Most Comfortable Bicycle Seat?

[grasscutter]

I assume wider is better for a bicycle seat. Bike is just a cruiser so I don't care how much the seat weighs. Also not concerned about aesthetics. I did run a search under the query "seat" and as you can imagine, a lot of the results were not related to bicycle seats.

We used to be able to search under a specific sub-forum, but I guess that's no longer the case.

 

[rijndael]

What is your definitely of a cruiser? A beach cruiser bike?

For a road or gravel bike, wider is not always better, and it's user dependent. Too wide and it interferes with your legs. Where your sit bones (ischial tuberosities) interact with the seat typically dictates width.

 

[JohnnyG]

Wide soft seats are OK for a woman and easy riding on streets. For a man things get a little more complicated. Depending on the type of riding, more leg room is desired which calls for a narrow seat. Also there should be a cutout in the middle which keeps the weight out on the sides nearer the hip bones.
My favorite was a Specialized.

 

[grasscutter]

The bike is an Electra Townie. Very nice bike with forward pedals. The bike seat I have now is the stock seat with a gel pad cover over it.

It would be nice to go longer than a 1/2 hour without feeling discomfort.

 

[Nessism1]

A bike seat needs to be wide enough in the back, so the rider's weight will be supported by the pelvic sit bones. Towards the nose of the saddle, it needs to be somewhat narrow, to avoid chafing the inner legs when peddling.

Supper soft, gushy, sit bone padding is good for the showroom test, but not long term. A saddle with medium firm padding is the better long term.

 

[grasscutter]

Nessism1,

What do you think about this Cloud 9 from Amazon?

 

[wavinwayne]

If you're adventurous, you could always give a Brooks leather saddle a try.

 

[Nessism1]

Nessism1,

What do you think about this Cloud 9 from Amazon?

How much do you plan on riding? A seat like that will be comfortable for 5 miles, beyond that, no. It will move and crawl into your butt crack, and cause major discomfort. It's just like a car seat; super soft is good around town, but not on a road trip.

 

[grasscutter]

If you're adventurous, you could always give a Brooks leather saddle a try.

I've heard those are comfortable but they look painful.

 

[grasscutter]

How much do you plan on riding? A seat like that will be comfortable for 5 miles, beyond that, no. It will move and crawl into your butt crack, and cause major discomfort. It's just like a car seat; super soft is good around town, but not on a road trip.

I'd like to be able to ride 5 hours straight without being in pain.

 

[ripcord]

The bike is an Electra Townie. Very nice bike with forward pedals. The bike seat I have now is the stock seat with a gel pad cover over it.

It would be nice to go longer than a 1/2 hour without feeling discomfort.

They make them uncomfortable to encourage you to hurry up and get where you're going. That's why "race" seats are so skinny.

 

[grasscutter]

They make them uncomfortable to encourage you to hurry up get where you're going. That's why "race" seats are so skinny.

Somebody on YouTube said bicycle police officers have "male trouble" because of so many hours on the wrong seat.

How's that for something to worry about?

 

[ripcord]

Somebody on YouTube said bicycle police officers have "male trouble" because of so many hours on the wrong seat.

How's that for something to worry about?

Lance Armstrong got testicular cancer. It (bike riding) ups the risk taken at high doses

 

[tcp71]

A seat is completely subjective. You HAVE to try it. I am 6ft 220lbs and use this plank on all my bikes (4 - full sus. mtb, hardtail commuter, fat bike and hardtail ebike commuter). It just fits my a$$ and I have a stock of them on hand. quite a few years ago I rented a bike to ride a rail trail with my wife while on holidays. The seat LOOKED good, but I lasted about 20 minutes before i couldn't sit on it anymore. Rode the next 5 hours mostly standing.

 

[wavinwayne]

I've heard those are comfortable but they look painful.

They take some breaking in before they are comfortable. I also suppose they don't work for everyone.

 

[grasscutter]

A seat is completely subjective. You HAVE to try it. I am 6ft 220lbs and use this plank on all my bikes (4 - full sus. mtb, hardtail commuter, fat bike and hardtail ebike commuter). It just fits my a$$ and I have a stock of them on hand. quite a few years ago I rented a bike to ride a rail trail with my wife while on holidays. The seat LOOKED good, but I lasted about 20 minutes before i couldn't sit on it anymore. Rode the next 5 hours mostly standing.

View attachment 309670

You must have a "six" as tough as steel.

 

[AZjeff]

I'd like to be able to ride 5 hours straight without being in pain.

There's not a saddle made that you can put on that bike and ride 5 hours the next time out. You have to build up the tolerance of the soft tissue you're sitting on over a length of time. Ride that 1/2 hour ride every day for 2 weeks and it will go away. Then ride for 45 minutes at a time for 2 weeks etc.

Somebody on YouTube said bicycle police officers have "male trouble" because of so many hours on the wrong seat.

Probably more a fit problem. If you have the saddle too high that can happen. If the nose of the saddle is pointed up that can happen. If the saddle just doesn't fit that can happen. Nobody can tell you what will fit you best. Like tcp71 said he found a seat that fits and that's what he uses. Most cyclists are like that.

My BIL has one of those bikes, I tried it. The big problem I see with it is ALL of your weight is on your butt your spine is vertical and there's nothing you can do about it. On an normal upright bike some of your weight is supported by your arms and you can stand up and pedal and take all the weight off your butt for a rest. The Townie is a good neighborhood cruiser bike but it was never meant to ride 5 hours. (I'm sure someone on YouTube has ridden one 100 miles but good luck with that. ) I have no idea how far you can realistically ride a pedal-forward bike like that but keep us informed. You can find videos on YouTube on how to "fit" a bike to you but that's for a normal style bike. Maybe there's something for the Townie.

Lance Armstrong got testicular cancer. It (bike riding) ups the risk taken at high doses

Oh please. There are 10s of thousands of riders riding the miles he was and it's not an epidemic of cancer among riders. He was unlucky like lots of people.

 

[BeerCan]

As said above, bike saddles are personal preference. It also takes many hours for your butt to acclimate to bike riding so seat selection can be difficult.

I spend many hours on my bike and for me these are the best saddles hands down

https://www.sellesmp.com/en/saddles.html

 

[grasscutter]

As said above, bike saddles are personal preference. It also takes many hours for your butt to acclimate to bike riding so seat selection can be difficult.

I spend many hours on my bike and for me these are the best saddles hands down

https://www.sellesmp.com/en/saddles.html

Why are some of their seats designated for e-bikes? Why do e-bikes take a special seat?

 

[johnmyster]

Back when I was doing 10,000 miles a year, I had one of these. I actually still have it.

The three leather panels are unsupported, riveted into the frame. It looks like a chinese torture device but at some point it breaks in to you or you break in to it.