Best Saddle for Mountain Bikes?
 

My apologies in advance if I am posting this in the wrong place (today is my first day posting on this forum).

I went to my local bike shop today and got a Fuji Nevada 29 1.1. While it felt nice in the shop, I noticed that the saddle was a bit hard. I commented this to the salesperson, but he told me to stick with it for a few days until I got used to it. The saddle it came with is an Oval Concepts 200.

When I got home I took the bike out for a test ride for about a mile. I'm still feeling the pain in my rear! I don't know if this will get any better or if I need to upgrade to a more comfortable saddle sooner than expected.

I did a bit of searching and found WTB saddles to be quite popular and within a decent price range (under $100). I'm looking for comfort as my riding style is mostly on the saddle. I'm not looking for light weight performance as in my particular case a few extra grams (or even a pound for that matter) won't make much of a difference for me. I'm 5'10" and currently weigh 240.

Any suggestions or directions to the right search path for a comfortable saddle would be greatly appreciated.

Best saddle is pretty individual. Not everyone's pelvis looks the same (actually there's quite a bit of variation), so it stands to reason that one person's La-Z-Boy is another person's torture device. Specialized makes saddles in different widths for different width sit bones (which does not necessarily correlate to how thin or heavy you are, since we're looking at bone structure, not fat), but even then, it's tough to know what saddle will feel the best without trying it. Go to a store and talk to the people there...they can help you better than we can online.

That said, when you first start riding, NO saddle will be comfortable. You need some time to break in your butt and get used to riding. Also, consider investing in some bike shorts with a chamois (they make baggy mountain bike shorts if spandex isn't your thing).

Thanks! I will look into getting some baggy mountain bike shorts for now (hopefully with padding). I'll also check with the bike shops regarding the saddle. My only fear is that bike shops in my town usually carry one or two manufacturers; not much to choose from and they will most likely try to push their saddles as "the best" when there might be other choices out there. I'm guessing this might turn out to be a bit of a quest visiting several bike shops.

I like Charge Spoon, but you'd probably find it kinda hard also. Hard is actually good if you're gonna ride for more than a half hour at a time. It will take some getting used to, however.

I also like the SDG Belair, it's a little cushier but doesn't swoop up as much in back, has more of a flat profile.

If you go to a fancy Specialized shop they might have one of those Ass-Ometer things that's supposed to tell you how wide of a saddle to get. That would be a good start, if there's a Spec dealer near you.

Don't buy any shorts unless they have the padding and be sure to buy quality ones. The inexpensive ones do not have enough padding to help. Look to spend 75 to 100 dollars.

It's all entirely personal.

For me, one of the best saddles that i've ever ridden on was an old SDG Belair from 06-07. If anyone has one of those, i would snavel it up no worries.

Theyve changed the design recently unfortunately.

I was checking online for bike shorts and you are absolutely correct about the prices! They are pretty pricey! Not many choices on the loose fitting type though; mostly available are the tight fitting type.

Any reason you don't want to go with the tight ones? I have been riding for years and not once bought loose bike shorts. If I want loose, I will just wear gym shorts. Now, I bought my son a pair of loose fit mountain biking shorts with the chamois sewn in and he likes them, but he is 13 and thinks the tight shorts look dorky. Me, I think the tight fitting ones are far more versatile and comfortable, especially in the hot weather.

Saddles are personal, so you may need to try different saddles to find the one you like. Are you using your mountain bike to do single track or cross country, or is it exclusively or mostly just roads and bike paths?

Many years ago when I was in much better shape I used to wear tight bike pants. I need to drop at least 70 pounds before I even consider the thought of wearing the tight shorts again ! :) I joined a gym last month and have been going every day, also working with a trainer every two weeks to try to get back in shape/drop 90 more pounds this year.

You can find biking shorts in larger sizes. I weigh about what you do, though I have been as high as 280 and as low as 210. I usually go with either XL or XXL, depending on the brand. Nashbar makes inexpensive bike shorts that could be a stopgap until you lose weight. My current shorts are Nashbar size XL, Specialized size XXL, Pace size XXL, and Gore size XXL. I paid about $50 a pair on sale for each of them except the Nashbar, which I paid $25 for. FWIW, you should have a much easier time finding tight fitting shorts that fit rather than loose fitting ones.

If it is an issue of modesty, wear a pair of loose running shorts over the bike shorts, preferable a lightweight technical fabric rather than cotton.

I have some nice Endura baggy w/snap in liner shorts that I love, but they were indeed pricey. And actually, I don't care for the liner in them as much as these cheaper Canari padded liners I bought separately: Men's Gel Cycle Liner - Sport Chalet
Most of the time I just wear the Canaris under the Endura shorts, even though they don't snap in--doesn't matter too much to me.
You could get a pair of liners like this and wear whatever shorts over them. Just keep in mind, things like cargo shorts with butt pockets, etc. can be really uncomfortable if you find you're sitting on the seams, snaps, etc. Baggy MTB bike shorts are designed so that the crotch area "gusset" doesn't have a seam or anything that would irritate. So as MRT2 suggests, lightweight athletic shorts would be better.

I don't care for pads much so just wear tri shorts under surf shorts or the like.

