What is your favourite MTB saddles ?

Hello,

I was thinking of getting a better saddle for my mountain bike it came with a nukeproof neutron saddle and it is not the most comfortable even with padded shorts.

Has anyone tried the ergon enduro saddle or maybe the Specialized Bridge Comp Saddle as theese seem to get good reviews. Also as another nukeproof option has anyone tried the nukeproof horizon enduro saddle ?

Thanks for any replies 😁

I happen to like the Specialized saddles if they are the 143mm wide version but it’s a very personal choice. I also get on well with the Charge Spoon saddles (very similar in shape to the Specializeds). They’re quite popular and a lot cheaper but I find they start to lose support after 18 months or so.

I run WTB saddles on all of my bikes   (road, CX, 2 x mountain) – I seem to get along with shape really well but as scotroutes says, saddles are a personal choice. What I think is great may not suit your backside!

Big fan of the SQlabs 611 here, the active one with little elastonomers under the rails, works for me but we’re all built different.

Spendy new but ebay is your friend 🙂

Sdg Bellair lux

WTB Speed V Comp.It’s going to be difficult to replace.

1990 Flite. Tried many others but along with an RCZ titanium it’s still my favourite.

Over the years I was riding I tried a bunch of different saddles, with different degrees of success, but the most comfortable ones I found, and still have, are the SDG I-Beam ones. Mine are the higher-spec lightweight ones, which have a space between the hull of the saddle and the top of the I-Beam, allowing a degree of flexibility and a sort of ‘suspension’, the cheaper ones had the hull and I-Beam as one piece, so a bit rigid.
They’re also pretty light and don’t creak. Here’s my On-One 853SS with the I-Beam seat and seatpost in all it’s glory!

I’d rather have 6 inches of suspension travel than rely on a few millimetres of saddle flex thank you. I suppose the absence of a wide range cassette means you spend a lot of time standing up anyhow. But seriously, my 1992 Giant was a more capable MTB than that ! 😉 – apart from the brakes.

Charge/Fabric have always fitted me well. Spoon / Knife / Scoop Shallow / Line have all been comfy.

Switched to a DMR OiOi on my last build as I’m a tart and needed something decent that had pink on it. Was a bit worried about the fabric finish but it’s been jut as comfortable and tough as the Charge/Fabric saddles I’ve ridden previously.

Of course YMMV as saddles are a pretty subjective thing.

SDG Bel Air

Azonic love seat, big saddle for a big arse.

I’d rather have 6 inches of suspension travel than rely on a few millimetres of saddle flex thank you.

Slightly missing the point there? The question was about comfortable bike saddles, and that’s the same regardless of how much travel suspension the bike has. I have the exact same saddle on my other Inbred, which has 6” travel Nixon Platinum forks on the front, and is obviously a hardtail. Both are completely fine riding on and off-road.

I don’t have the same saddle on my Trek Remedy, which does have 6” of travel at both ends, but isn’t as comfortable, because the saddle isn’t as comfortable.

The amount of suspension travel is irrelevant, when it’s the point of contact between the rider and bike that’s the issue.

Clear enough?

Specialized Power Comp saddle in 143mm width for all my bikes, only one of which is actually a Specialized…

I like to think  that SDG stands for   ‘So Damn Good!’

The ‘Bel Air’ for me

If I like a saddle, it tends to disappear.
Specialized Alias 143
SDG Bel Air 2.0

Nukeproof Horizon Enduro.

Have them on two bikes and wish I’d bought three more when they were getting flogged off cheap

Speed Defies Gravity @Royston 👍If you like the Charge Spoon like I do the Madison offering is identical 👍

I’ve got the Specialized Bridge Comp on my Stumpjumper Evo and I find it very comfortable, more so than my other saddles.

Big fan of the SQlabs 611

+1  I’ve run all sorts recently, mostly Fabric, but others too, but recently fitted one of the non-Active 611s and it’s been an absolute revelation. Felt slightly odd for the first couple of rides as it puts your weight entirely on your sit-bones, but now brilliantly comfortable and takes all the weight/pressure off your taint. Possibly not ideal if you’re someone who moves around a lot in the saddle as it sort of fixes you slightly in position, but for seated pedalling, it’s ace.

I have one of the Horizon Nukeproof Enduros too, fitted for its low stack height, but while it’s okay, I find the foam padding a bit too soft on really long rides. As far as I can see, they’re kind of a low-stack rip-off of a Specialized Power saddle.

But basically I’d buy another SQlab 611 tomorrow, if I hadn’t already bought another one yesterday 🙂

I run a Bontrager Aeolus on the road and that’s also very good. Ultimately it’s all personal, but a correctly-sized 611 works pretty well for me. The 614 gravel one looks good too.

Brooks b17 for distance. You will thank me in 20 years when its still going strong.

Chromag trail master for jumpy stuff. Fine for up to 60 miles for me.

Charge spoon- hideous. I bought a bike that came with the ladies version and it is much better

Charge Knife /Charge Spoon

I did use a Whyte saddle, the one which comes with the 901 for quite a while on my commuter. Think it was the medium size one. That was pretty comfy but the outer plastic started to wear off after a while so had to ditch it.

Brooks carved C17 for me.  Spoon doesn’t work for me; wtb and specialized phenom were ok,  but I’ve found my love with the C17.

Any options on what saddle would be best for some one else is irrelevant as we don’t have the same posterior.

For my own ass, WTB Volt variants seems to be the best ATM.

