Saddle choices...

[Red Rock]

I have my new hardtail and it came with a specialized Format saddle. I rode the bike around and found out that I needed to have a cut out. So I have been looking into that. I went back onto to the Specialized site and was thinking about the Specialized Ariel SL.

Then I spoke with my brother and he said everyone he knew on his team used the Terry saddles (butterfly). I have the Terry butterfly on my road bike. So my question are:

1- is it abnormal to use a road saddle on a Hardtail/mtn bike?

2- I thought all mtn bikes or equivalents used the MTB brand.

Is my thinking off here, or am I not in tune with what the rest of the world is using/thinking.

Thankyou for your help.

Ellen

[Irulan]

]

There is no "MTB" brand. That is an abbreviation for "mountain bike".
Are you thinking WTB (Wilderness Trail Bikes?)

I have four mountain bikes, and they all have specialized saddles on them. Two have the Avatar gel which is a unisex, not mtb or road specific saddle,
https://shop.sunrisecyclery.com/item/35655/

and the other two have the two different versions of the Ariel., a women's mtb saddle
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=42066&eid=348

note that these come in different widths. The width of your sit bones, not the size of your butt, determine the saddle size. Specialized dealers will have a measuring device. Most riders do not want a cushy wide saddle. Too much cush can increase discomfort, and too wide means you can't maneuver your body properly.

[pinkbikes]

Hi Red Rock

I have two mountain bikes and a roadie. They all have different saddles.

The first mountain bike (the hardtail) came with a "WTB Speed She" saddle. I read a few reviews on MTBR qbout that seat and was quite worried I'd hate it, as lots of people seemed to. It doesn't have a cutout as such, but has a channel down the middle of it and a pronounced sag in the middle to protect the squishy bits. I have found this saddle quite good, and even bought another to put on my touring tandem, although with the different seating postion it is not quite so good. The tandem tilts me a little more forward due to a longer cockpit.

The second mountain bike (the dual suspension) came with the Specialized Ariel saddle with titanium rails. It has a small women's cutout and comes in a few widths, and also with cro-mo rails (I don't expect I'd be able to tell the difference!) When I first sat on it I thought "Hmmm - that's a bit hard!" but it is just fantastic and I like it even better than the WTB one. I am actually thinking about going and buying another Ariel to put on the hardtail.

My roadie came with a horrid Tioga seat with men's cutout. It was soft and felt great until about 20km and then felt like somebody had turned on a pain switch and it just killed me! I then bought the second WTB Speed She and put it on and it was OK but only when you were sitting up on the hoods. Eventually I got an inexpensive BBB road seat with a women's cutout for the roadie, which has been better but still not perfect. I have thought about talking to the bike fitter where I bought my second moutain bike about what Specialized road seat will give a similar fit to the Ariel for the roadie. And I might even just buy the Ariel for the roadie!

So in summary:

- The Specialized Ariel is terrific for me!
- The WTB Speed She was pretty good for me even though it had bad reviews!
- It is fine to put whatever seat you like on whatever bike you like. It's your butt that has to sit on it! And so it might look a bit funny while it's parked, but nobody can see what seat it is while your butt is on there riding the wheels off it!
- Just be aware that you may sit differently on different bikes (ie pelvis can tilt a bit differently in roadie vs mountain bike) so what is really comfy for you on one bike may not be comfy on a different bike with a different posture.

Good luck!

[emily_in_nc]

I have a Terry Butterfly on my Titus Racer X. Tried a WTB saddle with channel but needed a cutout and more width. I don't see a problem with using a "road" saddle on a mtb, at least for someone like myself who is not a "technical" mountain biker -- I ride fireroads and easy single/double track. I use "mountain" pedals on my roadie too -- whatever works! :D

[Red Rock]

Irulan- your correct the MTB is a typo, I meant the WTB brand.

Thankyou for all of your input here. I will stop by the Specialized store to see of they will let me demo an Ariel saddle or perhaps work something out with my current shop.

I will keep looking and thinking about what I want.

Red Rock

[smurfalicious]

I vote use what works for you. I bought a Fizik Vitesse when I assume they were very new. At the time it was still being marketed as unisex and for road. Coming from the terrible Titec saddle that my bike came with anything was better.

On my roadie I have a white/pink Fizik Vitesse and plan to get a black one for the old Sugar I have my eye on.

Working in the industry and being more intimately involved with every friggin part, eh hem, I have noticed that the big differences start to appear when you really get into specialized riding. Sliding off the back, grabbing the nose with your thighs, grabbing the nose with your hands for crazy dirt jumps tricks (my dream) is when it makes a difference. I rode and raced on that Vitesse and I feel it allowed me to be very dynamic on my bike.

I say if it works for your needs and it's comfortable go for it. No saddle that causes discomfort is worth it. I'm flabbergasted by those of you who can rock a cut out. Can't tell you how many times folks have tried to sell me those. I have uh, fluffy, girl parts and those seem to pinch my "junk" as it were.

BTW I hate WTB saddles. I think they have a lot of awesome designs, and I rode one I really liked, but that turned down nose grosses me out. It looks like a bird beak leaving my crotchel area and I just can't deal with that.

[Cataboo]

I use the ariel on my road bikes & have an avatar on my mountain bike. I like them better than the terry butterflies.

The only caution about using a roadie saddle on a mtb is that many mtb saddles have reinforced edges, because if you're actually mtb'ing, you're going to end up laying down the bike and the saddle will get torn up if not reinforced.

[Andrea]

One other note about some road saddles-
There are a few out there w/carbon or carbon/metal rails. I've seen these fail in some road wreck situations, so I'd avoid anything them for MTB use.

