Different saddles For Different Style Bikes??
#1
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From: The Witterings, West Sussex
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.
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.
#2
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From: Ashton, MD USA
Bikes: Trek Domane SL6 Disc, Jamis Renegade
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.
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.
#4
- Soli Deo Gloria -
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From: Northwest Georgia
Bikes: 2018 Rodriguez Custom Fixed Gear, 2017 Niner RLT 9 RDO, 2015 Bianchi Pista, 2002 Fuji Robaix
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-
Find one that works and use it.
-Tim-
#7
Jedi Master
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From: Lake Forest, IL
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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.
#8
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From: The Witterings, West Sussex
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.
#9
Jedi Master
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From: Lake Forest, IL
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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.
#10
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#11
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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.
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.
#12
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From: Norman, OK
Bikes: Casati Laser, Ciöcc Exige, Black Mountain Cycles Road
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.
#13
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#15
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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.
#17
Callipygian Connoisseur
Joined: Nov 2008
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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+.
-Kedosto
-Kedosto
#18
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.
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.
#19
Let's Ride!

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From: Lexington, VA USA
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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.
#jealous
#20
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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.
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.
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.
#23
Mad bike riding scientist




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From: Denver, CO
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Find saddles that work but don’t be afraid to try something else.
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Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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