All Arround MTB

At just 266g , The Cloud is competitive on the scales, especially considering the price. It only comes in a single width, which won’t suit everyone, and the firm rather than luxurious padding is better suited to more seasoned riders. Marks on the chromoly rails and the near-flat profile make it quick and easy to get the saddle feeling comfy. A shallow cutaway in the middle of the foam helps to relieve pressure on your nether regions. While the thin, firm padding on the nose isn’t the comfiest when clawing up steeper pitches, it’s forgiving enough providing you’re not perched there for too long. The sleek looks and neat finish add to its appeal. Price $52 (chromoly rails)

Specialized’s Power saddles are polarising in both looks and fit, but those who like them like them a lot. The short nose and large central cutout are designed to keep pressure off your sensitive tissues when in a forward seated position. While these seats are designed primarily for road use, we’ve found them to be remarkably comfortable off-road, especially when hunched forwards on steep climbs or during long days in the saddle, when we’ve had no problems with pain or numbness. This new ARC version has a smoother transition from rear to nose, which makes it better for mountain biking, because it allows you to adopt a wider range of positions. The Expert model is the cheapest, and weighs 340g. While the shape won’t suit everyone, if it works for you, you’re in for a treat. Price $150

These two saddles from Gusset form part of the UK brand’s new‘S2’ range of premium products. Due for release in early 2018, they’ve been designed to be functional, good looking and wallet friendly. Both use nylon bases, chromoly rails and slim padding with a central relief channel for pedalling comfort. Strips of PU material on the cover add wet weather grip. The AM model weighs 283g and costs $67, while the SM, at 254g and $45, is a smaller version for younger riders. Gusset are also releasing a dirt jump model designed in conjunction with UK slopestyle star and MBUK columnist Matt Jones. Price $45

Gusset’s R-series saddle is available for a very reasonable $40 with a stitched three-piece cover (as seen here) or an even more reasonable $37 if you can live with a one-piece vinyl finish. It’s available in nine colours/designs, including this rather fetching camo version for those who like the jungle-stealth look. Hollow chromoly rails (rather than the basic steel often found at this price) mean weight is decent, at 266g. The shape is quite supportive, thanks to the upturned tail, and there’s a good amount of flex in the hull. There’s not much of a pressure-relief groove though, and the nose sticks up a bit more than on most saddles, which we found uncomfortable at times when climbing. Price $40

The 158g I-Fly 2.0 is a super-light and minimal seating option for those wanting to shave grams. It’s constructed from rigid glass-fibre-filled nylon and the rail-less ‘I-Beam’ design means there’s zero flex up and down. Combined with minimal padding and no pressure relief channel, this means it’s not the comfiest perch, but for DH or 4X duties it’s great. Despite being very light we’ve found it to be pretty tough. Kevlar edges do a good job of stopping scuff damage. New on the 2.0 version is ‘buzz-cut’ shaping, to keep it out of the way of the rear tyre. The saddle needs to be paired with a matching I-Beam post, and we’ve been using SDG’s featherweight carbon option. It’s expensive (an alloy post is available for $97) but the clamp is secure, with a wide range of adjustment, and at 400mm it should be long enough for nearly everyone. Price $120 (saddle) $150 (post)

With a fairly conservative design, the Circuit Mtn has no unnecessary padding or weight, but many testers found it very comfortable. The shape is fairly flat, with a pretty deep channel down the middle to take all the pressure off your sensitive parts. Your weight is held by the firm padding on either side, which we found worked well with a chamois, but felt a little too firm without. The saddle really benefits from being tilted downwards at the nose, which aids comfort and support when pedalling uphill. Because the pressure-relief channel extends into the fairly broad nose, it’s particularly forgiving on steep scrambles. The low-profile upper delivers a direct feel when pedalling hard and makes it easy to move fore and aft on gnarly descents. It’s pretty light too. Weight 214g Price $120

The Power Pro isn’t marketed as an MTB saddle, but we spotted some of Specialized’s pro enduro racers using it. Intrigued, we decided to give it a try ourselves. We weren’t disappointed. The radical cutout is designed to take the pressure off the personal plumbing of both men and women, particularly when in an aggressive forward position. On steep climbs, we suffered almost no pain or discomfort in that region. Even on longer rides, we had no issues with numbness or pressure points. For our main tester, it’s simply the comfiest saddle here. With the narrowest version (tested) measuring 143mm, it won’t suit snake hips, but we didn’t find it getting in the way when descending. A carbon hull and Ti rails keep it super-light, but very pricey. Happily, there’s an Expert model for $120 less. Weight 207g Price $262

