The 10 Best Bike Saddles for More Comfortable Miles (2024)

No matter how great your bike, if it doesn’t pass the comfort test, it will be one joyless ride after another. A large part of comfort is determined by the saddle which should provide support for your sit bones. If your saddle is too narrow, there will be excessive pressure on your sit bones. Too wide a saddle and you may find yourself on the edge of the center channel where there is not much padding, with chafing an unpleasant result. (Below, we share some guidance on how to measure your sit bone width so you can determine the right size saddle).

To put it simply, saddles are an extremely personal choice, and choosing the best one for you will come down to body morphology, riding style, position on the bike, and padding preferences.

• Best Pressure Relief Saddle: Selle Royal Respiro Athletic
• Maximum Relief Road Saddle: Prologo Dimension Tirox
• Most Affordable: Planet A.R.S. Classic
• Most Affordable Mountain Bike Saddle: WTB Speed Steel
• Best Value All Discipline: Selle Italia Model X Green Superflow

These days, manufacturers are rethinking saddle shape and using 3D printing to optimize comfort. While becoming more common, 3D printing is still relegated to the highest end of the marketplace. Many 3D-printed bike saddles currently available for purchase are exorbitantly expensive. There are a few companies, though, who are offer more reasonably priced models such as the Specialized Power Expert with Mirror ($200). This saddle combines a traditional smooth cover with 3D printed padding under the sit bones

With an untold number of possibilities for shape, density, and zone-specific cushioning, 3D printing looks set to be a game-changing innovation that will forever change bicycle saddles.

The trend toward short-nosed performance saddles, which originated with riders looking to optimize soft-tissue comfort while leaning forward on aero bars, is now reaching the mainstream.

Why go short? Reducing the saddle length up front means you can ride the drop portion of your bar for longer periods. But the newest saddles aren’t just short; they’re also wider up front, allowing riders to shift forward without compromising power.

Bicycling has been vetting and reviewing bikes, gear, and accessories for more than 50 years. Recommendations are based on the extensive work of the test team which includes Deputy Editor Tara Seplavy, Senior Test Editor Matt Phillips, Test Editor Dan Chabonov, and Maintenance Editor Gabe Ortiz. Together, they have more than 60 years of ride-testing experience and insight that they bring to every recommendation they make.

For the bike saddles chosen here, Matt Phillips determined the final recommendations based on his comprehensive test experiences, knowledge of the brands, and extensive industry background.

Additional research and reporting was handled by Chris Pino who has put in his fair share of saddle time during 10-plus years of cycling. Pino has experienced all sorts of saddle shapes and sizes across just about every type of terrain out there. From multiday bikepacking trips and XC MTB racing to high-intensity twilight criteriums, and 200-kilometer road rides, he’s learned—sometimes the hard way—what makes a good saddle and what to avoid. Although finding the perfect saddle is different for everyone, his hope is that the selections below and the guidance offered help you make the best choice possible.

Over the years, the Bicycling gear team and staff have tested many, many bike saddles. In fact, a survey asking everyone in the office for their favorites elicited about as many opinions as the number of people who responded.

As mentioned earlier, saddle fit is completely personal so we also factored in user reviews to back up our recommendations, and to get as much additional feedback as possible. For those models we haven’t tested, they are often quite similar to bike seats that we have had personal experience with, so we carefully review and vet any of those options before recommending.

For each contender in this roundup, we considered riding style, weight, design and materials, performance, and cost. Here are the best bike saddles for road racers, commuters, mountain bikers, and more.

Ideal for shorter rides on bikes that put you in an upright position, the Respiro has a center groove that takes weight off your soft tissue and offers plenty of padding where it redistributes that pressure (your sit bones). The channel down the midline of the seat also allows for airflow through the area, keeping your nether regions from getting too sweaty. The Titanox seat rails are strong and lightweight, and the padded, cutaway design is suitable for both genders.

The Dimension is just 245 millimeters long—about 35 millimeters shorter than Prologo’s other road saddles—to produce less pressure. It’s also a bit wider at 143 millimeters (Prologo’s standard road saddle is about 134 millimeters wide). Further pressure relief is provided by the cutout shell (PAS in Prologo terminology). The rear of the saddle, where the rider’s sit bones rest, belongs to Prologo’s “Semi-Round” category. This, unsurprisingly, falls between Prologo’s more curved “round” tail shape and its “flat” shape. Dual-density padding resides under the microfiber cover. Although Prologo does make a women’s-specific line of saddles, Elisa Barelli of Prologo’s marketing department explained that, due to the saddle’s shape and features, the Dimension is considered appropriate for both men’s and women’s anatomies.

