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Comment by AnonHP | Hacker News Reader

The details in the article describe saddles from Specialized that solve the problem for women. It also says that men prefer and are able to use the same saddles (Mimic and Mirror), which is why Specialized doesn’t make women’s and men’s saddles separately anymore.

The larger problem is that most bicycles still seem to be sold with sub-par and harmful saddles. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of competition and innovation here for the mass market. One could buy a bicycle costing several hundred (or even a few thousand) dollars or euros with a lighter body, fancy brakes, suspension and so on, but you’d still get sub-par saddles.

As a non-cyclist, I’m curious to know if there’s even any kind of standardization to fit saddles to any bicycle…or is it that most common bicycles cannot have these custom or other better saddles fitted at all?

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> One could buy a bicycle costing several hundred (or even a few thousand) dollars or euros with a lighter body, fancy brakes, suspension and so on, but you’d still get sub-par saddles.

I think the fact that saddles are so individual means that high end buyers expect to be replacing the saddle that comes on the bike with their own personal preference. So brands are incentivized to compete on cost and equip the bike with a cheap saddle since buyers aren't comparing full bikes on the basis of saddle.

> As a non-cyclist, I’m curious to know if there’s even any kind of standardization to fit saddles to any bicycle

Yes, saddle rails are extremely standardized. For most saddles it's a pair of "7x7mm" circular rails that get clamped by the top of the seatpost. (Carbon-railed saddles use 7x9mm rails, I think, but that's a pretty niche part of the market.)

Experienced cyclists often replace all the contact points on a new bike to meet their preferences, including saddle, pedals, bar width, and stem reach. It's just like adjusting the height of the saddle to match your leg width, and replacing the stem to match your body/arm length.

You would have to know this before buying a bike, which most beginners wouldn't, and most bike shops don't want to offer this service because it costs money in parts and labor.

Standardization for saddles is very high. The overwhelming majority of saddles attach to the seatpost using two metal rods of standard distance and diameter. So there is no need to suffer if your nether parts hurt after weeks of using the bike! Go to a local bike shop and check out the options. And the saddle type is available from many vendors, not just Specialized.

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