BMX Bike Seats & BMX Pivotal Seat Posts – Race & Street
If you’re looking for BMX Seats, then this is the perfect place to find out all about them. We have a list of the best BMX seats and why they are the best. There’s also a section with lots of related information to BMX Seats that we think will be helpful as well. Check it out!
The saddle, or the seat as its generally called, has multiple facets to it. To ride a BMX bike, a rider does not only need a comfy seat to drive; several other factors ought to be considered.
At an overview, the best BMX seat is the one that is extremely durable, comfortable, has attached bumpers to prevent impacts, has appropriate width, and is made up of padded. A poor-quality, rough, and stiff BMX seat can prove extremely inconvenient for the rider to make long and bumpy rides.
It is quite challenging to select the best possible BMX saddle while keeping all the specks under consideration. That is why this article will cover only three of the best-chosen BMX seats along with their buyer’s guide and frequently asked questions to help you shop the first-class product.
BMX Seats Buying Guide
Choosing the right saddle for your BMX setup can be difficult if it’s your first time. When choosing the right one, there are many things to consider. We will briefly discuss the important factors. It is important to be familiar with the different fitment types if you don’t already know them. Fitment refers to how a BMX bike seat fits into the post.
1) Standard: A metal tube that slides into the seat tube and is secured with the seat clamp.
2) Integrated: This type of fitment includes both the seat post and the seat. It is similar to a roadbike, with two rails underneath the seat and a twin bolt clamp. Pivotal: This is the new standard in town. It has multiple grooves that fit the saddle and are secured with a single bolt.
Tripod: This fitment features a triangular plate and three support points. Once you have a good understanding of how to fit your BMX, it is time to test the comfort and durability of the saddle. The best choice is a nylon cover, while Kevlar is better but more costly. These specs include the width measurement (whether it will support your buttocks) and the presence of bumpers. Bumps are important for BMX bikes as they protect against shock and help to neutralize the impact.
BMX seats are not intended for long hours pedaling in the saddle so the range and refinement of designs found in road and MTB saddles is not necessary – BMX seats are typically small enough to be unobtrusive and tough enough to take the impacts which are par for the course in park and street riding. That said, when it comes to attaching your BMX seat to your seatpost there are several different fitment standards in use, so when replacing or upgrading your saddle you will need to know which one you need (see ‘BMX Seats: In-Depth for more details on fitment standards).
Meanwhile some other things to take into consideration are materials, bumpers and width.
• Materials: The typical BMX seats consists of a moulded plastic hull with minimal polyurethane foam padding and a leather or synthetic cover. Cover material is a matter of personal choice – natural leather is supple, comfortable and durable, but expensive. Meanwhile synthetics such as nylon are tough and cheap, while materials such as Kevlar offer the ultimate in hard-wearing durability – but at a price.
Which BMX seat post is right for you?
Pivotal Seats offer a simple one bolt design that allows the rider to adjust the angle of the seat.
While the vast majority of standard seatposts are identical in form and function – being hollow aluminium or carbon tubes upon which the saddle is clamped – there are a few essential differences to know about when choosing or replacing a post.
These include sizing, materials, clamp type and the amount (or not) of layback.
• Sizing: The most important dimension to consider is diameter, as it must correspond to the internal diameter of your seat tube in order to have a snug fit. While there are any number of post diameters out there, most modern road and MTB bike frames accept a seatpost of either 27.2mm in diameter (‘standard’), 30.9 or 31.6mm (‘oversize’). An oversize post is regarded as adding stiffness and strength for optimum power transfer as well as resistance to bending/failure, but a narrower post is accepted as being more comfortable over rough surfaces, as it will tend to have a little more ‘give’. You can use a shim to enable a 27.2mm seatpost fit into a frame taking a larger standard, but not vice-versa for obvious reasons.
Seatpost length is a further consideration. While a longer post is generally regarded as offering more comfort, the amount of post ‘sticking out’ of the frame will largely be dependent on your frame size/geometry and your own dimensions (inside leg length etc). It is essential to have a minimum amount of post remaining inside the frame (or the leverage ratio will be too high and you risk cracking the seat tube) – most posts will have a ‘minimum insertion’ line etched on the shaft. If you wish, you can also cut down your seatpost to reduce excess material, but you may want to consider a carbon-specific hacksaw/saw guide with a carbon fibre post, as any mistake made here could be expensive.