How do I know that my saddle fits me

Question

I have recently bought one of these fancy 3d printed saddles (fitzik vento argo adaptive r3, 140mm). However, I don't know whether it truly fits me. I do road rides and always with bib shorts. The saddle feels fine, very comfortable, but after some 2 hours of riding, I start to feel my bum. Mostly some pressure points in the seat bone area. Is this normal or do I need another saddle?

Answer 1

Assuming the rest of your bike fit is correct, I think you can be reasonably sure a saddle fits you if you basically don't really notice it after a long ride outdoors. That is, it shouldn't hurt you.

If your bike fit is off, then my understanding (not a fitter, but I listen to some podcasts from bike fitters) is that that can cause you to sit on your saddle in such a way that causes discomfort. For example, if your saddle is a bit too high, our bodies instinctively tend to compensate to one side (on average, you try to protect your dominant side). That might cause unilateral saddle discomfort. Let that go too long and you would also expect to see unilateral joint pain.

Unfortunately, because it takes a while on the saddle to know, it's often hard to find a good saddle. Few saddles have return programs. Fizik does, but Colby Pearce (Cycling in Aligment podcast) criticized their overall fit philosophy, and he especially criticized the Arione. Fortunately, that's for performance roadies and not many people ride it.

My understanding is that a lot of people report that the Specialized Power saddles work well. Interestingly, that includes the Power Mimic (targeted at women) working for a lot of men. I don't know who else makes saddles that work well enough for a lot of people. Specialized also doesn't have a saddle trial program. Bontrager/Trek will take returns for any reason within 30 days. I'm not sure how well their saddles are regarded.