# Soft vs Hard Bike Seat with Padded Shorts



## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

As a newbie, I am shocked at the cost of bike shorts, pants, shirts. I'm used to buying my street clothes at Wal-Mart, Forman Mills, or JC Penney at 50% off with a coupon for an additional 20% off.

For the top, I use a generic form of UnderArmour with/without a t-shirt on top I bought at Wal-Mart for $15. Haven't figured the bottom yet. I've been using gym shorts and cotton sweat pants when needed with an elastic cuff.

And shoes? My running shoes with rat trap pedals.

My bike? 27 speed Tiagra front, 105 rear, Tiagra shifters, carbon fork are the main components.

The question: I bought a soft seat for my bike. Is a hard seat with bike shorts with the padding in the shorts better than a soft seat with spandex type shorts with no padding? Other than the potential rubbing in the legs and the possibility of an ensuring rash if you don't use some form of spandex. What is the advantage to a hard seat? I find them uncomfortable so I've always ridden with soft seats but I'm also not a long time or long distance bike rider, only an occasional rider.


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## coonass (Feb 4, 2004)

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html
IMHO, I spent the first 3 years of cycling purchasing the 'New & Improved' saddles; usually 2/year....
Everyone's advice for a comfortable saddle, especially for rides longer than 50 miles was a Brook's Saddle (hard as a rock). I finally gave in and bought one.....love it.. I have a Brook's Swift on 3 bikes now.


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## timfire (Dec 13, 2001)

A "hard", minimalistic saddle (such as a Selle Italia Flite, my preferred seat) is way, WAY better than those fat, squishy seats.

Quick story---for the last couple of years I've ridden a "hard" seat, a Flite. Recently, I built up a cruiser and thought I would throw on a squishy gel seat I had lying around. At first it was great, but then after a few rides my butt started hurting in a way I wasn't use to. I thought it would get better, but after a couple weeks it hadn't. So I threw my "hard" seat back on the bike, and now, problem solved!

Hard seats concentrate the pressure on your sit bones. It takes a bit to toughen your butt up, but once it is, it won't ever hurt. With a squishy seat, however, the pressure gets spread around to your sensitive areas.

As far as the padded shorts go, for short rides it doesn't matter to me whether I wear them or not. But for long rides it helps the comfort alot. You can find cheap short for $20. Honestly, everyone says this buts its true---if you're going to be serious about cycling, spend some good money ($40-50) and get some nice shorts.


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## Cory (Jan 29, 2004)

*Never found a soft saddle I could stand for half an hour*

I have Brooks saddles on everything but my rain bike. They're expensive, but I got one as a gift, bought one at the Salvation Army for $1.50 and just sucked it up and paid for the others. Nothing else has been as comfortable on long rides.
As for the cost of clothing, there's a recent thread on this on the General board that may help you out. Personally, I don't buy "cycling" stuff except for shorts and shoes, which protect the parts of you that contact the bike. I never could convince myself I need a $60 jersey when I have a drawer full of T-shirts, and it's sort of embarrassing to dress like Lance when I ride like me.


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## logbiter (Sep 14, 2005)

I'm with you on the tops. 
I've tried a ton of seats over the years, and soft squishy seats are not it for anything other than casual rides. As already stated, it's about the sit bones. 
I currently like WTB rocket & salsa zona tres, both can be found pretty cheap online/ebay.

do yourself a favor and spend a bit more on some decent shorts if you're gonna spend some time in the saddle. The $20 ones work ok, but ya don't know what you're missing until you try something else.
check out velowear.com & get on their mailing list, they have good deals all the time or online stores housebrand stuff is usually decent.


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