Mountain Biking - Saddle upgrade recommendation for TREK 4500 D

Hi,
I picked up a 2011 Trek 4500 D cycle. The default saddle with it is Bontrager Evoke 1. I find it little too hard and narrow for me. I am a bit on the heavy side ( 200 lbs / 90 kg) and would like something softer and wider (wider especially at the back ).

I would appreciate any suggestions. I don't have many options locally in India and plan to have my nephew pick up from US when he travels from there.

Thanks in advance.

I'm in love with how WTB lovingly cradles my hiney in a gentle but firm manner. The calf skin is soft yet sassy. There's just enough support on my posterior to look both ways before I grin. Doesn't push up in the middle too much...but yet it still lets you know it's there with a foamy, faux leather figurative wink-and-a-smile...


But it's too narrow for you, so go to your local Specialized dealer and ask them to let you "try out" some BG's.

Hi, we don't have specialized stores in India. What do you suggest?

I'm in love with how WTB lovingly cradles my hiney in a gentle but firm manner. The calf skin is soft yet sassy. There's just enough support on my posterior to look both ways before I grin. Doesn't push up in the middle too much...but yet it still lets you know it's there with a foamy, faux leather figurative wink-and-a-smile...


But it's too narrow for you, so go to your local Specialized dealer and ask them to let you "try out" some BG's.

I think I'm falling in love with your seat :-)

It really is hard to suggest a seat for somone else, because everyones idea of comfort is different, and our hineys aren't built the same. Like the above, I would go to a dealer and try out different one's

Is brooks saddle a good idea for MTBS? I read that getting mud and dirt would shorten the life of the leather saddles.

Keep in mind that a saddle isn't necessarily about how big your butt is, but the width of your sitbones. If Baby Got Back and Skinny 100 Lb Guy both have the same width sitbones, it doesn't matter how much fat is surrounding it.

Haven't ridden Brooks. Have no interest to either. All of my non-Brooks saddles do a great job.

Hi Zephyr, what saddles do you use? How much wider than the sitbone should the saddle be? If its too narrow compared to my butt, wouldnt I be a little off the seat in back? I find my current seat to be a bit too narrow. thanks

Bike #1: SDG Ti-Fly http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=12721
Bike #2: WTB Speed V http://www.wtb.com/products/saddles/recreation/speedv/
Bike #3: Odyssey Aitken Nightwolf http://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Mike-Aitken-Nightwolf-Saddle/dp/B003UW80FM

If you follow your hamstring up the back of your leg, they run into these two pieces of bone that stick out of your pelvis. Those are your ischial tuberosities, aka your sitbones. You want them resting on the saddle. Everyone has muscle and fat surrounding them, but it doesn't really matter where all that is, because you want your weight going through your sitbones and they're the major contact points between you and the saddle.