Road to Touring Saddle "Conversion"

[water_bugg]

My road bike is outfitted with a saddle I think is perfect for me: a SI turbomatic, a good shape and a good width (153mm). I'm now trying to order a saddle for my touring bike. Obviously road and touring saddles are different ... are there any guidelines for switching between the two?

[indysteel]

I don't know that I agree that road and touring bike saddles are "obviously" different. I run the same saddle on both my road and touring bikes, but then, my road bike is mostly set up for endurance rides, rather than racing, to begin with. Depending on how you sit on each bike, i.e., how upright you are, you may find that you need a different saddle, but I'd say that if a saddle works well for you on one bike, it's a decent place to start on another bike.

[KnottedYet]

Haven't noticed any difference between my saddle needs on my road vs my touring vs my cyclocross vs my hybrid bikes.

They all have the same saddle.

I'd just start off with the saddle you already love, and go from there.

[water_bugg]

I'd read "touring saddles should be wider" on several different saddle sites. Their justification is that, when touring, you spend more time sitting on the saddle vs shorter rides where you're either out of the saddle or lightly perched on it. Is this not true?

[indysteel]

I don't spent much time on my road bike riding out of the saddle or "perched lightly" on it. Perhaps others do, but this the first I've heard of it. Of course, some people climb a lot out of the saddle (but I don't). It seems to me that regardless of the bike's use, having a saddle that is too wide for you is going to lead to problems. If I were you, I'd do a few test rides on your touring bike using your road bike saddle. If it feels good, buy a second one. If it doesn't, then I'd tool around here for some additonal suggestions.

[indysteel]

Hmmm. As you lean forward, the sit bones come closer together. When you sit up, they spread. Perhaps this is what they mean?

I'd put the Turbomatic on the touring bike, then see what, if anything, you want to change about it.

That's true and the reason I indicated in my first post that if she sits more upright on the touring bike, a different saddle might be in order. But that really isn't just a function of one being a touring bike and one being a road bike. It's just a function of possibly different geometries. I actually don't sit more upright on my touring bike so, depending on the bikes themselves, this may or may not be an issue that necessitates a different saddle for the OP.