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Video: Choosing The Right Saddle For Your Bum Made Easier

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Paul at BikeFit shows off their SwitchIt device that lets you try out ALL the saddles and positions before you buy. Check out their “fastest saddle change in the West” after the break…

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Jerome
Jerome
11 years ago

That is a clever device, but the true test for a saddle is saddle time – and that can’t be replicated in a bike shop. I encourage all saddle makers to offer a test program like Specialized and Fizik so bikers can experience actual saddle time on their own bike and their own trails or roads.

yeah right
yeah right
11 years ago

Yup, I’m with Jerome on this one. But at least you’ll be able to rule out the saddles that just completely miss the mark for you. (you know, the ones that as soon as you sit down start rubbing and digging into sensitive tissue.)

Doesn’t solve the age old question, more like narrows it down.

Operandi
Operandi
11 years ago

Yeah, its a cool idea and it will help but doesn’t completely solve the problem.

About the video though, couldn’t this guy barrow a iPhone or modern Android phone and throw up a video that doesn’t look 10+ years old?

Brian
Brian
11 years ago

Ah. But where do you start? Have you been into a bike shop lately? They’ve got upwards of 20 different saddles. And most test saddle programs don’t offer that many choices. Plus, they are mostly all time sensitive.

And don’t get me started on the cost of a test saddle program. This device should be in every bike shop that wants to sell saddles. Period.

Swifty
11 years ago

It’s about time. I mean it is 2012 and it still takes 5 to 10 minutes to change a saddle to just try one.

Until now no other starting place compares…unless you have an amazing relationship with your thumb and you are able to tell by sticking it into a saddle and decide what your ass will like for the next few thousand miles. I can only speak for myself when I say I just don’t have that kind of relationship with my thumb.

DS
DS
11 years ago

Excellent device ! The second video is very funny.

The folks at BikeFit
11 years ago

800 views in only a few hours! That is just fabulous. We thank BikeRumor.com for publishing. At BikeFit are very excited about the SwitchIt. Obviously, the art of bike fitting is our passion. This handy saddle tool not only makes saddle choice that much easier for each and every cyclist but, you would be amazed at the postural changes that can be seen with a quick and simple swapping of saddle. Readers are correct. Ultimately the final choice comes with miles. However, the biofeedback your body can show while using the SwitchIt for saddle choice is unrivaled. Comfort, Efficiency and Injury Prevention all in one. You simply won’t see this by taking the time to mount saddle after saddle after saddle.

Jeff Robert
11 years ago

How much does it cost?

Swifty
11 years ago

With our first prototype Woodinville Bike Shop in Washington doubled saddles sales in a year. Recently a few shops have paid for the SwitchIt in less than a week in use. They save time while offering a higher level of customer service. At $895 not many consumers will be purchasing the device but for dealers we offer many other incentives with our BikeFit Pro education and products.

JT
JT
11 years ago

can’t wait for the “fastest cracked carbon-railed saddle in the west” video

Canada
Canada
11 years ago

Maybe the ‘try a bunch of seats and you will find one’ approach needs to change? Any shops like dealing with that crap? This tool could help for sure, but I don’t think it’s quite as useful as the hype made

cybercyclecoach
11 years ago

well that is 5-minutes of my life I won’t get back – what a waste of time. headline is WAY misleading. it should could have been an interesting topic. do you need help – i am sure there are many fitters who could fill in the blanks for you instead of marketing your latest contraption.

Whatever
Whatever
11 years ago

I don’t trust anyone in the bike industry that is fat. Get out and ride. As your taint shapes up, guess what? You’ll be on a different saddle, Mr. Fastest saddle change in the West.

It takes miles ridden, not miles driven to a shop to ride a saddle for a couple minutes. Ask anyone that’s been riding for a long time. A new saddle comes out, we buy it, we ride it for a couple hundred miles and decide. The greatest invention for saddle testing today is eBay. You can “rent” every saddle sold today and get at least 50% back from someone that likes what your didn’t.

Real World
Real World
11 years ago

The problem is the device isn’t on your actual bike, so you aren’t testing the saddle in your normal position, so what you feel isn’t the same as on your bike. Most saddles are designed for specific torso angles – upright, semi upright or low, so I don’t see how testing them in the wrong position, not on your bike is really that accurate or helpful. Great gimmick for the store wanting to sell more saddles not willing to spend time with the customer to mount the saddle on their bike.

Fitter Drew
Fitter Drew
11 years ago

To Whatever – I guess you don’t know who fatso is and maybe he can shed some light on some if any of his accomplishments. You cannot judge the book by it’s cover. Because someone is fat and does not have time to ride you wouldn’t trust him? Some fitters and seasoned industry professionals don’t have as much time to ride because they are busy developing products for the masses.

As far as the SwitchIt, it does a great job eliminating those saddles that off the bat don’t feel good, I agree! But I can see where someone could ride a saddle for an hour on the SwitchIt and figure out if it’s a keeper.

marcel
11 years ago

That guy is good… at what he does: changing saddles. I reckon it’s a brilliant mechanical concept. And @ whatever: not fat but definitely too big. When I worked in a bike shop as a mechanic my boss looked exactly like him…he was back then in his late thirties but earlier on in his top days a German road cycling champ…nearly made it to the TDF. Anyway…he got a bike shop,3 kids and put on loads of weight. Go and figure.

Dave
Dave
11 years ago

Any shop that is serious about bike fit and selling saddles should have one of these. Paul and Bilco are the best!

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