The Henge is a popular perch among the our team, so it would be remiss of us not to include it here. Specialized claim that the ‘Body Geometry’ shape has been lab tested to ensure that blood flow to your privates is unaffected. When riding, it seems like the large, wide pressure-relief channel takes the load off those sensitive areas more effectively than most, especially in those technical situations where you’re not sitting perfectly straight and central on the saddle. The broad, slightly downturned nose makes it particularly good when sitting forward to winch up steep, technical climbs. Whether used for long days in the saddle in bibs or for casual rides in regular undies and shorts, the Henge is one of the comfiest saddles out there for our main tester. While not all our staff are quite as effusive in their praise, we’ve yet to come across anyone who really doesn’t get on with it. With steel rails, the Sport model is the heaviest saddle on test, but more expensive versions of t...

Bontrager market the Montrose as a mountain bike and road saddle. Don’t let that put you off though, as it works great off-road. Although the hard rear is slightly unnerving when hanging off the back of the saddle on gnarly descents, it doesn’t get in the way too much. The obvious cutout down the middle takes all the weight off your sensitive areas and puts it onto your sit bones, where it should be. Due to the fairly hard hull and modest levels of padding, our main tester did get a spot of soreness on the sit bones during very long rides, but interestingly, not nearly as much as with Bontrager’s MTB-specific Kovee. It’s definitely a perch that works best with a good chamois, and it offers great support and comfort for steep climbs. There’s a choice of widths. Weight 210g Price $135

The Monte was made for enduro racing, but it’s a good choice for all-round trail riding too. We found that the slightly flexible sides and comfy padding make it particularly kind on the sit bones, even after long days in the saddle. Combine this with a generous channel to keep your sensitive parts happy, and multiple testers found it an agreeable place to sit. It’s quite a supportive shape, but the nose pokes up a little more than we’d like when climbing steep stuff, where it’s not the comfiest. The soft rear parts and sides make it especially forgiving if you slam into it when things go a bit wrong on the way back down. Despite having fi’zi:k’s top-spec hollow ‘K:ium’ (steel alloy) rails, it’s not particularly light. The manganese (another steel alloy) railed version is 15g heavier and $45 less, so that’s the model we’d go for. Weight 245g Price $135

Designed with enduro racing in mind, Ergon have produced a superb saddle for steep terrain. The rails extend a long way back, which allows the saddle to be set up far forward. This effectively steepens the seat angle, to put you in a better position for steep climbs. The shape is very neutral, with quite even pressure across the whole sitting area. We had no sore spots or chafing, but those who want to eliminate pressure from their undercarriage will want something with a more pronounced pressure-relief channel. It’s a pretty comfy perch, but needs the nose pointed down to provide plenty of support when climbing. Though moderately wide at 142mm, our ‘medium’ version (there’s also a ‘small’ size) felt very easy to move around on and didn’t get in the way on steep descents. Weight 225g Price $127

The Vector AM is pretty race focused, with minimal padding. There’s a deep (if narrow) pressurerelief channel to keep the blood flowing where it’s meant to. Used with bib shorts, we found it pretty comfortable for shorter rides and suffered no pain or discomfort in the central region. On steep climbs the slightly downturned nose provides a reasonable forward perch, while the svelte profile and smooth edges make it particularly unobtrusive when moving about on the descents. It’s quite stiff though, and can feel harsh on long rides or bumpy ground. We definitely wouldn’t want to spend much time on it without a chamois. It’s heavier than we’d expect for such a lightly padded perch too. There’s a lighter Pro version with titanium rails for $105, but at 241g it’s only 10g lighter. Weight 251g Price $67

PRO’s Turnix is a saddle that’ll appeal to gram counters. At 145g, it’s the lightest on test by a big margin. You might expect it to be savagely uncomfortable, but that’s not what we found. It’s pretty narrow (132mm) and the padding is minimal, but the slightly curved, neutral shape spreads your weight very evenly and the hull feels surprisingly compliant over rougher ground. We suffered no sore spots, chafing or pressure points. The narrow shape won’t suit wider-hipped riders, and there isn’t much in the way of a pressure-relief channel, though this didn’t cause us any problems on the trail. It wouldn’t be our first choice for long rides, but it’s impressively comfy for such a featherweight, making it ideal for XC racing or fast-and-light trail bikes. You’d have to be a serious weight weenie to justify that price, though. Weight 145g Price $210

