Padded tight vs thicker padded saddle net weight comparison

[azmio]

Hey guys,

Last night I measured my padded tight and it was about 343 gram. On the other hand, my Nike non padded running tight is only 240 grams. I have been wondering on why we wear padded bib short in the first place?

If a very comfortable saddle weighs around 270 gram requires no padded short but my lightweight Fizik saddle weighing 220 grams requires me to wear padded short or pants to make it comfortable, I will be making significant weight saving. Has anyone ever thought about this?

[Fiery]

One problem in that logic is that a 220 gram saddle is not considered lightweight around here Make it 120 gram and then we're talking (and half that is not unheard of either).

[RussellS]

I'm not sure padding in the chamois and padding on the saddle top are exactly comparable. 1mm of padding in one or the other spot is not a substitute for 1mm padding in the other spot. And where the padding contacts the body is also important. My chamois is right against my skin. Whereas the saddle padding is on the other side of the chamois and lycra. I have Brooks leather saddles on many of my bikes. They have no padding at all. Some are a little more flexible than others. But none are soft or padded. One or two are as hard as concrete. Yet all of them are very comfortable for any length of ride with chamois bike shorts/tights. I always wear chamois shorts. I have no plans to ride these saddles with unpadded shorts. I'm not sure they would have that legendary Brooks comfort without chamois shorts.

[azmio]

Fiery, do you ride with 120 gram saddle for more than 3 hours straight? I just cant even do it with good chamois bib short.

[azmio]

Russell, the problem with chamois, it absorbs lots of water during rain and when you're sweating. For my day job, we innovate not by following others but by looking into ways that are more practical and beneficial to the customers.

[BRM]

Sorry you innovate on a professional level and ignore all the basics??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_pad

[azmio]

BRM, do you have to personal attack me just because I have different opinion?

We change the rules all the times and won ourselves many F1 constructor championships in the past. The basics are pretty basic but these rules are not cast in stone. Good saddles can achieve all those requirements for customers who happen to commute to work long distance without wanting to wear padded short.

If compared to non padded tight, I sometimes feel the chamois is restricting and slowing my movements.

[wingguy]

We change the rules all the times and won ourselves many F1 constructor championships in the past.

A) Who are you?
B) Who are 'we'?
C) Did 'we' win what they won because of work you did?

[azmio]

wingguy, why should I tell you?

[BRM]

Because you sound rediculious. Sorry to say. Dont want to attack you and don't want to denigrate you but I see a load of nonsense. I will try to explain.

I like other views and thinking out of the box. But it needs to have ground and another keyword here is balance.
How come you totally ignore the function of chamois?
I don't personal attack you. Their are several things that imo doesn't come over if you studied on this before posting your question.
How come you mix up the padding of a saddle and the padding of bibs. How come you don't see the different principles? Even when i lead you to an easy to absorb wiki page you dont seem to get it.

Furthermore your starttopic lacks information. Only now you come with a target group, which is still a bit wooly and doesn't look a real match with the users of this forum either.

You bother about the weight. Sorry you really think here is to gain something that is of any matter for a normal cyclist? Focus on real world conditions.

. . . . customers who happen to commute to work long distance without wanting to wear padded short.
-Are that the people of this forum?
-Are that people that benefit with a weight difference of an unpadded bibs??

. . . . . I sometimes feel the chamois is restricting and slowing my movements
slowing your movements as a commuter?

There is information that shows that thick padding on saddles on longer distances has opposite effect.
Strong example are gel saddles.


. . . .won ourselves many F1 constructor championships in the past
I don't know where you refer to but you dont show to me someone that has any knowledge neither the competence to lead a group of people that win F1 championships.

I don't see a clever knowledgable thinker with a good balanced overall view, I see a brainfart dumped on a forum. (sorry when I come over harsh, but this is how I experience this)

What would help you to get better insight, is to make more work of what chamois exactly do and also set more focus on things like Best Practices.

[azmio]

BRM, to answer your questions, I race mountain bikes and now I am into road bikes. I also commute long distance to go to work.

In the place where I work, differences in our backgrounds and how people think are assets. We dont belittle others just because they have different opinions or belief. I normally ask people to leave the meeting room no matter how senior they are once they start personal attack or harsh words. We post questions to others so that we get more ideas which we can work and improve upon. We dont deprive others from taking leadership in whatever level they are just because they see things differently in things like padded tight or saddle. After all, the ones who talk loudest are normally the least contributors to a successful race or road car.

So, I believe you have provided your opinions and for that I thank you.

[roox]

Fiery, do you ride with 120 gram saddle for more than 3 hours straight? I just cant even do it with good chamois bib short.

I, and a great deal of my team mates ride far longer than that (8+ hours sometimes) on lighter saddles than that (mine weights 102g, my mate has a saddle/seatpost combo that is around 160g)

Thick chamois conform to the body and wick away moisture and can be made thicker or thinner as required, a plump saddle is a recipe for saddle sores and a loss of power. end of story. Its been tried, it failed and thankfully it went away. Racing in the 90's was a recipe for permanent damage to the area with the ultra thin chamois and thicker padded saddles.. its sucked.

[roox]

I normally ask people to leave the meeting room no matter how senior they are once they start personal attack or harsh words.

So, I believe you have provided your opinions and for that I thank you.

You are gonna get far in this world. go get em tiger...

[azmio]

Roox,

Thanks a lot for your reply. I am getting older and older thus comfort is my main priority nowadays. In the 80s, I can still remember that a hard plastic saddle with no padding was comfy enough, those days are long gone when I got older.

Now if you are saying that 102 grams is fine with you, I am waiting for some saddle manufacturer to have a comfy saddle that requires no chamois at 200 grams. This way, it will be equivalent to having 102 gram saddle with chamois (+ 100 gram). As i wrote earlier, it is raining a lot during weekend when I ride for hours and it helps a lot if I am not wearing any chamois.

[istigatrice]

Have to disagree with you on this one, quality bib tights are the best thing since sliced bread. If you need more protection try chamois cream.

It could just be that you haven't found the right saddle, or maybe your bike fit isn't right. Weight gives no indication of saddle comfort - my Selle Italia SLR Kit Carbino is 'reasonably lightweight' and is one of the more comfortable saddles I've tried.

When I first started out I had a heavily padded saddle thinking it would be more comfortable, but they just squish everywhere and provide no support. I would suggest looking at things like bike fit, saddle shape and perhaps consider the quality of your (hopefully bib) shorts, rather than dismissing chamois as a heavy alternative. But perhaps you are just a 'freak' in which case feel free to use non-padded tights and a thicker saddle, just know that the majority of (road) cyclists usually progress from non-padded shorts, to padded shorts to bib shorts.