Overview of Saddles

Bicycle saddles have gone through some transition over the years. Thirty years ago saddles had a leather top that was suspended over a steel framework and the rails were built as springs to give a smoother ride. Later the rails became stiff and straight, while the covering was a thick leather which after many, many, many rides and oil treatments the leather would contour to your body. People at the time would sell their bike but keep their saddle because they had "broken it in" to their particular body. Racing bikes had extremely rigid, hard plastic saddle shells with a very thin layer of leather. The thinking was flex in the saddle could only mean lost energy. Foam padded seats ultimately made their appearance. The next big innovation was a saddle with anatomic bumps, followed by a flexible saddle shell that would give under jolts, to cushion the ride. The most recent evolution in saddles has been the Gel seat, using a tissue like Gel that was initially intended as breast prosthesis material for implants. All of these design changes overlook that the body adapts to nearly all saddles and there is generally a degree of discomfort associated in any saddle change that merely "goes away" as you begin to use your new saddle in earnest. Saddles, these days, all begin with a plastic shell that all the other component parts are put on. For simplicity sake we've called it a Nylon shell, (which is generally true, unless we know explicitly otherwise). Some saddle shells have the rear tail area split so the left and right side of the tail can move independent of one another. Under the seat shell are the saddle rails. The rails are what the seat post clamp fastens to. Saddle rails are traditionally made of spring steel, though there are now seats with aluminum and, in a few cases, carbon fiber or titanium rails available. The saddle rail is typically one piece of steel rod that is bent several times to form the rail assembly. This piece runs from one end of the saddle to the other and then is bent back on itself. The same bends are repeated until the rail reaches the end of the saddle it started at. The reason we mention this is where this return curve (the bend back on itself) occurs can make a difference in weight of the saddle and load bearing. As you read the description you will be told where the "return curve" is located. The farther from the front, the less steel and therefore weight the saddle will have. The return curve is a tight bend and typically fits into a block of plastic that not only holds the rail curve but joins the two sides of the saddle together. This block of plastic that is molded into shell to hold the return curve we call the "rail bridge".