The importance of the saddle on any bicycle should never be underestimated. Get the wrong saddle, or even one that isn’t quite right for you and you’ll never feel comfortable and in the worst case scenario you simply won’t want to ride.

Yet despite the impact the saddle can have on your riding and performance, so many riders will stick with whatever was on the bike when they bought it.

Despite what new cyclists might think, that a racing saddle can’t be comfortable, saddle design has stood the test of time and generations of cyclists’ bottoms, and it is the way it is because it works so well.

Recent years have seen an exponential rise in the number of options available to riders looking for not just comfort but light weight and performance, too. There are gender-specific saddles, saddles with anatomical cut-outs, wide saddles, narrow ones, short and long ones. Then there’s choices to be made about rail material and seat top coverings and even colours and finishes.

If that much choice wasn’t bewildering enough, some companies are now turning to physiological science to further enhance their products and take the fitting process to another level at the same time. From the simple online filters of Specialized’s Saddle Finder and the Snake, Chameleon and Bull rider flexibility options of Fizik, through to the in-store fitting process of Selle Italia’s idmatch system.

As well as taking all of these points into account when it comes to choosing a new saddle, you will also need to think about what type of riding you do, how important weight the weight of the saddle is and what you want it to be made of. We’ll cover all of that in this buyer’s guide.