Your saddle is arguably the most important component on your bike. If it's doing its job properly, you'll never notice it, but if it isn't... ouch! Comfort is subjective, but to give you the best chance of finding your perfect seat, we've tested hundreds of saddles to find the best bike saddles you can buy, whether you're a casual rider or seasoned racer.
Best bike saddle overall: Prologo Dimension AGX 143 T4.0
Best saddle for commuting: KranX Base 145 Road and Commuter Saddle in Black
Best saddle for touring: SDG Bel Air V3 Overland Lux-Alloy Saddle
Best off-road saddle: Repente Artax GLM saddle
Best womens saddle: Selle Italia Diva Gel Superflow saddle
Best money-no-object saddle: Selle San Marco Shortfit 2.0 3D Carbon FX saddle
Best classic saddle: Brooks Cambium C17 saddle
Saddles are the most individual bike component, and sort of a Marmite litmus test; you'll either love or hate a saddle and can guess whether you're going to get on with it or not almost immediately.
All contact points, and saddles in particular, are highly subjective choices. What might be incredibly comfortable for me could be like torture to you, so you may have to try several before finding the one that's just right for you. Fortunately, many brands offer test saddles so you can try before you buy. You should choose a saddle with an eye on your riding position; the more upright you sit, the wider your saddle is likely to need to be.
Women almost universally are more comfortable on saddles that have some sort of centre section that relieves pressure on the soft tissues of the vulva; look for either a cut-out or softer area. Check out our separate buyer's guide on the best bike saddles for women for a more comprehensive overview.
It takes a while to adjust to any new saddle, so give it several short-to-medium-length rides before you decide.
How we review saddles
With saddle reviews, when it comes to comfort it's entirely subjective – what I find comfortable might, to you, feel like sitting on a bed of nails, or what is uncomfortable for me might make you feel like you're floating on a cushion of air.
Beyond just a single outing, road.cc reviewers use products for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works ensuring that the saddles undergo extensive wear to gauge their performance, durability and comfort.
We believe that this comprehensive evaluation provides valuable insights into what the saddles are like to use regularly, across different riding styles but it's always worth testing a few saddles before making any purchasing decisions.
Why you can trust us
When it comes to road.cc buyer's guides, we will only ever recommend products that fared well in reviews and all the saddles featured here scored 4 out of 5 stars or more overall from our reviewers, indicating very good or excellent quality according to our reviewers' opinions.
Our reviewers are all experienced cyclists, and so are the road.cc team members who put these guides together. That means you can be sure the product selections are our genuine top picks, not just a round-up of things we can make a commission from.
With all that said, it's time to get into our selections. While saddle technology and trends have changed considerably in the last decade or so - with 3D-printed technology now prevalent on higher end road saddles and shorter designs with central cut-outs now very popular - even cyclists who insist on all the latest tech often stick with the same saddle for years. For this reason, we've dug a bit deeper into our review archive to bring you our list of the very best saddles we'd recommend. It's very unlikely a ten-year-old bike would appear in our best road bikes guide, but when it comes to saddles, the classics often don't change. Which is a good thing if you find one that's spot on for your bum...
You'll find our overall top picks first, followed by plenty more recommendations, and finally our Q+A section. It's also worth noting that this is intended a general guide to bike saddles of all types, whether you're a road racer, commuter or simply cycle for leisure. If you're after a saddle for road riding, you can narrow your search by skipping straight to our road bike saddle guide instead. If you want to pick from a wider range of saddle genres, keep reading!
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The best saddle is the one that works for you, the rider.
Fabric or Charge Spoon, in my case.