilt my hips forward reducing my back and shoulder pain. I had no idea I could get that much relief from a saddle.
My first ISM saddle is the 1.1 style which I got on with really well. I then wanted to buy another ISM saddle (as my bike collection was growing and I found myself spending a long time swapping over saddles). I did a lot of research into the different styles and to be honest didn’t really understand the differences that well. A bike fitter told me to order the 3.1 so I just did as instructed haha. I have to say it is like my old 1.1 but even more comfortable, it seems to be softer on the prongs (so to new saddle users probably less bone bashing).
Overall
I would say if you are thinking about changing your saddle just do it! Life’s too short to have a bruised bum! And it will definitely be worth the investment. Some bike shops also have demo saddles so you can try before you buy.
Emily x
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