The Fizik Thar is claimed to be the world's first 29er-specific saddle. Yep, you read that correctly, 29er specific. So what makes it so 29er specific?
According to Fizik, the challenge with 29er geometry is in being able to get sufficient weight over the front wheel for climbing. As 29ers have a taller front end, this means less weight on the front tyre, which leads to less grip and more 'wandering' of the front wheel along steep uphill pinches. With that in mind, the Thar features 95mm long rails (25mm longer than standard), which are designed to maximize fore/aft adjustability to get the saddle further over the bottom bracket. Along with a sloping profile and a flat nose, the Thar is built from the ground-up to enhance your climbing position on a 29er.
We've been longtime fans of Fizik saddles, with models such as the Gobi, Aliante, and Arione finding their way into many of our testers' heart over the past decade. The company is well known for making a good perch, having handmade each of their saddles in Italy since 1996. So when a distinctive-looking Thar showed up for testing, we weren't entirely sure whether it was going to continue, or put a hiccup in, our love affair with the Italian brand.
Initial Impressions
The Thar is available with either Manganese (tested) or lighter K:ium rails. Our test saddle was an early prototype, but at 240 grams it still tipped the scales pretty close to the claimed weight.
The Thar uses a supple Microtex cover, along with medium-density foam padding that sits somewhere between the uber-firm Tundra and the more plush Aliante. The base is made from a carbon-reinforced nylon shell, which features in-built flex throughout that is adjustable by swapping in one of two 'Tuner Inserts' into the nose of the saddle.
The Thar is a fairly stubby little seat at 265mm long and with a shorter tail than usual. The reason behind this is to maximize rear tyre clearance when the Thar is fitted to a 29er with a dropper post.
On the Trail
The Thar is a tricky seat to setup initially, due to its in-built flex and the sloping profile. On our first ride we noticed that we were sliding down the nose of the seat. After tilting the saddle up slightly at the front though, things were much more stable.
However, we still found ourselves moving around atop the saddle's enormous platform. There are no grooves or channels in the profile of the Thar, and without a scoop to the tail, your sit bones can initially struggle to find the perfect pedalling position. It's kind of like transitioning between clip-m and flat pedals (with flats, it takes a while for your muscle memory to determine the ideal spot to plant your shoe down onto the pedal body and we found the same thing with the Thar saddle and our bums).
Once we got used to the vast platform on offer though, the Thar quickly became a natural fit. The foam density is perfect for most trail riding applications, and the flat nose allowed us to get right over the front of the bike for climbing We didn't make use of the 95mm rail length, but we can see this adjustability being advantageous for riders with particular set up requirements, particularly shorter riders In this regard, while e we understand the marketing behind it, we think that the Thar should be considered for 26" and 27.5" bikes Any bike with a tall front end could benefit from the Thar saddle, as it allows you to get down lower for those real stem-kissing climbs.
Aside from setup, our only complaint was with the white portion of the Microtex cover, which was quite slippery in comparison to the black portion. It also has a slightly annoying stitch line that the saddle could do without.
Our Take
The Thar is a superb saddle, which does exactly as advertised (and probably a little more, in that we would recommend it for bikes other than 29ers). We'll admit that we were skeptical to begin with, and especially after the longer setup period, but the more we rode with the Thar, the less we thought about it. And that's exactly what a good saddle should do.