Has anyone tried the ergon enduro saddle 

I was going to say my fave is the Ergon SME I’ve had for years now, and in which the E used to stand for “Enduro”.

Their current SM-E seems to have changed the E to “E-bike” and added more padding, but their SM Enduro saddle looks closer to what I have.

My bum likes flattish saddles with a cut-out at about 140-145mm wide and the back. I have Spesh Body Geometry Phenom on my Enduro – came on the bike but luckily get on with it, and an Ergon – “something or other that their website recommended when I put in my measurements and riding style/sport” on my Yeti which is a pretty similar shape

Brooks b17 for distance. You will thank me in 20 years when its still going strong.

Isn’t it rider weight dependant? My understanding has always been that when used by heavier riders (200lbs?) the rails eventually fail.

Currently running the WTB Koda on my bikes.
Bought because it has the deepest cutout that extends all the way to the back – invaluable while I had severe coccyc pain. Keeping them because they are actually damn comfy.

Found the Ergon SM saddles uncomfortable. Really like my Bel Air 3. Hated the charge spoon.

Specialized Phenom and recently Power Arc. You sit on your sit bones and the cutout works, no numb bits.

I’ve just been reminded why I banned myself from the bike forum. 🥺

I’ve just been reminded why I banned myself from the bike forum. 🥺

Eh? Does all the talk of bums get you too aroused or something?

Any options on what saddle would be best for some one else is irrelevant as we don’t have the same posterior.

Yes, but we do all share the same basic physiology and ideally the principle of putting weight on the sit-bones and avoiding jamming load onto the soft tissue, nerves and blood vessels of the taint is pretty universal. I think mountain bikers get away with so so saddles by moving around on the saddle/unweighting a lot.

And it sounds like OP probably knows which basic saddle shape suits them, but wants to hear some experiences.

I run WTB saddles on all of my bikes (road, CX, 2 x mountain) – I seem to get along with shape really well but as scotroutes says, saddles are a personal choice. What I think is great may not suit your backside!

^^Ditto^^ I’m a fan of WTB, especially the cheaper older ones, I occasionally grab another cast-off one from eBay as they’re not generally popular these days.
I’ve got several old ‘speed V’ on road and MTB, not the lightest but the 142mm width (they were one of the first to do multiple width option IIRC) and cut of the centre channel, along with having a bit more foam all just seems to work for me.

I have a charge spoon on the Gravel bike Which I do get on with too, but I reckon those old WTBs are more comfortable for me.
I have a lazer V with Ti rails one width size down (132mm?) on my CX bike which works for racing but it is slightly less comfortable beyond a couple of hours IME, and I have a Fizik thing which I tried and occasionally fit to new builds in the hope I was wrong but somehow it’s one of the most uncomfortable saddles I’ve ever used.

I’ve also taken to re-covering, rather than replacing saddles now too, which is surprisingly easy, although I’d not get any awards for the results.

My recommendation is once you find a model/shape that suits, buy several up and preserve them for the future because models vanish and trends even seem to affects saddles.

But yeah, as already noted, saddles are very much an individual thing. Sitting on a few and riding for more than ten minutes is really the only way to figure out what suits you.

Brooks b17 for distance.

I’ve used B17s for years and they are great, particularly for long rides, due to their comfort and longevity. But they are also heavy (unless you spend megabucks on one with Ti rails), need to be kept relatively dry, and can develop annoying creaks and squeaks as they get older.

and can develop annoying creaks and squeaks as they get older.

Don’t we all 😂

I use Charge Spoons and they’re ‘fine’, and I’ve never got any better than ‘fine’. It just feels like expensive pot-luck, as there’s no way of knowing if a saddle will be comfortable or not until you’ve bought it and used it.

I keep meaning to try one of the hooky 3D printed saddles from eBay/AliExpress, see what they’re like

Has anyone tried the ergon enduro saddle or maybe the Specialized Bridge Comp Saddle as theese seem to get good reviews.

I have used both – Ergon on a previous build, I kept it in case I didn’t get on with the saddles on my new bike which is a Bridge, the Bridge is also comfy so I’ve just stayed with it.  I’ve also recently had a WTB Volt which was also nice to sit on.

Road bikes I like the Specialized Power saddles, I’ve just ordered a new road bike and the shop is swapping me out the stock saddle for one.

I’ve not got on with BelAir, Spoon or Fabric saddles.

It’s like asking what shoes are comfortable and someone says 5.10’s in a size 11 (c.f. an SDG Bell Air) , and someone else says Dr Martens in size 9 (c.f. a Brookes B13).

Neither’s going to be comfy if you’re a size 10.

I’ve got a fat ass, but narrow sit bones and an anterior pelvic tilt. I really like Selle Italia’s budget range on my most used MTB, SLS Flow, it’s the narrow (~135mm) width with the cut out and a decent amount of padding.  My road bikes have variations on that but more expensive (SLR Gel Flow Ti and one with the even bigger cut out but no padding).  My other off road bikes are a mishmash, IMO because you’re so rarely sat down for prolonged periods it’s just not as uncomfortable as riding a road bike with the wrong saddle.  So they usually just get built with whatever’s in the spares bin that weighs the least.

.

As already said, this is a totally personal thing.

However in my opinion……

I presume when you talk about mtb saddles, you mean for ridings in a more upright position, less xc. Then I reckon a more concaved, scooped saddle, that is pretty short works best.

In a more ‘arse up – head down’ position then a flatter, longer, more narrow saddle is better.

Just pick one in your budget.