How to choose a mountain bike saddle

Finding the right saddle for your mountain bike should be a lot easier than it is. You just want something comfortable, that lasts well, doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and is easy to fit – right?

Walking into a bike shop with those thoughts in mind, or perusing the internet to get some ideas might leave you wondering how such a simple process could become so difficult. A large bike shop will have a wall of saddles. There will be wide ones, skinny ones, flat ones, cirved ones, ones with channels, ones with slots in them so big you can fit your hand through, and some will only look like half a saddle. So where do you start?

There are a number of things you need to consider, including how often you ride, what type of riding you do, your position on the bike, your weight, hip width and of course gender.

Why do these things make a difference? Well if you ride a lot, and tend to lean more towards cross-country riding, chances are you'll lean more towards a flatter, narrower saddle. Thw reduced width can mean you stay right on the wider part when pedalling, and the flatter shape can assist with body movements fore and aft when climbing. 

Alternatively, you may ride an E-MTB, where the extra pedalling and general upright position leaves you on the seat more with more weight on your bum – and that's where E-MTB specific saddles like the PRO Volture E-MTB saddle.

The reality is, most brands have a range that should cover all bases, and hopefully they have a way toa ssist you in finding the right saddle for you.

German saddle innovation

If there's one thing you can count on the Germans for, it's innovation and facts. They don't do a whole lot on feeling and vibe like some of their southern cousins. Ergon are passionate cyclists who are interested in solving problems – and comfort and fit on the bike is one of them, which s why they have a large, and expanding, range of saddles and grips alongside seatposts, backpacks and some fitment tools. They work very closely with professionals from the Yeti Enduro Team and Canyon Factory Enduro Team as well as Canyon Topeak Factory Racing.

They're obsessed with ergonomics – that is, a comfortable and correct fit on your bike – so you have the best comfort, the best performance, and the best injury prevention.

With a huge range of award winning saddle designs themselves Ergon also has an online saddle selector.

It's a simple enough process, and while you might need to get out a tape measure to measure your hips (assuming you don't have Ergon's sit bone width tool at hand) the site gives quite an accurate suggestion.

After a new saddle for my trail bike, I used the selector and it suggested the Ergon SMA3 Comp, in small. Which is what I'd ended up looking at looking for the features and shape I thought I wanted anyway. But that's with over 20 years of riding and plenty of saddle styles and shapes used. It's a bold claim, but the saddle selector condenses that into one easy online tool.

However, I'm also going to trial the Ergon SME3 Comp medium – essentially a similar shape and a little wider but also with some deeper padding. This is the same model that Richie Rude uses, although he would use the 'Pro' model with Titanium rails and a carbon composite shell. The Comp model uses TiNox rails and a nylon-composite shell. There's minimal weight difference, but the Pro model would be a lot stronger.

I'll be pairing the saddles up with some matched grips from the Ergon range, so stay tuned for a long term review later this year. Will there be a benefit from the more enduro focused saddle for trail riding – or will I prefer the slightly smaller size of the SMA3? We'll see!

For more details on Ergon saddles in Australia get in touch with your local bike shop.