Best triathlon saddles in 2024: 19 options reviewed
Riding on your tri-bars often requires a different type of bike saddle, and there are plenty out there that are purpose built for tri. Jack Sexty rates some of the best triathlon saddles…
![Best triathlon saddles in 2024: 19 options reviewed](https://www.220triathlon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/08/best-tri-saddles-973f580.jpg?w=825)
Riding on your tri-bars often requires a different type of bike saddle, and there are plenty out there that are purpose built for tri. Jack Sexty rates some of the best triathlon saddles…
When it comes to choosing the right saddle for triathlon racing and training, most women will find a female-specific saddle to be the best option. Here’s what you should look out for…
Jack Sexty puts this entry-level bike saddle through its paces to see if it delivered on comfort and performance, as well as price
A tri-specific saddle is a key, if often neglected, triathlon buy. Here are the major components to look for when picking the right perch for you…
A user-friendly perch that’s ideal if you’re looking to take your first step away from the traditional road-saddle shape
Familiar shape and feel, comfy and well-priced – we like
Decent, traditional-looking tri perch with a few quirks
Lightweight tri-specific perch features extra padding on the nose for those all-out efforts
A groovy perch that’s great for holding a tuck comfortably
A comfortable, well-priced, lightweight and tri-specific saddle
What do Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow and the Selle Italia SLR Tri Gel have in common? They all boast an uncommonly large nose. But while Streisand and Manilow are big successes despite their beaks, the SLR Tri Gel is a triumph because of it. Big noses are common in tri-specific saddles, as more padding can […]
The Vitesse is Fizik’s female-specific tri saddle, coming with a more padded, wider-than-average nose for tri-bar time, and pink detailing. Making anything lady-specific in either powder blue or pink is a real trend in the bike industry of late, yet seems to wind lots of women up. Thankfully, on the mostly black Vitesse, the pink […]
The Selle Italia SLR T1 saddle is a triathlon/time-trial specific model from one of the most established names in bicycle seating. It features more gel padding than a traditional road saddle, especially on the nose, to accommodate time spent perching on the tri-bars. The covering material is a glossy black Lorica fabric designed to be […]
Ritchey’s top-of-the-line components fall under the World Champion Series or ‘WCS’ logo. The Streem-2 is from the company’s road bike range, and weighs in at just 180g. The design is very minimalist and initially feels very hard, as there’s little padding to speak of. In an upright road position the hardness of the Streem is […]
The Aspide Glamour Saddle is different from many other female-specific saddles on the market, in that it offers a very firm, flat surface (as lots of men’s saddles do) with a suitably wider profile. It seemed that this was a ‘love it or hate it’ factor with our testers – either they instantly got on […]
The Vision Aero Max is a TT saddle through and through: very well padded, particularly in the nose area, it’s been built with triathlon in mind. The simple, plain black design means it will win favour with anyone looking for a more understated seat (though by the same token, it won’t be the first choice […]
The Podium Ti from Intake is an attractive-looking racing saddle at a bargain price. With titanium rails it weighs in at 250g, which may not be the lightest on the racks, but at such a low price-point you can forgive it that extra little bit of mass. Padding is firm but not too hard, and […]
Prologo supplies saddles to AG2R and the Saxobank pro cycling teams. With only a small range of seats to choose from, the company’s proud boast is that it supplies the consumer with exactly the same products as it does for its professional riders. The Scratch TS is a lightweight (187g) road-oriented saddle with a stylish […]
Specialized’s BG (Body Geometry) system is aimed at optimising the fit and biomechanics of a rider by acknowledging that a ‘one size fits all’ approach doesn’t always work. As a result, the minimalist BG Toupe saddle is available in three widths: 130mm, 143mm and 155mm (the dealer will measure your hips to see which is […]
The Aspide TT is a superlight, tri-specific saddle from long-established Italian manufacturer Selle. Even though it has considerably more padding than a traditional road saddle, the use of carbon rails and base bring the weight down to just 162g – very impressive, especially as this also includes the addition of an alloy reinforcement sleeve in […]
The Fizik Arione design has won over a lot of fans in recent years as a road, time-trial and mountain bike saddle. The Tri 2 variant for 2009 has either carbon or Kium rails (the former pushing the price up to £219.99; the latter, tested here, a touch heavier at 209g) and a wider, more […]