Minimizing saddle discomfort

When cycling, most of your body weight rests on the small saddle surface. If the weight is not shifted evenly to the bony structures, unnecessary pressures are then distributed to sensitive soft tissue areas. A relief channel helps, but is not the only important factor.

For an ergonomic distribution of pressure, the correlations between the sit bone distance and sitting angle must be taken into account. An ergonomic bicycle saddle should have sufficient contact surface, but still allow the thighs to move freely. Furthermore, cycling is not static. Uphill, the rider intuitively slides towards the saddle nose to shift the body’s center of gravity forwards. The opposite occurs when cycling downhill.

Ergon takes these factors into account when developing all of their saddles. There are specific models for specific disciplines, and accommodate for both recreational and professional riders. Two widths are available in every saddle model to further reach every rider’s comfort needs.

Men’s health

The Ergon development team carried out intensive research on the topic of men’s health. They found that the main cause of complaints when cycling is the saddle. Often times, men experience too much pressure on their perineal area leading to pain, discomfort, numbness and potentially more severe health problems down the road. The SR Allroad Core Men relieves this pressure with a very specific relief channel as well as better surface area distribution under the bony structures. Through MRI, CT analysis, many prototypes and test riders, we have also ergonomically tailored our road bike saddles precisely to men’s anatomy and needs.

More freedom of movement

Compared to women, the male pelvis tends to be less flexible. This means that men sit more upright on the saddle and put more of their weight distribution on their sit bones. Therefore the transition area between the rear of the saddle and the saddle nose can be kept narrow (Y-shape). This gives the legs more space to pedal.

Male and Female pelvic differences

In contrast to the female anatomy, the male sit bones are more narrow and where the two sides of the pelvis come together in the front is much higher. This results in more pressure being distributed on the male’s sit bones vs. a broader area of sit bones and pubic bones in women. We have taken this significant difference between male and female anatomy into consideration during saddle development.

The right size

The shape and size of the saddle must match the sit bone width of the rider to maximize comfort and enjoyment. The pelvic bone has a unique V-shaped and the saddle must offer the sit bones a large contact surface with the ability to meet the demand of different sitting positions. Various saddle widths are offered so that the usable seat surface corresponds to the riders unique sit bone distance. The more forward and aggressive the rider sits, the further forward the sit bones contact the saddle.