Planet Bike Anatomic Relief System Classic Bike Seat- Men

Looks:New design is attractive and sleek. It is not waterproof so bring a cover for rain (grocery bag). Looks like current picture not like other reviewers photos, I am happy about the more subtle logo.Ease of installation:Easy to install, but is dependent on you seatpost's quality and age. It is universal, just make sure you tighten it well.Build quality:It is far better than the older school seats. The area of relief is great. There is a break-in period but it is running fine now. I have used it for a couple 100 miles already. I was recommended this saddle by a website based on its value and comfort. I liked it so much I bought one for my other bike.

I would say this is the best bicycle seat I've tried. Im 6'6 285 pounds so support and comfort can be hard to find. I have a road bike so I usually do some pretty long rides. Seat is made with good materials. Very thick and firm but with great cushion and comfort. Would highly recommend especially if your a bigger rider.

We'll start with that: Whether it's a great seat depends on what you need. This IS a great improvement on the ridiculous fence posts that most road racer bikes think people want sticking up their backsides. Meanwhile, this is NOT the seat you are looking for if you will be sitting upright in a more cruising style or need a very narrow "middle" to the seat (more below). This is simply is not as wide as some other great comparably priced seats (like the "Schwinn Pillow Top Cruiser Bicycle Seat" -- though Amazon's add for that seat has TWO DIFFERENT seats pictured -- a note on that in a second). Back to the A.R.S. (... as my teenager pointed out, the acronym when properly pronounced is the British term for its intended application ... anyhoo ...) I mostly do road riding / commuting to work, 10 miles one way, riding as fast as possible. Meanwhile I hate most bike seats; I want a seat I can pay no attention to (read the article: at Cervelo's site: "The Four and a Half Rules of Road Saddles"). When I put this seat on I wasn't convinced right away that this was 'the one': I tried multiple angles, heights, and positions, and found one particular angle where it was tolerable. I kept thinking I would take it off, but after riding >50 miles this week, I had actually improved my speed by over 10% (maybe I'm just getting in better riding shape, or maybe the new tires helped?), but, I've also thought about the seat less and less -- I think there really is a break-in phase as some others have mentioned. Two final notes: some have complained about saddle sores and inner thigh issues: because this is a slotted seat, it has to be more "pear shaped" -- see the article cited above, rule #4.5: "do you prefer a T or a PEAR shaped saddle?" The pears are inherently wider toward the middle, and will rub if you don't have a lot of lateral clearance in your anatomy there. See Amazon ad for the Schwinn seat noted above and the two different seats that are inadvertently pictured there: the top one is a "pear" and the bottom one is a "T", both of a similar model (look at top view images only). I actually own the "T" of those two and it is the best seat I've ever owned (and that's the second note: yes, it's more a cruiser style, but I use it on my road racer -- it's what's COMFORTABLE that matters, not what LOOKS like you think a professional should be sitting on) -- it is ~8" wide in the back, but with a very sharp angle to the nose so it is not very wide in the middle, making for great thigh clearance; if that is what you need, the ARS is not for you, but the Schwinn may be.At the end of the day, the ARS is not as wide as I would prefer, and the "pear" shape causes more friction than preferred; it was also not well fitted and was distracting to ride on at first. BUT, after some fine tuning on position and 50 miles of riding, I think less and less about it, and I'm riding really fast, which are all good things. If you are thinking about getting off your fence post for a street racer, you can't go wrong here. If you prefer wider support and narrower thigh clearance, get the Schwinn, but make sure it is the "T" shaped one.

This is a picture of the other saddles and saddle covers I tried in the quest for comfort. I really dislike even small levels of discomfort that others don't even notice. I'll share what I learned about bike saddles in the course of testing every single one of these on a minimum 10k test ride each.People's sit bones and sit bone arch are quite different person to person. This is probably why Brooks saddles are so popular since with break in you get a custom fit. Sit bone width is touted online but as a youtube bike fitter said, he noticed little correlation between these measurements and what saddle people wound up happiest with. For me, the calculator said I should be happy with a 140-145mm saddle, but these all seemed too narrow. The issue is that in a typical riding position (neither road bike aggressive, nor cruiser totally upright) it isn't the sit bone points that the saddle supports, but rather a significant portion of the arch up to the pubic bone. This is also why some people like 'spoon' saddles with a concave curve and some like flat. This arch is a 3d shape so simple measurements can't really capture what's going on with it.I also felt frustrated by the design of most saddles. Many of them have a pronounced rounded bump of foam/gel where they meet the sit bones, which creates a strange unstable feeling when you try to get the power down that rocks you very slightly, like you're perched up on the top of a curve. Additionally, many of these saddles bottom out on cushioning almost immediately (I'm only 71kg!) and wind up quite firm even if what foam is there is soft. The seats that are cushioned enough to not bottom out (cruiser seats like the giddyup pictured here) are quite comfortable but aren't really ideal for longer rides as they rub in various places.Enter the ARS saddle. It has a broad but not too broad flat area you to find a good place to distribute weight across the sit bone arch. It has a high loft of cushioning that doesn't bottom out despite not being as bulky as the cruiser saddles. The cutout is generous, and I notice zero pressure on the perineum but also not like I am sliding forward off the saddle.Among the failed experiments, I think the best was the fmfxtr saddle (all the way to the left), and the airbag cushion. The fmf saddle has the rounded peak problem, but is otherwise very good in a variety of positions, and good for someone who wants a somewhat wider saddle for support but doesn't want to go full cruiser on a hybrid bike. The airbag cushion gives almost a custom fit, you just have to inflate it way less than you think you need to as the weight from your body is plenty to push the air around to where it needs to be. The best cruiser saddle was the giddyup. it is great on my cruiser bike but not great for anything else. I had high hopes for the blue hexagonal cushion, as I love those cushions on my chairs and in my car and even for my meditation cushion, but on a bike it bottomed out immediately.Notable saddles I didn't try:BrooksErgon3d saddlesAll of these have rave reviews but are expensive. With the brooks in particular it is impossible to know if you'll like it until you've ridden it hundreds of miles and can't return it. I'd still like to try an ergon, as they seem well designed, and will if I get the chance to swap seats for a ride with someone.

Saddle was similar to what I needed replaced and the two brackets, specialized nut and bolt were somewhat easy to install. There is an installation video which is pretty good, but it could spend a little more time in getting the nut lined up under the saddle. (see chrome nut under seat in photo)The saddle is a bit more "cushioned" but still firm and the quality looks good to me. Overall the seat is a great value and I like this company as they do have an instructional tutorial.