After matching hundreds of thousands of cyclists to bike saddles that deliver outstanding comfort, we have learned a few things. One important realization is that exact measurements of sit bone spacing are not that helpful in real world riding conditions.
We're not saying the width of your bike seat doesn't matter, but the exact spacing of your sit bones is not as important as you may have been told. Here's why:
Sit bone spacing is measured as the distance between centers of the ischial tuberosities, the bony bits in your butt that contact whatever you sit on. This can only be a starting point, because cycling is dynamic – you are shifting your posture all the time, moving both forward and backward, and using your torso, which rotates your hips and shifts your weight on and off your sit bones, and your soft tissue areas further forward.
During your ride, you might strain on a climb, launch a sprint, position for cornering control on a descent, brace for a headwind, ease off to coast down a hill, navigate tricky turns and obstacles, and lean back to catch your breath. You are moving around on your saddle all the time, and different parts of your undercarriage are carrying your weight through different contact points on the saddle, all the time you are riding.
To complicate matters, many female bike riders find themselves on bikes with long top tubes that require an uncomfortable stretch to the handlebars. Forget the rear, this puts extra pressure on the front of the saddle against soft tissues that weren’t designed for that purpose.
Our bike saddles are designed with all this in mind. There's a correct width saddle for most riders, but it's not based on an exact dimension, it's a range that gives each individual cyclist the support and relief they need through a range of shifts in position.
For this reason, our saddles fall into a few broad groups where a balance of width, profile, shape, and padding all combine to make it really comfortable for a group of riders with common characteristics.
So put away the foil and corrugated cardboard. Instead, the following questions will guide you toward your ideal saddle: the one that fits you, and is suited to the type of cycling you enjoy.