How to Choose the Right Bike Saddle Size, Men's vs. Women's Saddles, and More Saddle FAQs
Singletracks Mountain Bike Podcast
Singletracks.com
4.7 • 574 Ratings
🗓️ 12 September 2022
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week we’re re-sharing one of our favorite podcast episodes, and we’ll be back next week with an all-new show.
Sean Madsen is WTB’s Saddle Category Manager and is an expert in cycling biomechanics with more than 24 years of experience. Over his career he’s studied and taught bike fitting to thousands worldwide, and he’s helped create many innovative saddle concepts while working with top athletes.
In this episode, we ask Sean common questions about bike saddles including:
- How are bike saddles constructed?
- What are some of the different materials that are used for padding? Are there advantages to using materials like gel?
- What is the purpose of titanium or carbon saddle rails?
- How does bike saddle sizing work?
- Are more expensive saddles more comfortable?
- What’s the idea behind saddle cutouts?
- Why do you think the Volt is one of WTB’s best selling saddles?
- Do men and women need different bike saddles?
- Are saddles generally designed under the assumption that riders will be wearing a chamois?
- Are mountain bike saddles different from road bike saddles?
- How have saddle designs changed over the past few seasons? What’s driving the changes?
- What are some signs that it’s time for a new or a different saddle?
Find out more about saddles and WTB designs at wtb.com.
✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available to Singletracks Pro supporters: singletracks.com/support
--Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Something unexpected has arrived in Happy Meal. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Hello Kitty and friends are teaming up for the ultimate collab. |
| 0:08.3 | Joining your little ones on a fun-fueled adventure. Some fun, some food, it's all inside this happy meal. |
| 0:16.3 | Until the 2nd of February from 11am includes one pre-selected book or toy whilst it's last. |
| 0:20.1 | Hey everybody, welcome to the single tracks podcast. |
| 0:23.0 | My name is Jeff, and today my guest is Sean Madsen. |
| 0:27.2 | Sean is WTB's saddle category manager and is an expert in cycling biomechanics with more than 24 years of experience. |
| 0:36.5 | Over his career, he's studied and taught bike fitting to |
| 0:39.0 | thousands worldwide, and he's helped create many innovative saddle concepts while working with |
| 0:44.5 | some of the sports top athletes. Thanks for joining us, Sean. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. |
| 0:50.7 | Well, I know you've been with WTB for a little while now, obviously not your whole career, |
| 0:56.5 | but I wanted to start out by just kind of giving an overview of where WTB is now and sort of their |
| 1:02.5 | place in the saddle market. So how and when did WTB get into bike saddles and then specifically |
| 1:10.4 | mountain bike saddles? Well, again, WTB get into bike saddles and then specifically mountain bike saddles? |
| 1:11.8 | Well, again, WTB is a new company for me. |
| 1:15.9 | I've only been there about a year or so. |
| 1:17.8 | But historically, they've been around since the mid-80s. |
| 1:22.8 | The main saddle designer was a gentleman named Mark Slate. |
| 1:26.5 | He's also one of the founders of the company. |
| 1:28.9 | And so they've really been in saddle design from the beginning. And they're born out of Mill Valley |
| 1:34.5 | and that whole Mount Tam era, the repack rides and those kind of guys. And Mark was involved |
| 1:41.0 | with that scene back in the 80s. So they've really been at the birth of mountain biking from right when it started. |
| 1:49.1 | And so that's kind of where he came out of. |
... |
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