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Which MTB Saddle is Right for You? Find the Perfect Mountain Bike Saddle
The requirements for your MTB saddle depend on the specific application and your anatomy. We give you tips on choosing the right MTB saddle.
The importance of the right saddle on a mountain bike is often underestimated, as riding is very dynamic: Sometimes you're sitting in the saddle, then you're out of it in a standing pedal position. Downhill is anyway done standing, and on flat trails you “push” while standing over small waves to keep rolling longer. Unlike road or touring bikes, you spend significantly less time in the saddle. But even in mountain biking, you'll sometimes sit for longer periods, and especially during steep climbs, the nose of the saddle can press uncomfortably if something isn't right. Therefore, you should also choose your mountain bike saddle carefully.
Often enough, you don't even sit on your saddle when mountain biking...
Whether uphill...
...or downhill: for more power and more control, you're more likely to stand than sit in the saddle when mountain biking.
Not to mention the airtime....
The Right Saddle Width on a MTB
Your saddle and your rear end need to match for riding comfort. The most important and easiest parameter to identify in order to find a comfortable saddle for the MTB is the correct saddle width. If the saddle is too narrow, the sit bones won't properly lay on the seating surface, and pain or numbness can often follow. If the saddle is too wide, it can rub against the thighs and/or cause you to constantly slide forward while pedaling. In our article: Measuring sit bone distance at home, we explain how to measure the sit bone distance and what you should pay attention to in order to find the right saddle width.
There's a special consideration for the MTB saddle: If you're riding downhill-oriented, value handling on the trails, and don't have problems with numbness or sitting discomfort, you can opt for a narrower saddle in doubt. It gives you more freedom of movement. The same applies if you ride cross-country or marathon with a stretched seat position: The pressure is moved further forward on the saddle in this position. Here the bones stand closer together, and your saddle can be narrower. Additionally, you have more pressure on the hands – and with ambitious riding also on the pedals, thus the feet – so the sitting area has to carry less of your body weight.
The Right Saddle Shape
The most difficult factor in finding a comfortable MTB saddle is probably the right shape. Depending on the manufacturer's concept, it differs in several aspects: from a top view, a side view, and a front view. All concepts aim to enable the best (individual) compromise of comfort, pressure distribution, and freedom of movement. Here, we give you an overview of what you can look out for:
- The top view of the saddle can resemble a “V” or a “Y”. This shape significantly influences leg freedom while pedaling, pressure distribution in the middle area of the saddle, and your freedom of movement during descent. The more Y-shaped, the more leg freedom you have, and the more the pressure rests on the sit bones. However, if you slide forward to the saddle nose, the pressure uncomfortably shifts between the sit bones. Also, during descent, a saddle with a strong Y-shape slides less smoothly along the inside of your thighs if you want to use it to steer the bike. The more V-shaped the MTB saddle, the less free your inner thighs are when pedaling, but the pressure is distributed more evenly in a sports sitting position (or when sitting on the saddle nose), and the saddle can glide better along your thighs during descent.
- The side view of the saddle, or a longitudinal cut through the saddle, can either resemble a straight line or have a curved shape with a slightly raised rear. A straight line distributes pressure more evenly and allows small adjustments of your sitting position easier forward or backward. On the other hand, the curved shape can help to bring a little more pressure to the rear area of the saddle and relieve the front area. However, the curved shape is more prescriptive of your sitting position.
- The view of the saddle surface from the front, or a cross-section through the seating surface, can have a rounded or flat shape. If the seating surface is rounder or more curved, it means that the surface falls off more from the center to the sides. This distributes the pressure more evenly on the saddle, which is advantageous if you have sensitive sit bones. If you frequently feel too much pressure or numbness in the perineal or genital area, this shape is not optimal for you. A flat saddle is then better as it distributes the body weight more on the sit bones and can thus relieve the sensitive soft tissue area. However, this can be too much for some riders, and especially with a harder saddle, strong pressure peaks can occur on the sit bones.
Depending on how you ride a mountain bike and your past experiences with MTB saddles, this list may help you figure out which saddle shape could be a good fit for you. You may need to make compromises, as you won't always find a saddle model that perfectly combines all aspects for you.
The Cutout in the Middle of the Saddle
A saddle with a cutout in the center, meaning a depression in the padding or a hole through the shell and padding, serves to relieve pressure in sensitive body areas. By the way, a saddle with a cutout isn't directly - as it was "back in the day" - a woman's saddle. Men can also benefit from a mountain bike saddle with a cutout. Little side note: There's no consensus among saddle manufacturers on whether there's a need for a specific men's or women's saddle for mountain biking, or if a unisex saddle works just as well. The fact is: Whether you benefit from a saddle with a cutout depends on the type of discomfort you're experiencing. In cases of high pressure or numbness in the perineal or genital areas, a cutout can improve pressure distribution. Indeed, such discomfort is often experienced by women, especially in a stretched seating position, and thus a cutout in the mountain bike saddle often improves sitting comfort for women. But as said, men can also enjoy more comfort on their MTB with a cutout.
