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If you’re finding that your Peloton seat is uncomfortable, then you’re not alone. Many people, from beginner riders to seasoned pros, find the Peloton saddle a pain in the butt.
Is there anything you can do to make your bike workouts more comfortable? Yes! The good news is that there are a load of things that you can do to make the seat comfier – some might be a quick adjustment to your bike settings, some might involve some new apparel or bike accessories – but all of them can make your Peloton seat feel so much more comfortable.
We’re going to look at various methods that you can use to make your seat more comfortable. These are:
- Adjust seat angle
- Adjust seat height
- Adjust seat fore/aft setting
- Padded bike shorts/underwear
- Padded seat cover
- Chamois cream
- Replacement bike seat
The table below is a quick summary of my recommendations, because I know that when your bike seat is sore it needs sorting out fast!
Peloton seat uncomfortable? Try these simple solutions:
Recommendations | ||
Padded shorts | Saddle adjustment   | Replacement saddle   |
Here are the best methods for making your Peloton seat comfortable
Okay, those are the headlines, now let’s dig into each of these techniques and discuss what you need to get and what you need to do. There’s no time to waste because your next Peloton class is just round the corner and you need to be sitting comfortably and ready for crushing that workout.
There are essentially seven techniques that you can deploy to make the Peloton saddle more comfortable. Each of these involves a simple solution, although some will involve you in a little trial and error to determine the exact setting that works best for you. Let’s dive in and take a look.
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Adjusting the Peloton seat angle
The first thing to check is that the angle, height, and fore/aft setting of your Peloton seat are set correctly for you. So long as you have a spirit level and an adjustable wrench, these are free to adjust and you can change them and fine tune them until you’ve got them all set up perfectly.
When the nose of a bike seat is set too high relative to the rear of the seat, it can cause undue pressure on your perineum as you pedal. This can be particularly the case with an exercise bike class as you’ll tend to be riding in a more aggressive style.
The ideal angle (and a good starting point for your seat adjustments) is horizontal. To adjust the angle, take your wrench and undo the nut/bolt beneath the saddle – make sure that you release it just enough to tilt the saddle. Check the angle by placing the spirit level flat on top of the seat (front to back) and adjust the angle until it is level. Now re-tighten the nut and hop on for a test ride. Adjust up or down till it feels right.
Adjusting the Peloton seat height
If the seat height is set too low, your knees will still be bent at their full extension as you pedal. Set too high though and you’ll find that your pelvis has to shift from one side to the other in order to reach and fully push down on the pedals. Neither of these situations is ideal and you really want your pelvis to remain level and horizontal throughout the full pedal stroke. This video from Peloton gives a guide to adjusting the height of your saddle.
Adjusting the fore/aft setting of the Peloton seat
If your seat is set too far away from the handlebars, then you will be forced to reach further for them and consequently be pressing your perineal area harder down onto the saddle as you pedal. This Peloton video explains how to change the fore/aft positioning.
There are fore/aft settings A through J on the Peloton seat post. If you feel that you are reaching too far for the handlebars when you’re sitting on the saddle, try shifting the seat forward a notch or two and re-try. Keep testing until you’ve got a comfortable reach for the handlebars and don’t have to press your perineum down onto the top of the saddle.
Using Padded bike shorts/underwear for your Peloton workout
Want to know what the secret is of the pro bike riders and how they cycle in comfort?
Padded bike shorts.
These are shorts that have a padded liner cushion either sewn or clipped in to the inside. The liner provides a layer of cushioning in between the soft skin of your butt and the rather hard and unyielding saddle. They’re generally available in a tight form-fitting shorts style for exercise bike riding, or alternatively you can get a looser padded short, like these. There are also some fantastic men’s padded cycling shorts.
If you want to wear your own shorts, but still want the benefit of the padded liner, then you can go with padded bike underwear like this.
For me, padded cycling shorts are such an essential that I wouldn’t go on the bike without them.
Making your Peloton seat comfier with a padded seat cover
A padded bike seat cover does a similar job to cycling shorts or underwear, but instead of having the cushioning sewn into your apparel, it’s sewn into a seat cover. The seat cover slips over the Peloton saddle and either has a drawstring or hook and loop fastening to hold it in place. These are great if you don’t like the idea of having padding in your clothes and they’re quick and simple to fit on the bike. They’re also easy to take off and many styles are washable because, as we know, Peloton workouts can get kinda sweaty.
Soothing inner thigh chafing with chamois cream
If you’re not a die-hard cyclist, then you probably won’t have heard of chamois cream. But, if you’ve done much Peloton riding, then you may well have experienced the pain and discomfort of chafed skin. You can get chafing when you ride in a number of different areas, but predominantly it occurs either on the inner thighs or between the butt cheeks. If you’ve never experienced it (lucky you!) then it’s excruciatingly painful and means that you have to hobble around with your feet wide apart for days. Not a good look.
Chamois cream is another pro-riders’ secret. It’s basically a lubricating cream that you apply to the skin before you start riding. This then stops your skin from rubbing and keeps it protected. Tight-fitting cycling shorts also have the same benefit as the fabric rubs against itself rather than you skin rubbing.
Try it once and you’ll love it.
Replacing your Peloton bike seat
If you’ve exhausted all the other options first, then it might be time to take a look at the Peloton seat and see whether you’d benefit from a change.
I would say thought that it’s worth giving it a little time for you to get used to the bike (and the saddle). If you’re new to cycling or new to the Peloton, then it might be a bit of a shock to the system for your poor butt cheeks. A few workouts in though and you might be riding a lot comfier than you were to begin with.
That being said, the standard seat that Peloton ships with is quite a hard “road bike” style of saddle. If you find that, after adjusting everything else on the bike, changing your bike shorts, and getting your butt used to cycling….and you’re still finding the seat uncomfortable, then it might be time for a change.
Try out a wider and more cushioned seat style, like this one, and see if that fits better. Saddles like this have a few benefits over the Peloton one. Firstly, there’s a deeper layer of padding. Secondly, the saddle is wider, which can be helpful if you have wider-spaced sit bones. Finally, there’s some suspension (like you’ve got on your car) at the rear of the saddle, which adds another layer of comfort and protection for your (soon to be even more) toned rear end.
