How do you compare saddle widths?

[FastforaSlowGuy]

I've been riding SMP Evolution on all my bikes for past 6 years. I have zero reason to switch, but to satisfy my curiosity, I'm considering trying a Berk Lupina. I'm always confused how "translatable" width is between saddles. I have no idea how they are measuring width, and where and how you sit on a saddle can vary a lot. The Evolution is fairly narrow, so do I just go with the narrower Berk? How do others approach this when there's no demo program?

[EliteVelo]

Other than going to a shop and getting an evaluation, there are some good tools online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7j9LUVJrjA

[OtayBW]

I've been riding SMP Evolution on all my bikes for past 6 years. I have zero reason to switch, but to satisfy my curiosity, I'm considering trying a Berk Lupina. I'm always confused how "translatable" width is between saddles. I have no idea how they are measuring width, and where and how you sit on a saddle can vary a lot. The Evolution is fairly narrow, so do I just go with the narrower Berk? How do others approach this when there's no demo program?
Ultimately - ya buys ya saddle; ya takes ya chances. For the Selle Italia SLR variant that I ride, the width is 132 mm, measured at the widest part, I believe. I can approximate where my sit bones fall on that, so with that info, maybe you can extract some kind of useful info on the Berk.

[HTupolev]

I have no idea how they are measuring width, and where and how you sit on a saddle can vary a lot.
Yes. A lot of saddle marketing pretends that it's a far simpler problem than it is. A saddle's "width" is fairly arbitrary and interpretive, it usually refers to the distance between the points that a designer decided your sitbones should spent a lot of time being.

[lhuerta]

I'm always confused how "translatable" width is between saddles.


.......width does not matter as much as the arc of the sit bone section of the saddle (and the tail flare as well)....e.g. a flat 130mm saddle may feel wider (in most cases) then a highly arced 145mm saddle, not to mention you also need to conserve the tail flare as well

[azrider]

I'll throw this out there as just some food for thought.

I recently got professional fit which included 'pressure' test. Very thin pad placed over saddle to determine where most pressure is being applied. After my test my fitter asked me "ever feel more sore on one side than the other?" To which I responded "yes, always the right sit bone." He laughed and shared that roughly 80% of my time on the saddle I was supporting majority of my body weight on right side while my left sit bone hardly ever made contact with saddle.

In my 9 years of riding and racing competitively I've always ridden a 143 saddle. He introduced me to 155 saddle and it has been a game changer. It was so odd feeling the difference and the prolonged soreness after rides is completely gone. I always thought wider saddle must be for bigger guys, but I'm 6'2" and 175 so I aint all that 'big' per se.

But I'm convinced trial and error is best way to find out what works with YOUR body, butt, style of riding.

Good luck

[Macadamia]

was wondering this recently too, I was couldnt figure out what part was the 143/155/165 of saddles, I mean I guess that would be the back but wouldnt the front also then be wider compensating for that angle, depending on design

[dave thompson]

Yes. A lot of saddle marketing pretends that it's a far simpler problem than it is. A saddle's "width" is fairly arbitrary and interpretive, it usually refers to the distance between the points that a designer decided your sitbones should spent a lot of time being.

I’ve never seen a saddle measured using that metric.

[htwoopup]

And, as an SMP rider, you should also read Hogg’s explanation of various SMP saddles and their max width vs effective width. I only got to that after trying what I thought I needed of a wider saddle based on the max width but went way too wide based on effective width. Ended up staying with SMP but the Forma.

https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/09/all-about-smps/

[HTupolev]

I’ve never seen a saddle measured using that metric.
You know what, I think you're right. I assumed it was that because that's how it was first explained to me and it almost made sense, but it looks like it does actually usually refer to the width at the widest part. So an almost completely useless value.

[Plum Hill]

Selle Italia’s website has pretty good information on it...if you know where to
look.
Another consideration is how quick the saddle narrows from maximum width. Although an SI Max SLR and Flite SLR are the same width, the Flite tapers quicker. Made all the difference in comfort for me.

[bigbill]

All my bikes including my spin bike have SSM Regals. I'm 53, at this point my ass provides lots of feedback and it says OK. Back in the day, I raced on Turbomatics but the nose of the Regal was better.

[dave thompson]

You know what, I think you're right. I assumed it was that because that's how it was first explained to me and it almost made sense, but it looks like it does actually usually refer to the width at the widest part. So an almost completely useless value.

Not useless but it is only a starting point. There is no way to tell if a particular saddle will work until you actually try it.

[Louis]

One thing you can do is put a piece of paper down on the carpet (you might have to try a few different types to see what works best for you) strip down to your skivvies (go even farther if you like :eek: ) and sit on the paper.

If you hold the paper at an angle to the light you will see the faint imprints of your sit bones (aka ischial tuberosity). You can play around with sitting while bent over at various angles to simulate a more aero position to see if that has a significant effect on the spacing.

Once you know the distance between your sit bones you can then gauge where they would be on various saddles of different widths. I would think that each sit bone should presumably be somewhere in the middle of the area of the saddle designed for them. Of course YMMV.

https://sqlab-usa.com/pages/saddle-ergonomics-explained

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1601/0029/files/sitbone_large.jpg?v=1483751432

https://kontactbike.com/faqs-2-2/

https://kontactbike.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/contactareas.jpg

https://kontactbike.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/saddlecomparison.jpg