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Different saddles For Different Style Bikes??

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Old 04-05-19 | 05:03 AM
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Different saddles For Different Style Bikes??

Do you have different saddles for your different bikes i.e. a racing specific saddle on your road bike, touring saddle on your Gravel Bike / Tourer etc. …. or do you tend to find a saddle that’s comfortable and it then use the same on all your bikes irrespective of whether it’s MTB, Hybrid, Race or Gravel Bike.

Interested to hear what your chosen is if it’s just one for all …….. but also if you differ between the disciplines which is your preferred for each.
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Old 04-05-19 | 06:20 AM
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I have three bikes, each has a different seat - mainly because I take the hand me down approach. But all are replacement from original, all have some sort of cutout in the usual places - I've found that is the lowest common denominator I want in a seat.

My 1990 vintage Schwinn hybrid is for baby mountain biking, group rides with other people who don't bike much, rougher rail trails, like the C&O Canal around here. That is some old, relatively large, fairly well padded seat, as I usually don't wear bike shorts when riding that bike and much of the time just using platform pedals.

My touring bike (mid 1990s Trek 520) has a narrow, slightly padded seat that I bought when I got a new road bike (Trek Domane). The geometry of the Domane is different, I ended up putting a more narrow, zero padding Selle SMP Glider seat on that and the 520 got the hand me down. On both of those bikes I'm always clipped in, always wearing bike shorts.

Not very scientific but between the different styles of riding between the beater bike and the other two, and the difference in geometry between the touring/road bikes, it has worked out well for me.
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Old 04-05-19 | 06:22 AM
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i use a brooks b17 on my day tripper/touring bike and my good commuter. b67 on my 26" cruiser. velo orange touring saddle on my vintage fuji racer. random bontrager on my trash commuter.
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Old 04-05-19 | 07:56 AM
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There are no such things as touring saddles, road saddles and gravel saddles. There are only saddles.

Find one that works and use it.


-Tim-
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Old 04-05-19 | 09:03 AM
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My go-to seat has become Adamo PR 3.0. I have yet to try an Adamo on my MTB.
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Old 04-05-19 | 09:19 AM
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Posture differences?

Saddle manufacturers suggest more you sit up, Riding, , wider the saddle ...
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Old 04-05-19 | 10:38 AM
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I have twelve bikes with seven different saddles, and I'm happy with all of them. There are a few saddles that have worked well for me, so I have them on more than one bike, but I haven't tried every saddle so I'm sure there are lots of others that would work just as well. I have a few saddles that start to get a little uncomfortable after 6-7 hours but are totally fine for shorter rides, so I don't put those on my long distance bikes. I like leather saddles for long distances, but they are a bit more expensive and seem to wear out faster for me than other saddles so I only put those on my long distance bikes, which are ironically not my highest mileage bikes. When saddles wear out i find myself replacing them with something different instead of the same thing. The whole reason I have more than one bike is to try different setups to see what I like, which obviously doesn't work if I put the same equipment on every bike. I would guess that it's pretty unusual for someone with a lot of bikes to have the same saddle on all of them.
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Old 04-05-19 | 11:22 AM
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Originally Posted by kingston
I would guess that it's pretty unusual for someone with a lot of bikes to have the same saddle on all of them.
Yes ... that's kind of why I was asking ... in so many "help me choose a saddle threads" ... the answer is always find the one that works for you and you can only do it via trial and and if you do find something comfortable it'd then make sense to replicate it on all the bikes you have.

That said as per fietsbob's comment about manufacturers recommendations .... I'm guessing if you're in a very forward / racing position a wider saddle won't benefit any more towards the rear as the weights more taken on the forward part of the perineum but may possibly cause chaffing on the legs if it's wide whereas if you're more upright position .... wider provides a larger area of support.

I guess quite a lot of saddles happily sit in between and could be used for either but maybe not the best for any on in particular.
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Old 04-05-19 | 01:51 PM
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My long distance/comfort bikes have less reach, more stack and wider saddles than my bikes with more aggressive geometry. If you are low and stretched out, you just don't need that much saddle, but if you're sitting more upright you do.
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Old 04-05-19 | 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by kingston
My long distance/comfort bikes have less reach, more stack and wider saddles than my bikes with more aggressive geometry. If you are low and stretched out, you just don't need that much saddle, but if you're sitting more upright you do.
He said it so I don't have to.
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Old 04-05-19 | 02:00 PM
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Use what feels best. Way back when I ran minimalist "road" saddles(SLR aka ass hatchets) on my cross and MTB because they were easy to slide around on.

However, there are such things as MTB-specific saddles, like WTB's High Tail. It's is great on my MTB (the rear is cut out to prevent tire buzz at full compression). That cut out serves no purpose on my gravel bike so I stuck with a tried-and-true Silverado instead.
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Old 04-05-19 | 02:08 PM
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Three road bikes, three saddles. The bike I ride the most has a Specialized Romin saddle, which I find most comfortable for a relatively low riding position. Another has a Specialized Phenom that I bought before trying the Romin. It too is a comfortable saddle, but a little flatter and better for a more upright position. The third bike has a Fabric Scoop simply because they're affordable and I was curious. It's a good saddle, but the Specialized ones fit my rear end better.
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Old 04-05-19 | 02:15 PM
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
Saddle manufacturers suggest more you sit up, Riding, , wider the saddle ...
Yep. That works for me as well. I use fairly narrow saddles on my road bikes, a slightly wider B17 on my errand bike, and a B68 on my upright folder.
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Old 04-05-19 | 04:43 PM
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Originally Posted by kingston
I have twelve bikes .
Hello, my name is Kingston, and I am a bikeaholic.
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Old 04-05-19 | 05:47 PM
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Originally Posted by TimothyH
There are no such things as touring saddles, road saddles and gravel saddles. There are only saddles.

