5 Best Bike Saddle to Prevent Numbness in 2023

One of the best ways to stay fit, especially for men with nine-to-five jobs, is to change their commute type. Instead of choosing public transportation, choose a bike to work. This way, you keep active and save time.
Although before you start cycling, taking the right precautions is necessary. Apart from basic safety gear, men need to purchase a bike saddle. These little cushions are not only for comfort but also help protect men’s genitals.
In this review, we’ll put forward the few best bike saddle to prevent numbness and help make your daily commute easy on you and your underside.
5 Best Bike Saddle for Numbness Reviews
Each bike saddle you find on the market will be different from one another to accommodate your needs better. To fulfill such personal requirements, purchasing the right saddle that matches your needs best is crucial.
1. YLG Oversized Comfort Bike Seat
Comfort riding is essential for everyday commutes; however, this wouldn’t be possible unless you had an oversized bike seat. In such a case, the YLG oversized seating is one of the best in the market for cyclists seeking comfort over performance.
This company takes comfort seriously, and every aspect of this seat is optimized according to it. Starting from the seats’ distinctive design, you’ll find that YLG has created its seats to represent your hips’ structure.
The wide-spread curved arc shape ensures your hips find a good and sturdy fit onto the seat. A sturdy fit onto the seat should give you a perfect cycling posture and ensure long rides do not stiffen up or numb out your buttocks and genitals.
For the saddle material, YLG has made use of what is best in the business. The insides of the seats use a mixture of premium memory foam and Gel Soft. This mixture creates a seat with high elasticity and high density to not get compressed with prolonged use.
The inner surface is also shake-proof, thus, capturing most impacts on bumpy roads, giving you a smooth ride. To further improve the seat’s ability to capture shocks, the mounts to the seat have been designed with dual spring load ball suspension.
These spring loads combat a majority of the shocks you go through, making it perfect for city bikes that come without suspension. The seat’s outer material further comes to be waterproof and reflective for safe and long riding.
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2. Fizik Arione Kium Rails Road Bicycle Saddle
Performance and comfort are two things that are extremely hard to get together, and even when you do, they don’t seem to be up to the mark. However, this product, known as the Fizik Arione Kium, completely changed the game with its brilliantly designed bike seats.
They combine the concept of racing seats while keeping everyday commutes in mind. In its entirety, this seat’s build is a mystery kept from the world. The company uses a complex blend of metal alloys and tubular designs to give it its frame.
This frame is what is responsible for the high amount of performance drive that can be achieved without much fatigue. These materials are also what give the frame some rigidity and strength. The company has further installed onto the seat what is known as Wing-Flex technology.
This tech creates a flexible curvature at the edges of the seat that come into contact with your inner thighs the most. Thus, providing your legs with space for contact-free leg motion, saving your inner thighs from rashes and soreness that come with intense and long rides.
What you’re also getting with this seat is a carbon-reinforced nylon shell. This shell keeps the seat weighing barely anything, making it a large factor for performance junkies.
The carbon reinforcement into the nylon shell further provides a flexible yet strong structure that can give years of longevity with intense usability.
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Related Guide: Top Saddle to Prevent Perineum Pain
3. Fizik Aliante Gamma Kium Rails Road Bicycle Saddle
Another brilliant product from Fizik is their Aliante Gamma Kium Seat. Unlike the previous seat we reviewed from this brand, the Aliante comes with a more road-use design. Here, the company has put a considerable amount of focus on seat comfort than its performance.
However, this performance yet remains above most other competitors in the market. The Twin-Flex technology included in the seat’s build material helps ensure an optimal comfort level is achieved. This twin-flex design is initially a combination of three layers of carbon.
The top and bottom layers include a stiff and sturdy carbon material, while the middle layer has been made flexible. Thus, allowing easy movement while maintaining integrity. Furthermore, the flexible moveability allows much free movement of your legs while riding the bike.
This free movement helps blood flow to occur throughout your hips, genitals, and legs, keeping you from going numb. The carbon rail system, paired with a Kevlar base, further ensures improved strength and sturdiness of the seat for performance usage.
All the Carbon and Kevlar used on this seat further make it extremely lightweight, weighing in at only 255gm. Such a lightweight seat is bound to improve your bike’s performance, making it a great product for people looking for places to skim weight.
All this can be yours for a much more affordable price than Fizik’s last product, making it a bargain.
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4. Brooks England Cambium All Weather Bike Seat
Brooks’ Cambium range is their all-weather-friendly design, built for environments with dynamic weather changes. And for people who love taking their bikes with them to different locales.
Whatever the driving style and location, this all-weather seat will provide the same unhindered service, which should last you a lifetime.
For the seat’s build, Brooks has used multiple layers of different materials that give their seats structural integrity while keeping them flexible. These layers include vulcanized natural rubber and organic cotton canvas layers, further enhanced by thin structural textile layers.
