Monday, May 18, 2015

Trying to find Saddle Nirvana?

When customers come to me for a bike fit, saddle discomfort is almost always on the list of reasons why they are not comfortable.  We can do a lot to try to mitigate the discomfort with proper saddle positioning and fit, but sometimes the best thing we can do is try other saddles.  Everybody's body is different, and what works great for one person might not work well for others - we are all different and we are all asymmetrical.  Finding the best saddle for you isn't always easy, so I'm working hard to make Vector Cycle Works the best saddle resource in the area.

Over time, I've accumulated over 55 saddles from Cobb Cycling, ISM Seat, SQlab, fi'zi:k, Selle Royal, Chromag, Terry, and a few others.  Vector Cycle Works is an authorized dealer for all of the aforementioned brands, and I have a few others to give people options.  My goal is to provide options without bias - let's find the right saddle for you, not what's best for my bottom line. Prices range from around $50 to $250, so we can keep your budget in mind.  You can see the complete list here.  I'm always willing to take suggestions if there's something you've seen and would like to try.  If I can get it, I will.


In order to make saddle testing as effective as possible, I have a great tool from BikeFit called the SwitchIt.  It is mounted on an old spin bike that I've modified into a poor man's fitting bike.  The SwitchIt allows us to change saddles with the flip of a lever.  We can make adjustments to angles and fore/aft position in seconds.  You can see a quick video of it in action here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w0OU36RfWY

I do saddle testing sessions for free.  A saddle testing session can take a couple of hours, but it's worth it.  We can usually start to identify some trends in what feels good for you and start to narrow it down to a few favorites.  We usually will revisit the top 5 or so, refining the adjustments to see what makes each one even better.

Afterwards, we'll mount the saddle to your bike and you can try it out for a couple of weeks.  Things will feel different on the road, and it's good to get in 5-6 rides to really get a feel for a change.  If you like it, you have the option to purchase it or order the model in a different color and follow up with an install.  If it didn't turn out as well as we hoped, we'll try again!

Of course, if you really want to maximize your comfort, we can follow up with a ForeverFit full bike fitting, which is guaranteed for as long as you own the bike.  We'll get a good foundation with the right saddle choice and then fine-tune the rest of your fit for maximum comfort and performance.

You can schedule a saddle test or bike fit at https://vectorcycleworks.appointlet.com.