I'm with Lester. None of my saddles are so uncomfortable that I need padding - but I spent some time finding the right saddles too. For me, with upright bikes, a Brooks B17 works well. I think it's more about the shape than the squish, cause not a lot of squish with a Brooks.

I also had a Selle Italia Turbo that came on my old C'Dale rigid MTB... MUCH narrower than the Brooks, but it worked well with low handlebars.

I think that the more you ride, too, the more adaptive you become to various saddles. Try a few different kinds, a lot of bigger shops let you buy/return til you find the right one.

Pretty much between your arse and the saddle , its spoken here like a Popularity Contest ..

consider a Cheap soft padded saddle then , Mountain Biking after all, you Will Crash, You will tear up the Plastic covering on the saddle

so with a Cheap saddle It Wont matter , just get another One ..

One Idea.. product name dropping..

PDW has a saddle, the plastic-foam is the Crocs shoe type stuff , so the padding and the covering is all the same , https://www.ridepdw.com/goods/cockpi...hronous-saddle

Steep Descents the riding technique is Pushing your Bum Back of the saddle and low, a Wider saddle restricts your motion to Pull that Move off easily.

Sounds pretty logical. I am not much of a mountain biking guy, but my son rides. The saddle that came with his used mountain bike looked pretty cheap and he had previously complained about another saddle that was rather hard and narrow that I put on my hybrid. So I asked how he felt about the saddle on the mountain bike. Surprisingly, it was fine for the reason you just said, and because a lot of single track is out of the saddle anyway, or at the very least, a lot of the weight is on the pedals.

I like my Serfas Dorado saddle.

Have a shop measure your sit bones by either sitting on a memory foam pad they'll measure or sitting on one-sided corrugated cardboard (I just did this newer method and it was pretty cool). Your sit bones leave an impression and once you have a width, buy a saddle that accommodates the sit bones' "points". Too soft a saddle will become too uncomfortable on longer rides as it's not supportive enough. There should be some firmness.

Any good shop should have loaners so you can test ride saddles. One of the advantages of buying from a shop. Of course you're not married to the shop so you don't have to buy from them. Just feels like a heel thig to do though.

I like Brooks saddles when weight is not an issue. They even have a rubber one that requires zero break-in and maintenance compared to their leather ones. I'm slowly replacing all my saddles with Brooks. When it works, it works.

As for shorts, just wear padded tight road shorts under any other outer short of your choosing. Try to get something that doesn't have thick seams. The padding in the built in shorts wear out before the layer. At least for me anyway.

You must not crash much.

I wouldn't say I crash a lot but I do have intimate encounters with the dirt a few times a year. On trails, going fast, crashes are inevitable. On a bike path, going slowly, I can understand never crashing.

Lycra shorts will rip with almost any kind of abrasion. They cost about the same as MTB shorts that have a liner with chamois, except the MTB shorts usually hold up with minor get-offs. I've never had to toss a pair of MTB shorts after a crash, but I have sewed them back together a few times.

Once, I had rebar rip a big hole. I can't believe it didn't rip a hole in my leg - I was lucky. It was near the marina on a lakeside trail, and I assume years upon years ago there was a concrete path and I found a remnant of it when I went tumbling into a gully. :D

Anyway, baggy shorts aren't just about fashion. They're much tougher.

Like others have said get your sitbones measured to determine size range. I prefer saddles with a flat top for MTB and a small flair at the back for the road. I have a SDG on my Yelli and a WTB Silverado on my Carve. For the road I have a Specialized Romin Evo on my Roubaix and a Selle Anatomica Titanico X on the Soma. The Selle Anatomica is similar to a Brooks, but American made.

As an experiment I ordered a Planet Bike a.r.s Standard saddle. It arrived today. Looks comfortable, but I'm going to have to wait a bit as I am exchanging my bike (hopefully) this weekend. The next bike comes with the same saddle, so as soon as I get it I will mount this new saddle on it.

I am a large lad and picked out the widest Specialized Body Geometry saddle as a result --- (i wrongly figured wider would be better)

It was not one of their more expensive offerings (The reva i think was the name,) but was offered in different widths

Well, although i am now quite large, --- my bone structure did not change much -- the flared out tail of the wide saddle tends to push my hips forward to where i am always sitting on the narrow portion of the saddle ---- no good

That seat only lasted a couple rides and i went back to a much narrower seat -- the search continues

My best luck has been with the antiquated Selle Italia Turbo seat -- it is somewhat narrow, but has an inch of thick, firm padding to settle into ---- the newer designs have 1/2 the padding if that -- mind you, the padding is not soft -- but is suppportive on the longest of rides

This is the best advice here. Work on that before spending hundreds on special butt-pad shorts, etc. If that seat doesn't start getting more comfortable after you've been riding regularly for a couple weeks, maybe start looking into a new seat. Personally I say get a new seat before padded shorts. I'd much rather have a comfortable seat that I can ride in normal clothes and just enjoy riding my bike vs. using special padded shorts to try to make up for an uncomfortable seat. You might have to try out several seats before you find the right one, but it's worth it in the long run if you plan to keep biking regularly(which is more likely to happen with a comfy seat).