Find one that works and use it.


-Tim-
I would humbly disagree.
My experience is:
1a. where I want a flat back position for fast and/or hilly rides less than 50miles = give me a long narrow saddle, virtually no padding.
1b. flat back riding position for longer rides = split rail, as my SMP
2. when I ride a more relaxed geometry road bike with taller head tube and less emphasis on aero - leather saddle with cut-out pleases me
3. for the vintage bikes = vintage leather saddles (mostly).
4. the beach cruiser = wide and padded.

but then if you line up my road bikes they range from 58-63cm ST, 56-59cm TT. Varying degrees of drop and reach.
just not a person who believes 'only one size' fits me.
not a person with a 'single riding position' of comfort.

edit: Every bike in sig line has a different saddle. The vast majority of my rides are sub-50 miles.
re-edit: now road shoes, I'm a bit pickier - Sidi's are my fave.
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Last edited by Wildwood; 04-05-19 at 06:03 PM.
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Old 04-05-19 | 08:45 PM
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Selle Anatomic X2 on my gravel bike and a Brooks B67 on my Fat Bike.
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Old 04-05-19 | 09:05 PM
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Lots of different saddles on lots of different bikes. I have some faves, but I also do well on el cheapo stock saddles too. My butt isn’t all that finicky as long as the saddle has a moderate curve shape. I tend to like my saddles on the narrow side in the 145-ish range. For anything upright I like to go wider, around 155+.


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Old 04-05-19 | 09:12 PM
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My road and gravel bike have the same saddle (in different colors). My single speed - which incidentally, has probably the most aggressive geometry of all my bikes - has the saddle I used to use on my road bike before I found one slightly more comfortable.

My winter bike/trailer haulin' rigid MTB has a slightly wider and softer saddle. It makes sense for shorter rides where I'm a bit more upright, and does a bit better without cycling shorts.
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Old 04-05-19 | 09:13 PM
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Originally Posted by kingston
I have twelve bikes with seven different saddles, and I'm happy with all of them. There are a few saddles that have worked well for me, so I have them on more than one bike, but I haven't tried every saddle so I'm sure there are lots of others that would work just as well. I have a few saddles that start to get a little uncomfortable after 6-7 hours but are totally fine for shorter rides, so I don't put those on my long distance bikes. I like leather saddles for long distances, but they are a bit more expensive and seem to wear out faster for me than other saddles so I only put those on my long distance bikes, which are ironically not my highest mileage bikes. When saddles wear out i find myself replacing them with something different instead of the same thing. The whole reason I have more than one bike is to try different setups to see what I like, which obviously doesn't work if I put the same equipment on every bike. I would guess that it's pretty unusual for someone with a lot of bikes to have the same saddle on all of them.
12 bikes #bikegoals #N+1

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Old 04-06-19 | 07:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Witterings
Do you have different saddles for your different bikes i.e. a racing specific saddle on your road bike, touring saddle on your Gravel Bike / Tourer etc. …. or do you tend to find a saddle that’s comfortable and it then use the same on all your bikes irrespective of whether it’s MTB, Hybrid, Race or Gravel Bike.

Interested to hear what your chosen is if it’s just one for all …….. but also if you differ between the disciplines which is your preferred for each.
Currently have 4 Special-Ed Toupes on a vintage MTB (ti), vintage road (cro-mo), modern hybrid (ti), and a mid school MTB (crabon). I like this model so much I have started stockpiling them. Has the name of a hair piece but you sit on it.

Then I have two from the same family tree on another two vintage MTBs (ti both).

Theyre all fairly long and low position bikes. My upright position bikes have wider saddles. Oddly I also seem to have the same seatpost also on many bikes.
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Old 04-06-19 | 07:51 AM
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the old nashbar touring saddles were great. they were soft, had a center cutout and boatloads more comfortable than most of the planks at the LBS. so yeah, i like them on All my bikes.
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Old 04-06-19 | 08:00 AM
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A whole bunch of assorted saddles on a whole bunch of bikes. But only a handful feel the best to me. Most of them are Selles and Charge.
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Old 04-06-19 | 08:26 AM
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Originally Posted by TimothyH
There are no such things as touring saddles, road saddles and gravel saddles. There are only saddles.

Find one that works and use it.


-Tim-
I would certainly say to find saddles that work but not all saddles will work in all situations. I ride different Brooks saddles on a number of bikes but I can’t ride any of them on a mountain bike. Even the narrowest of Brooks saddles are simply too wide to allow for an easy shift rearward on a downhill. They also tend to be a lot more slipery than other saddles which also makes them hard to use off-road. For that application I use narrower plastic saddles, usually Selle Italia Flites.

Find saddles that work but don’t be afraid to try something else.
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