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I've been struggling a little with the saddle on my road bike lately, I fitted what I thought might work for longer rides and "Endurance", a fizik Gobi (an MTB saddle which I bought because it was a bargain) and while it's been comfy enough for rides up to about 2.5 hours over the last year I've had to fiddle, tweak and compromise, to stop me sliding back, and/or reduce pressure off the centre (no channel) I've ended up with the nose tilted down further than I'd really like, So I'm finally admitting defeat, it needs to be changed. I think part of the issue is that the design relies more flex in the shell and the rails and has relatively minimal, uniform thickness padding on top...
My MTB gets far less use these days and has an old WTB 'Speed V' with a quite pronounced channel, wider tail end and a fair bit of padding, it's a heavy, cheap MTB saddle but I'm toying with swapping saddles between the MTB and Road bikes just to see if it yields more comfort for longer rides on the road, at least just to try for a bit, I can probably live happily with the Fizik on the MTB at least for a while.
Or should I be looking for something more "Road specific"? it seems some saddles are marketed as road or MTB specific and others are supposed to be for either application and all types seem to have a variety of shapes and designs...
I'm assuming the different body positions on the two bikes are a significan factor, being more upright on the MTB relieving the old "Biff pressure" a shade perhaps...
spoon/flux on either bike for me....
Have used Selle Italia SLR on and off road for over 10 years.
You already have the WTB, so why not swap it and try it? Finding a good saddle can be an expensive business believe me.
spoon/flux on either bike for me….
This...
Long days in the saddle, on both bikes, without issues.
As ever, though, the saddle you choose has to work for YOU, but there's a good chance that such a saddle will work on both bikes.
it's a totally personal thing IMHO so whatever works for you is best. I would swap them around and see how it feels.
Personally I like a flatter saddle on the road and something with a bit more tail on the MTB, mainly to help push against on steeper climbs. The Fabric Scoops (Shallow and Radius) work well for me on road and MTB respectively
Totalyl subjective/personal.
Try what you have.
I use the same types of saddle on and off road (and never got the logic as to why not to)
I've hot a WTB mtb saddle on my road bike and it's very comfy.
I'd say finding something that suits you is more important than whether it's the 'right' saddle. And, if you've already got the saddle, you might as well try it for a while.
Just to show what a personal thing it is - I bought a Charge Spoon based on all the great reviews it got & friends who reckoned it was the most comfortable saddle they'd ever used. Bleurgh - feels like it literally wants to cleave me in half - I hated it. persevered for a couple of months & then got rid.
I find road bikes less forgiving of a saddle that doesn't fit because your in a more fixed position with less standing up to pedal. So what 'works' on an MTB didn't on the road. The turbo is another level up again, if it's fine for 60min on a turbo it's good for 100miles!
SLR is a MTB saddle, Flite is the road version, it's got more of a 'hammock' shape to support you without needing to move forwards/backwards like on an MTB (the SLR is flat when viewed side on). So yes there can be some differences.
I had a Ritchey saddle on the mountain bike which worked well, never had any issues at all with it, longest ride was around 85 miles off road and I had no discomfort at all. I transferred it to my road bike as it's a nice light saddle and saved a bit over the stock Giant saddle. After around 40 miles though I started to find the pressure on the sit bones uncomfortable. I went back to the Giant saddle and that's no problem for 100 mile rides. The Ritchey saddle is quite flat whereas the Giant is more curved and that seems to be the difference. While I'm pretty flexible I'm also short so I have no real saddle to top of the bars drop on the road bike hence a more upright position than I might have if I were taller and the more curved saddle works better. I think the Giant is their intermediate model rather than the most curved for a very upright position. In theory the Ritchey shouldn't have worked for me off road but you spend so much time out of the saddle I think the profile isn't so important. In short then for me I think any saddle that worked on the road would be just fine on the mountain bike but not the other way round.
No hard and fast rules but generally, the road bike is less forgiving as you spend longer in the saddle.
The best advice I can give is to find an LBS that do trial saddles and use that facility. You'll end up paying full price for the saddle but at least you'll know it fits.
As ever, though, the saddle you choose has to work for YOU, but there’s a good chance that such a saddle will work on both bikes.
I'm not so sure the same saddle will necessarily work the same for both simply because I'm in a different body position on either bike, the further forward and more "stretched out" my position is (Road bike) the more I notice the soft tissue pressure and occasionally numbness. MTBs have historically not been such a problem for me, I've had all sorts of saddles over the years but as my body position is generally more upright thus arse discomfort and numbness haven't been noticeable. I've been riding Road bikes for the best part of a decade now and TBH I've struggled to fully sort saddle fit for most of that time, I thought The Fizik had sorted it a while back, but getting out for longer more frequent rides this summer has just highlighted that it still wasn't quite right...
Of course Just to muddy the waters the saddle on my "Gravel bike" looks like it should be all wrong compared to the other two, it's a bit narrower, has a slight cut-out, and like the fizik the padding is also on the thinner side and there is some appreciable give in the shell, but TBH it is more comfortable for long periods being sat on it despite being used for trundling along rougher ground more of the time, it's also worth noting that the body position is a bit between the road and MTB too...
In short then for me I think any saddle that worked on the road would be just fine on the mountain bike but not the other way round.
This is sort of what I'm thinking, and it's more down to my body than anything else. It's still worth trying the old WTB as it's the one sort of saddle I've not really used on the road bike, with softer/thicker padding and a generous centre channel, it seems odd that such saddles aren't really sold as being "appropriate" for road bikes and either seem to be labelled for MTBs or "Comfort" use, if it turns out to be a success I may well have to go off looking for a newer equivalent...
Have used Selle Italia SLR on and off road for over 10 years.
No need for any difference at all