Otherwise... what everyone else said.

[Red Rock]

Thankyou for the continued input. I stopped by two LBS today and looked at saddles. They were a bit surprized that I wanted a saddle with minimal padding. They are so used to people that want lots of padding the owner did not know what to think.

I do not know what my current shop will have or be able to order for me. The specialized shop wants a purchase, try it and if it does not work to bring everything back so they can resell the saddle. To me that sounds like a "pain in the butt" no pun inteneded.

The Trek dealer had a few Bontrager saddles, I think the race lites that had minimal padding and the channel/cutout combonation.

When I was measured at the specialized store they had me at 135mm and if I was sitting upright it would go to 155mm for sitbone width. This is according to their chart. Would it be ok to just stay at the 135mm and not go to the 155mm for seats?

Or is this going to be a whole lot of trial and error here? Is finding a saddle always such a big deal as this?

Has anyone ever used a Bontrager saddle?

In this small town, one shop has one product and another shop has something else. So I feel like I am putting one shop against another to find
what I want.

Thankyou for your input on this.

Red Rock/Ellen

[alpha_omega]

Or is this going to be a whole lot of trial and error here? Is finding a saddle always such a big deal as this?

Has anyone ever used a Bontrager saddle?

In this small town, one shop has one product and another shop has something else. So I feel like I am putting one shop against another to find
what I want.

Thankyou for your input on this.

Red Rock/Ellen

Just out of curiosity, how were you fit on the bike? Was it a comprehensive dynamic fit? Very often saddle pains can be caused by improper adjustment. Many saddles not only go up and down on the seat post but can also tilt nose up / nose down / slide forwards / backwards. Getting the saddle tweaked into just the right position can make all the difference in the world.

Saddles are such personal pieces of equipment, it's impossible for anyone to recommend something for someone else. You really just have to keep trying until you find one that works. Many people find that a saddle works great for 20-30 min, but stretch it out to two hours and they're in tears.

After checking fit, I'd keep trying different models until you find the one that's just right. I know it's a pain to keep bringing things back, but if you're serious about riding distances you want to be as comfortable as possible. A good, well fitting saddle is crucial in that quest.

[derailed]

I suffered for my seat til I did have a friend measure my sit-bone width.

I then went to my LBS, gave them the numbers, and found myself on a perfect fit. Knowing my critical width was vital to the process, the rest was almost cosmetic.

Once you do find the "right" seat, get a spare, too often seats are discontinued.

[Irulan]

found this on another women's mtb board




Competitive Cycles has a Saddle demo program which I have used. It is the best way to try out multiple saddles and get a real feel for them.

Competitive cyclist demo costs $75. This covers the cost of both the outbound and the inbound UPS Ground shipping plus a nominal fee for 7 days of riding.
The kit includes 11 saddles. Try as many or as few as you want. It's as simple as installing one on your seatpost. The demo period is 7 days. We ask that you ship the kit back to us on the next business day after this 7-day period is complete.
If you choose to purchase a saddle from us within 30 days of returning the saddle kit to us, we'll credit $35 of the demo cost towards your purchase..."

Here for more info: http://www.competitivecyclist.com/mountain-bikes/demo-saddle

[Red Rock]

I really appreciate all of your collective input here on this.

This bike was a cragislist purchase. My first HT. The fit seems to be ok, my only issue is the saddle right now. I do not think this is extremely major, but I know if I do not have this fixed it will become one. I purchased this bike due to the economy and not being able to afford the bike I would really like. It has become my commuter and trail bike.

After reading all of your responses, you all have created more questions in my head than answers. That is a good thing. I am going to ask the bike shop to double check the fit with me on the bike and see what they say. Then this might help with the saddle problem as well.

Irulan-thankyou for the link to the competive cyclist saddle exchange program. It is nice that someone/company is willing to do this. It seems like bike shops do not want to cooperate in that matter very well. You would think they would want a sale. Part of that is making sure the product (whatever it is) fits correctly.

I also had my DH measure my sitbone width as well. So I know that number. I just have to convert to mm.

Are WTB saddles bad? Or is it the personal preferance thing again. I thought they were considered "the" mtb seat. Is this incorrect?

Thankyou for your help.

Red Rock/Ellen

[Irulan]

Are WTB saddles bad? Or is it the personal preferance thing again. I thought they were considered "the" mtb seat. Is this incorrect?



Might be a local thing, I've never heard that at all. It is all about preference.

[pinkbikes]

Are WTB saddles bad? Or is it the personal preferance thing again. I thought they were considered "the" mtb seat. Is this incorrect?

Red Rock/Ellen

I'm not really sure about perceptions elsewhere, but my impression is that the WTB seats are a reasonable quality but not "top drawer" kind of seat. They come as standard equipment on a lot of bikes (which indicates to me that they are reasonably priced for the manufacturer and they don't get too many warranty claims on them) but I know scads of people who walk straight out and replace them with something else almost on day 1.

I think it comes down to personal preference. If it's comfy to you, it's a great seat! If it ain't, then it's a horrid seat! There is no such thing as "the" seat at all I don't think. It all just comes down to what's comfy for the individual butts - and there's more variation in butts than any of us can imagine!:)

[Andrea]

FYI- last time I checked, all of the saddles in the Competitive Cyclist program were relatively narrow. Be sure you get a sitbone measurement before you do it just in case you need something wider than what they offer in the package.

[Red Rock]

Thankyou for all of your help on this. I will go by the shop that has my bike today. I will see what happens after I speak with them. I think they tend to lean towards the WTB brand.

I want something that will withstand off road abuse as well as "normal" riding. So we will see what happens.

Red Rock