Read Full Review

An extremely affordable comfort saddle with firm foam padding and a pronounced relief channel, Planet Bike’s A.R.S. (that is, Anatomic Relief Saddle) is an upgrade for many budget bikes. The seat keeps riders’ sit bones from feeling bruised and gives the nether regions plenty of breathing room. The cover doesn’t feel as nice as those on saddles that are four times the price, but it does have abrasion-resistant patches to prevent excessive wear. And the saddle shape isn’t just for cruising. Riders felt like they could move around when they wanted to stand for a climb.

Buy Men’s Buy Women’s

With all the out-of-saddle riding that happens on trails both uphill and down, a budget saddle might be all you need to have an awesome ride. This all-around off-road saddle is definitely that, but it’s also designed to be supportive when you’re seated, making it a good choice for gravel grinding as well as singletrack shredding. Unlike other more expensive saddles, the Speed Steel is available in only one size: medium. The steel rails damp chatter, providing a smoother ride through rough lines. A slight center depression redistributes pressure from soft tissue to sit bones.

The Model X Green Superflow blew us away. This $55 saddle rides like a saddle costing four times as much. The ride comfort, build quality, and overall feel of the saddle is unmatched at this price point. On the bike, it felt immediately comfortable with its short nose, 145-millimeter width, and generous relief cutout. It checks all the boxes for a modern short-nose road saddle with a cutout. Selle Italia has implemented a new manufacturing process that is entirely automated in order to make this saddle. The padding was supportive yet minimal, and combined with a decent amount of flex in the shell, we found this saddle to be great for spirited and longer road rides. The only downside being this saddle is a bit heavy.

The Power Expert is a budget-friendly saddle in the larger Specialized Power family. Only the Power Comp ($140) is cheaper and features chromoly, not titanium, rails. The Expert has a short nose, a wide tail, and a center cutout. The claim is this shape enhances blood flow and relieves pressure on sensitive areas. We couldn’t test blood flow to determine the veracity of that claim, but our testers did find the saddle comfortable while riding road, gravel, and mountain bike trails. The minimal padding provided a firm pedaling platform that felt extremely efficient but not uncomfortable. However, this saddle, and others like it, work best for riders who don't like to shift around a lot while seated. Cyclists who prefer to move around on the saddle would be well-advised to steer clear of this one. The Power Expert comes in four widths: 130, 143, 155, and 168 millimeters (though the 130-millimeter model is currently sold out).

Specialized utilized the latest in 3D printing technology, which it calls Mirror, to upgrade its S-Works Romin EVO. The Romin not only boasts a 26 percent reduction in sit bone pressure, but also features the company’s body geometry cutout for increased blood flow. The sum of all this tech is a supremely comfortable saddle that should work for a wide range of anatomies. The Mirror technology also allows Specialized to tune the saddle in a way not feasible with a standard foam or gel saddle. The result is precise, firm support exactly where you need it balanced by soft cushion in areas that don’t require as much support. We are very excited for this technology to trickle down into more affordable saddles, like the new Specialized Power Pro with Mirror.

Read Full Review

The Brooks B17 has been around for more than 100 years, which is a long time to perfect a product. It’s designed to wear in slowly over a few months—like all leather—but once it does, you’ll have a nearly custom-fit saddle that will last for the long haul (the company offers a 10-year warranty). The strong, durable steel rails help dampen road vibrations, and the wide rear and narrow nose offer the right dimensions for well-supported, unencumbered pedaling. Ladies, check out the B17 Short.

Short for biomimicry, Specialized’s Mimic technology conforms to a woman’s anatomy to promote a more comfortable ride. The company deploys Mimic on many of its saddles, and adding it the Power series earned praise from many testers—both women and men. Specialized filled the Power’s cutout with a flexible thermoplastic elastomer (TPU) “hammock” to prevent tissue from pushing through the opening and swelling (a painful problem for some women). It also incorporated three different foam densities: firm under the sit bones, memory cushion down the center, and soft on the nose, to provide better pressure distribution. The Power saddles with Mimic also feature an updated shape with tapered wings to minimize thigh rubbing. That should be good news for any riders who experience saddle pain on their rides. At the very least, Mimic provides one more option for riders seeking more comfort. And for some, it could be the solution they’ve been waiting for.

Read Full Review

Editors’ Note: This popular saddle can be hard to find and is currently on backorder at many retailers. We recommend being patient and checking several retailers, such as Competitive Cyclist, Mike’s Bikes, and Specialized’s website. You could also consider similar models like the Power Comp with Mimic.

Ergon has a long history of producing great MTB saddles, and the SM Sport Gel for women is no different. The women’s-specific shape allows for comfort in all MTB disciplines. It features strategically placed gel inlays and a large cutout that gives pressure relief exactly where you need it. The flatter rear of the saddle allows for a large range of movement and seating positions while still remaining supportive. The SM Sport line was designed by women for women, and it shows. Our testers reported forgetting they were even sitting on a saddle, which is one of the highest compliments a saddle can have.

Our Experts, Chris Pino and Matt Phillips, Give Guidance on Cut-Outs, Price, Padding, and More.