The result of all these materials is a performance seat that ensures very little fatigue. Furthermore, the seat’s unique design, including a hole in the middle, is an ergonomic setting.
The hole allows better air flow to reach your hips region, giving it much better-breathing space, an essential need for long commutes. Moreover, the flex design enables better leg movement and improves the blood flow reaching the lower region of your body.
The backplate on the seat has been reinforced using fiberglass plating, giving the seat an extra layer of structural rigidity. This backplate has further been fitted with loops, allowing you to carry your shopping.
Thus, making the seat a perfect buy for daily commutes. Plus, the seat weighing only 450g further balances its performance and convenience aspect.
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Suggested Guide: Quality Brooks Saddles
5. Brooks England B17 Bike Saddle
Traveling to work on a cycle doesn’t mean you can’t do it with style. This classic B17 bike saddle from Brooks England is a blast from the past. This seat is an old classic leather seat that matches those found on bikes in the 90s.
But even though its design is inspired by a period some of us were never a part of, it still performs as one of the most comfortable seats money can buy. What’s beautiful about these seats is that they use the same manufacturing process as they used 20 years ago.
Plus, each seat is handmade, meaning every seat is different from the others. Every seat also has a certain level of detail to ensure you get the best in terms of comfort, looks, and performance.
Although the seats are made using older techniques, they can still perform alongside most other models available today. The seat’s unique design ensures easy and quick leg movement. And it also makes sure that minimal friction takes place between your inner thighs and the seat.
Thus, giving you immense comfort while riding, as your lower body can move around freely. Your lower body, mainly your genitals and buttocks, are also continuously ventilated, courtesy of the large pores in the vegetable-tanned leather.
These keep those inner regions cool to avoid rashes and numbness during extremely long commutes. Furthermore, the seats also come with an extremely strong frame that ensures a stable and even ride.
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Things to Consider Before Buying
Every guy has different needs, you know yourself better than anyone else. Thus, it would help if you better understand your needs.
This buying guide should help you understand what would fit you best, enabling you to purchase accordingly.
Riding Style
One of the first factors that must be addressed before you start making your purchases is how you ride your bike. There are many reasons to ride a bike; some do it as an everyday cardio exercise, whereas some do it to get to and from work.
All these reasons greatly influence the type of seat you should get, so you need to understand your reasons cautiously. An excellent method by which you can understand your seat needs is by comparing the style to the seat’s width.
Suppose you’re looking for comfortable cycling or cycling where you’ll spend time on a long daily commute. In that case, we recommend getting a seat with a wide body. As you pick up the pace and choose the cycling style that requires you to be quick and agile, the seats will get narrower.
Racing cycles have some of the narrowest seats ensuring the quickest speeds.
Material Used
What makes up a saddle/seat comes next on the list of importance when choosing a bike saddle. The type of material being used will also determine the amount of comfort or performance you can achieve.
One of the most comfortable materials to have on your cycle seat is memory foam. This foam makes the seats soft and easy to ride on while giving them good shock absorption abilities. However, performance-wise these wouldn’t be the seats to go for.
Other materials like carbon-reinforced nylon inside a seat are more balanced. These materials create a rigid seat while providing only the necessary amount of flexibility. Thus, the seats tick both comfort and performance marks on our books.
Buyer’s Guide: Saddle Factors You Should Keep an Eye Out for
Finding the right bike saddle can make a world of difference in terms of comfort and performance. With so many options available, it can be challenging to know where to start. That’s why we’ve put together a comprehensive yet easy to follow buyer’s guide to help you choose the best saddle for your needs.
Size and Width
- Choose a bike seat with a rear section width of at least 8 inches to support both sit bones simultaneously and provide comfort during long rides.
- Opt for a wider saddle to distribute weight more evenly and help reduce pressure on sit bones.
- Opt for a noseless bike seat, as it can help prevent numbness, particularly for male riders.
- Look for a saddle with a center channel to relieve pressure from the perineal area and eliminate testicular compression for male riders.
Saddle Fabric
- Consider opting for a bike seat with a cover material made of natural or synthetic leather, as it is a popular and tough material that offers great durability.
- Look for a bike saddle that has a shell made of carbon reinforcement, nylon, or other strong materials, as they are known for their strength and durability.
- Rails connect the shell to the seat post clamp, and you should look for a saddle that has rails made of steel alloys, manganese alloys, carbon fiber, or titanium, as these materials are known for their strength and durability.
- If leather is too expensive, consider opting for a high-quality rubber, microfiber cloth, or polyurethane fabric cover, as they are more affordable and durable options.
Ensure Comfortability
- Opt for a bike seat with thick and soft padding, as it offers comfort during long rides. However, make sure that the padding is placed in the right areas for ultimate comfort.
