Mountain Biking - Road saddle?

Anyone here ride a road saddle on their MTB? I sat on a FIZIK Arione the other day on the LBS owners Felt and it "Felt" real nice but I don't know how it would be long duration and especially on a MTB. I was wondering if anyone on here uses a road oriented saddle on their MTB. Another saddle I'm leaning toward is the Selle italia flite. I understand that these are very personal peices of equipment but, I'm Curious...

What saddle do you ride?

I tried my Selle Itala on my mountain bike for one ride. Well, half of one ride, as I was standing as much as possible. For a metaphor, my undercarrige has never seen a pounding like that. Unless you race, get something with some padding and a nice love channel that will keep you nice comfy. I use a Trek comfort zone saddle. It is nice and comfy, and not padded to the point where it feels like a diaper, and still has a good enough look if you care about that.

Road saddles are a punishing for behind. Im no expert but ide rather have a few extra grams and have a saddle you can actually sit on if you need to.

Well, my anatomy is different but I have tried a road saddle. It was horrible. A dropped nose on the saddle can be very important and also the love channel. Your butt takes a different type of pounding on a mtb. I personally love the WTB Laser V. My hubby likes the SSK.

I actually saw a picture of a Turner DHR downhill bike with a Selle Italia SLR (needle tipped Lance Armstrong Tour de France saddle). Imagine that on your tender ones.

I have a Performance saddle that I'm pretty sure is designed for road use. It's actually got a lot of padding. I got it because I like a really narrow saddle...other MTB saddles were too wide for me and got really uncomfortable on all-day rides. I kept my wide saddle, it's on a shorter seatpost that I swap on when I want to just do jumps or drops.

On long rides though, the narrow saddle is really nice for me. It's all personal preference though.

Anyone here ride a road saddle on their MTB? I sat on a FIZIK Arione the other day on the LBS owners Felt and it "Felt" real nice but I don't know how it would be long duration and especially on a MTB. I was wondering if anyone on here uses a road oriented saddle on their MTB. Another saddle I'm leaning toward is the Selle italia flite. I understand that these are very personal peices of equipment but, I'm Curious...

What saddle do you ride?


I ride a Ti Flite on my F700, but that's really only cuz I used to race. Haven't changed it out since I've gotten used to it. Doesn't really bother me unless I'm off the bike for a long period of time and have to get reaquainted with it or if I'm on an epic ride. Mebbe the titanium helps.... I wear padded shorts as well.

I have been riding Selle Italia Flites for more than ten years now. And I only recently started doing road riding in the last five years. I've had the Flites on all my past MTBs and have never had a problem with them even during those 10 and 12 hour epic rides on full-rigids. But again, every butt is different. BTW, there used to be a time when there was no distinction between road and MTB saddles. I guess ignorance is bliss in that sense.

BTW, there used to be a time when there was no distinction between road and MTB saddles. I guess ignorance is bliss in that sense.
Yeah, I was gonna mention that, but I thought that maybe it was listed as road-specific and I just missed that bit of info. When I raced, I almost always went for light weight/durability over everything else. I think my Ti Flite is about 190 grams.

Yeah, I was gonna mention that, but I thought that maybe it was listed as road-specific and I just missed that bit of info. When I raced, I almost always went for light weight/durability over everything else. I think my Ti Flite is about 190 grams.

It's probably not officially stated anywhere that Flites are road-specific and many MTBs do come spec'ed with them (my FS bike came with a Flite Vanadium which I swapped for a Flite Ti) but I think there's a general feeling amongst the MTB crowd that Flites are road saddles. I am currently running the Ti Flite Genuine Gel which is 220g. I decided to go with the GG version because it has a minimal amount of gel strategically placed and I just need a slight bit of cushion in those three spots. Also I find that the extra stitching on them prevents me from sliding around on the saddle too much.

I'm with khuon on this one. I've been riding with a Ti Flite for about 12 years probably (the same one) on my MTB - it was on the Trek before I bought the Attitude. I haven't ever had any problems with it. I too raced with it, so I suppose the weight was the determining factor in those days. It never occurred to me that it was a "road" saddle. As others have said, it's what's comfortable to you.

Anyone try the Fizik Nisene?

I ride the Fizik Gobi most of the time for XC rides. If I'm going out for jumps I swap the Gobi for an Azonic hot seat.

Edit: I used to use a Flite Ti on my mtb and I thought it was pretty comfortable because I wasn't numb after 30 miles. Now that I have a saddle that actually fits my rear I realize that the flite was actually a horrible match for me.

I use road saddles on all my bikes. Even my DH bike. Light is good. And if you ride enough, you wont get a sore bum

It's all about the fit. Different saddles fit different people. There's no right or wrong saddle as long as it fits and is comfortable. I've tried the saddles that were supposed to be MTB-specific and found they were horribly uncomfortable for me. Other types of saddles that don't work for me are the ones with the cutouts. I felt like I was sitting on pair of hockey skates with the blades pointed upwards. :eek:.

I use road saddles on all my bikes. ....And if you ride enough, you wont get a sore bum

WRONG! Women's road saddles are too wide and too long for MTBiking. Hope you don't work in a bike shop. I like shops with staff who know that there is no one answer to a question. And the nose on many men's road saddles are so long that your shorts get stuck when mounting. The saddle has to fit the bum and the purpose.