Fabric’s Line looks striking with its pronounced central channel. It feels good on the trail too, exerting almost no pressure in the central region. The padding is nice and cushy, though we did get a little bit of a pressure point on either edge of the channel. In profile, the shape is slightly concave. This means it feels secure and supportive when riding, especially in muddy conditions, where it holds you firmly in place. But when you’re hunched forwards on steep chin-on-stem climbs, the hard nose does stick up a little too much, causing some discomfort in the undercarriage area. The hard plastic tail isn’t the most forgiving if you crash, either. While the groove can get a bit clogged up with mud on filthy rides, the plastic hull is easy to clean. It’s available in two widths to suit different hips. Weight 237g Price $105

This well-padded number could be a good choice for those who don’t like to wear bibs or liners. The thick, soft foam padding means little sit bone trouble, even on bumpy rides with no chamois, and thanks to the deep pressure-relief groove, we didn’t have any perineum pain on flatter ground, though things got complicated on steeper terrain. When leant forward for climbing, the pronounced lump in the nose can become very uncomfortable, putting pressure right where you don’t want it. We pointed the saddle down to compensate, but the upturned rear then poked us in the glutes on flatter ground and got in the way a little when descending. Some of our testers get on well with this shape, but if you do a lot of steep scrambles, we’d look elsewhere. The thick padding makes it hard to clean too. Weight 264g Price $60

The Flux is a cheap-and-cheerful classic that’s been a favourite of many riders for years. It’s a saddle we felt at home on straight away. The multi-density foam padding is comfy without being excessively spongy, and the shape is concave in profile but slightly arched across the top. As a result, we had no problems with pressure points or sore spots, and good comfort on mellower trails or in a fairly upright position. We did find the nose rather lumpy when leant forward climbing, though. There’s not much of a channel either, which doesn’t do your personal plumbing many favours on long or bumpy rides, though the good padding means this isn’t the end of the world. We tried tilting the nose down to improve comfort on steep climbs, but then the rear sticks up too much. Weight 271g Price $45

The Binary is impressively light for the price but we found the comfort to be so-so. Thanks to the broad central channel, we suffered no pain or numbness in the personal plumbing department. The shape is nice and neutral, so you can move around easily on technical climbs and it stays out of the way when riding wild descents. With padding that’s on the harder side, the saddle feels a little stiff when putting out a lot of miles on rougher terrain or riding sans chamois. We found that the shape puts a lot of pressure on a fairly narrow section of the glutes and sit bones, which became uncomfortable after a while. The fairly narrow and hard nose is more uncomfortable than most on steep scrambles too. We found this perch works best with a good quality, well-padded chamois. Weight 206g Price $75

DMR’s Stage 1 is well priced and we found it pretty comfy. The padding is fairly generous and although there isn’t much of a pressure-relief channel, we had no issues with pain or numbness in that area. We did suffer from a little chafing around the sides under the sit bones on long rides, though. The profile is only very slightly concave, so it can feel a little unsupportive on steep or undulating terrain. Because the cover material is smooth and plastic-feeling, it’s quite slippery when wet and muddy. It definitely benefits from having the nose pointed downwards to hold you in place when climbing. The included ‘RideSaver’ Velcro strap is handy for stashing a spare tube underneath, provided you don’t mind it getting muddy. It is possible to improvise a similar set-up with other saddles. Weight 277g (without strap) Price $75

If you’re a fan of the love-or-hate shape of the fi’zi:k Gobi, you may get on with this similarly rounded offering from Race Face. We didn’t, though. It’s barrel-shaped, with no pressure-relief channel or even softer foam in the central part. This puts a lot of pressure onto your personal plumbing. To our main tester, it felt a bit like sitting astride a railing, but then again, so does the Gobi, and there are those who swear by that. The AEffect was the only seat here that caused him numbness and discomfort within just a short ride. It feels relatively good when climbing steep pitches, though, thanks to the broad, flat nose and generous padding. The ribbed upper grips well in the wet, and it’s pretty easy to clean. If you can get on with that barrel shape, it could be worth considering. Weight 235g Price $97

This striking perch clearly takes some inspiration from ISM’s time trial saddles and is claimed to offer long-distance MTBers greatly reduced pressure on the delicate tissues and nerves that can get pressed into the nose of conventional perches. The position it encourages you to adopt on steep ascents isn’t far off the hunchedforward posture of a time triallist. In this situation, the shape is really comfy, offering a supportive ride with almost no delicate tissue discomfort. Unfortunately, the specialist shape makes it hard to move around the saddle as the terrain changes, and the large, flat rear section gets in the way when riding downhill. If you suffer post-ride pain/numbness and intend to churn out loads of flattish miles, it’s well worth a look. For most, it’s too much of a specialist. Weight 302g Price $195