- Choose a bike seat with padding made of memory foam, regular foam, or gel, as these materials can distribute vertical load and relieve pressure from the tailbone and sit bones.
- Look for a bike seat that has a channel or cut-outs in the middle, as they can help relieve pressure and enhance blood flow.
- To ensure a comfortable ride, consider searching for a bike seat with a center cut-out or groove to relieve pressure on the perineum.
- Ensure a well-padded saddle that can absorb shock and minimize pressure on sensitive tissues.
Opt for Durable Options
- Consider opting for a bike seat with a cover material made of natural or synthetic leather, as it is a popular and tough material that offers great durability.
- Look for a bike saddle that has a shell made of carbon reinforcement, nylon, or other strong materials, as they are known for their strength and durability.
- Rails connect the shell to the seat post clamp, and you should look for a saddle that has rails made of steel alloys, manganese alloys, carbon fiber, or titanium, as these materials are known for their strength and durability.
- If leather is too expensive, consider opting for a high-quality rubber, microfiber cloth, or polyurethane fabric cover, as they are more affordable and durable options.
- Ensure that the saddle is compatible with your bicycle, regardless of type or model, to ensure a comfortable biking experience.
Look for Additional Features
- Consider choosing a bike seat that comes with extra features and accessories, such as reflective stripes and mounting tools, as they signify high-quality bike seats.
- Look for a bike seat that is easy to install or mount. The less time-consuming factors is what you should opt for.
With this list of factors, you can’t go wrong in choosing a suitable saddle for yourself. Good Luck!
How to Prevent Numbness from Cycling?
With your entire body weight adjusted onto a small seat, the perineal/groin region will likely get immensely compressed during cycling. Such immense amounts of compression for long periods will likely cause those regions to numb out.
In such cases, follow these simple techniques to keep yourself from causing permanent damage to your body.
Stand Up
A simple method to avoid putting too much pressure on your groin region would be to stand up on the paddles temporarily. This technique would help relieve your perennial region of much of the body pressure you receive.
Keep Shifting
When on a cycle, staying still during the commute is the last thing you must do. Keep shifting your body throughout the ride to remove the pressure from a single point on your groin.
Get the Right Gear
For those of you who bike for hours on end, getting yourself fitted with the right gear is essential. Safety gear doesn’t only mean a helmet and pads; you also need to get yourself bike shorts.
These shorts are fitted with an extra layer of padded chamois in the perineal region that protects your groin.
Seat Positioning
Another easy method for keeping you from groin numbness is by making sure you have the height and angle of your seat adjusted right. Keep the seat slightly tilted to avoid constant contact with your groin.
For the seat height, make sure to adjust it so that the seat is above the handlebar. It would help if you also focused on your knees; they must be slightly bent at the bottom pedal cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why will a softer bike seat not help sore buttocks?
Fitting the wrong foam-based cushion onto your seat and thinking it’ll help fix your sore butt is the wrong idea. Sure, these foams will feel nice to sit on for the first few days. However, once your butt imprints are compressed onto the foam, there isn’t much help you’ll be getting out of it.
2. What is the best position for my bike seat?
Professionals recommend angling your bike seats forward to make them more comfortable when riding on long commutes. Angling your seat by some 1 or 2 degrees will help keep your groin away from the immense pressure caused by your body weight running onto the narrow seat head.
3. Is my bike saddle too narrow?
Each body type requires different measurements of their saddles for an optimal level of comfort. A saddle that is too narrow for your body can be extremely painful and damaging for your body. To understand if your saddle is too narrow, see if it hurts your groin when you sit down; if it does, change the saddle immediately.
4. What saddle does a pro cyclist use?
A pro cyclist will look for the perfect blend of performance and comfort from their saddle. For these reasons, these cyclists’ main criteria for purchase is a well-padded and flexible seat. They also prefer that the seats have good air flow for better comfort and aeration while riding.
5. How long will my bike saddle last?
The saddle wears out with use; regular usage of a saddle will cause the material inside to deteriorate and lose its comforting abilities. Ensure that you’re changing your saddle every two years to avoid creating permanent damage to your groin region.
Final Words
The numbness you feel after a bike ride certainly isn’t normal and will cause you damage in the long run. Experiencing numbness in the saddle area can be an uncomfortable situation for any cyclist.
However, there’s positive news discovering the appropriate bike saddle can diminish this unease and offer a pleasurable ride. Whether you’re an enthusiastic cyclist or prefer a relaxed ride, investing in a first-rate bike saddle can greatly enrich your cycling encounter.
To select a bike saddle that can avoid numbness, it’s crucial to consider the saddle’s shape, size, and materials utilized. Additionally, testing various saddles before purchasing one is recommended because what suits one rider might not suit another.
Thus, take the necessary time to select the perfect bike saddle for a satisfying and delightful cycling experience.