Heavy Riders and the right Bike Seat (Saddle)

When you sit on your saddle you are effectively straddling it. You are wanting the sit bones (bottom of your pelvis) and the boney area around them to take most of the weight.

What are sit bones?

Your sit bones are large strong thickened areas of bone at the bottom of your pelvis that are designed to take your sitting load.

These sit bones need to be supported on your saddle. Your saddle has to provide a “useable width” for these sit bones. Remember above, we talked about your boney structures, they have not changed in width with your increased weight so in theory heavy riders do not need to have an extra wide saddle just one that will support the width of your sit bones.

However, many heavy riders can feel unsupported and uncomfortable on what they feel are narrow seats due to the increase bulk effectively hanging over the sides of the saddle.

If you are wanting a wider saddle there are some challenges with the materials used to make these saddle that are currently available on the market. Wider saddles are soft saddles, made of foam, and they have little supporting materials. These saddles are therefore designed mainly for short distances and may not provide the support you need if you are wanting to ride more distance/time… for example greater than 30-45 minutes.

Heavy Riders wanting to ride for longer and wanting to ride on a wide saddle may need to

1. add others forms of cushioning such as a great pair of padded bike underwear or pants. some of the wider saddles have a gel layer and this can be a great addition to a saddle or you could use a gel cover
2. start with a wide saddle and transition to a less wide saddle as they increase their fitness on the bike and their body and its tissues are more accustomed to sitting on a saddle.

Maintaining a good body position is vital to your comfort on your bike seat and your riding efficiency. We refer to this as your “A” Riding Position. Achieving this position and maintaining it throughout your ride can be  challenging for heavy riders.

During the ride heavy riders can often collapse out of their “A” riding position as they do not have the core strength to maintain this position throughout the full duration of their ride.

You will need to be very conscious of how you spend time on the bike. You need to find what works for you. Some tips

• Work out how long you can ride in comfort and only ride for this time
• Stop very regularly to give some of your weight bearing tissues a break
• If you are wanting to increase your time and frequency on the bike… only very gradual increases with lots of rest and recovery
• You may need rest days between rides to allow your body to recover
• Make sure you have considered all your options to supporting your comfort on your seat. It is likely you will need to consider multiple options to achieve comfort.