27 road bike saddles from 7 manufacturers tested - 6 testers 14 days 27 road bike saddles tested for you

For many cyclists, the search for the right saddle seems just as difficult as choosing a life partner. Some relationships fail after just a few kilometres, others may last a summer, and only a few people would want to cycle with for the rest of their lives.

One of the reasons why it is so difficult to find the right saddle is that the range is almost unmanageable. Selle Italia or Specialized alone, for example, have 36 or 21 road bike saddles in their range: wide, narrow, thickly padded, hard as a board, with holes and without, black, colourful, with metal or carbon frames. You can hardly try them all out. Or can you? Many manufacturers offer help in the form of a virtual partner agency for saddle seekers. They can usually be used online on the computer and provide specific suggestions for certain saddle models. This can be a solution for cyclists who know their anatomical key data and individual preferences exactly. Other providers supplement the virtual pre-selection with subsequent advice from a specialist dealer.

Hit list

Seven manufacturers currently offer a search system, which queries between two (SQ-Lab and Fizik) and eight criteria (Ergon, Selle Italia). The questions centre on gender, bike type, rider flexibility and sit bone distance. Questions about the desired thickness of the padding or the sensitivity of the pubic bone or sit bones to pressure are somewhat rarer.

Fizik offers the simplest selection process. The Spine Concept is mainly concerned with how flexible the cyclist is. If you can easily touch the tips of your shoes with your fingers, the programme identifies you as a "snake". If you can only bend your back with difficulty and can only reach knee height with your hands, you are a "bull", between these extremes you are a "chameleon". In the second step, the programme asks whether you are more competition-oriented or comfortable. And that's it. The analogue counter-example comes from Selle Italia and is called idMatch. This selection process only takes place at trained dealers and involves a 15-minute body measurement in which the pelvic width, thigh circumference and maximum spinal flexion are measured using calipers, a tape measure and an electronic spirit level. Together with other parameters, a software programme then calculates the company's own classification into one of the six saddle families from S1 to L3, each of which includes four to nine saddle models. So what seems like speed dating at Fizik takes considerably more time at Selle Italia and, including the journey to the dealer, results in a rather intensive familiarisation phase. You will find a list of the relevant criteria of the individual saddle finders including a brief evaluation in the PDF download below.

With six saddle testers - four men, two women - we went through the seven different selection programmes of the suppliers; a total of 27 different saddle models were recommended. Our testers took it in turns to ride their seven test saddles for a fortnight, documenting their impressions and selecting three personal test winners. We have refrained from awarding grades in the form of school marks due to individual anatomies and preferences. After all, you wouldn't give your partner a school grade.

The complete test with these models and the test subjects' conclusions can be found below as a PDF download:

- Ergon: SR3-S/-M Pro | SRX3-M Pro | SR3-M/-L
- Fizik: Aliante R3 Kium | Antares R3 Kium | Arione R3 Kium
- Pro: Falcon 142 | Griffon Lady 142 | Griffon Ti AF 142 | Turnix Carbon | Turnix Ti 142
- Selle Italia: Flite Kit Carbonio Flow | Max SLR Gel Flow | SLR Lady Flow | SLR SUper Flow 130
- Selle San Marco: Aspide Waved Narrow | Mantra Flat Narrow | Regale Flat Narrow
- Specialised: Avatar Comp Gel 143 | Oura Expert Gel | Ruby Expert Gel 155 |
Toupé Expert Gel | S-Works Romin 143 | S-Works Toupé 143
- SQ-Lab: 611 Race 13/14/15 | 612 Road 12/13/14 | 611 Active Race 13

You can also download the TOUR 11/2014 magazine here. order conveniently online.

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