You should generally consider that other areas, meaning the sit bones and also the soft tissue at the transition from the cutout to the sitting area, could be subjected to greater stress with a saddle with a cutout. And not all cutouts are the same! Their type (hole or depression), dimensions, positioning, and how the transition from the cutout to the sitting surface is designed, vary with each saddle model and decide whether the cutout improves your saddle comfort or not.
Do women need different MTB saddles than men? The answer varies depending on the manufacturer. © bc GmbH
The Padding of the MTB Saddle
To find the right padding for your mountain bike saddle, there are three simple relationships:
- If you wear pants with seat padding, you can save on the saddle padding:
You're better off when a soft material adapts to a harder material than when two soft materials meet. - The sportier and more stretched your seating position, the less padding your MTB saddle should have:
- If the saddle is too thick and soft, you sink deeply into the saddle, which can irritate or restrict nerve paths and blood vessels.
- With an ambitious riding style, the seating area is also relieved, as more pressure lies on the pedal. That’s why sporty cross-country and marathon saddles are very minimally padded – and it also saves weight.
- On the trail, whether All-Mountain, Enduro or Downhill, a bit more padding is helpful:
- You mostly sit more upright and the pressure is more focused on the sit bones - a bit (!) thicker and softer padding can distribute the pressure better.
- If you're sitting on the saddle nose during steep climbs, want some padding for protection in case of unexpected saddle contact, or you steer the bike with the inner sides of your thighs, you also benefit from more padding at the saddle nose, the rear, and the sides.
The saddle also helps you to guide your bike. Padded edges are then often more comfortable for your thighs. © bc GmbH
The Saddle Rails
The saddle rails, also called "rails," come in different materials. Carbon allows for the construction of lighter saddle rails, although the material is quite expensive. Steel, on the other hand, is robust and affordable, but it doesn't break any weight records. Titanium or aluminum alloys fall between carbon and steel in terms of price and weight. You should consider that, in a "crash-intensive" discipline, carbon rails might not be the best choice since they could break if the bike falls unluckily on the saddle.
The material generally determines the shape of the saddle rails. Metal rails are usually round - they have a diameter of seven millimeters and fit in standard seatposts. Carbon rails, on the other hand, are oval and your seat post or clamp head must be able to clamp this shape. When mounting a saddle with carbon rails, you should also definitely pay attention to the manufacturer's torque specifications and use carbon assembly paste.
The Saddle Shell
The heart of a saddle is its shell, which lies between the rails and the padding or the upper material. The shell forms the foundation and is either very stiff or specifically flexible depending on the design. In very light and high-quality saddles, not only the rails but also the shell are made of carbon. Targeted flex provides a bit of comfort for little or non-padded saddles. However, we generally recommend these saddles more for cross-country or marathon use, as they're less likely to crash. Since lightweight saddles are more susceptible to crash-related damage, the more technical your trails, the more you should accept the extra weight of a plastic shell.
The Upper Material
Most MTB saddles come with artificial leather, polyester, or microfiber materials. They're robust and easy to care for. In general: The smoother the surface, the easier it is to clean. And the rougher the surface, the less you slide. Some saddles, for instance in downhill or E-MTB sectors, also have grip materials on the top side. Thus, the parts of the saddle where you need grip are grippy, but the sides remain pleasantly slippery.
Leather saddles are sometimes recommended for long MTB tours. You should just consider that they're less suitable for trail use since the saddle tip and rear do not necessarily invite unwanted saddle contact in a difficult trail section. For many riders, however, core leather saddles are very pleasant on long tours once they're broken in and well-maintained.
E-Mountainbike Saddles
Ever since e-mountain bikes took the scene by storm, there's been an increase in specific accessories, including e-MTB saddles. Many e-mountain bikers who are into touring have a lower seat height, sit more upright, and apply force differently to the pedal compared to riders of non-motorized bikes. So, there's generally more pressure on the sit bones. Wider saddles with more padding make sense in this case. Often, e-MTB saddles are raised higher at the back to support your buttocks, or they have a very grippy surface to prevent you from sliding off or needing to exert a lot of body tension. If you frequently enjoy technical, steep uphills, a saddle with a slightly wider and sufficiently padded nose might help. In those sections, you need to shift your body weight forward or even slide far forward to keep your front wheel on the ground. You'll be thankful to sit as comfortably as possible on the saddle nose then.
The Right Saddle Adjustment
Getting the saddle adjustment right on a mountain bike is crucial. The best MTB saddle is useless if the tilt or height isn't right. Personal preferences play just as much a role here as the purpose of use and other adjustments on the MTB. We go into detail about this in our Bike Ergonomics 101.
There's a little particularity you should pay attention to when adjusting your new MTB saddle: As soon as you sit on the bike, the suspension fork and shock absorb (unless you've locked them out completely). This suspension action changes the bike geometry and thus the saddle tilt. Initially, adjust the saddle so that its surface is parallel to the ground! From this setting, you can make small adjustments depending on whether you feel too much pressure at the front or back of the saddle or if you constantly find yourself unintentionally sliding forward or backward.
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