Saddles/seat

[DABIGSEAT]

yo everyone i'm a big guys 380 6'5" ridjng a hardtail ( giant xtc2 w/ reba rl ) crazy situation is im breaking seats ,,i removed the seat it came with (wtb ) , brought a walmart big ole cushy one ,,then moved to a slighty smaller one , broke dat too 2down , went back to the wtb seat ,,good no problem except its killing my ass , so much havent rode in days ....lol...any cyldes recommend any conffffffy yet strong seats ? What are you currently using ? ........

[BatCountry]

Whats breaking.. the rails? The body itself? Have you tried coming out of your saddle on rough or rooty sections of trail?

[DudeNudem]

Da fuq you say?

[DABIGSEAT]

what i mean by breaking......... is the rails underneath the seat actually twist , or break the plastic housing holding the rear end of the rails ,,, but again these are walmart grade seats ,,,,,,im currently looking into a real mtb grade seat but , im having a "hard" time dealing with my wtb silverado seat ,,,,,but have not had any luck finding a wider seat with a lil more cushion on it .....thats why i post this to see if im the olny one experienceing this problem if not what alternatives are out there for the cyldes !!

[BatCountry]

I'm pretty sure the Silverado uses chromoly rails.. Which are pretty strong. I use the WTB Pure V and its pretty wide and well cushioned. If you are twisting and folding chromoly rails, look into a saddle with titanium rails.. Its stronger and lighter I believe. I am a big guy and definitely notice tons of flex in the plastic of my wtb saddle.. No breakage yet though.

I also know a handful of people use women's saddles due to the wider sit bone. Just another route you could go...

[Bike Whisperer]

Get a DH/FR saddle...something with 8mm Cro-mo rails

WTB Aviator
Sette Strike

[Nate3510]

There are some shops that will measure your "sit bones" and fit you to a seat.

[Jphill1301]

Recently I have been making my rounds with different seats. I recently tried a specialized from a LBS that has a loaner program. The shape and size felt comfrontable but once the miles started to add up the padding, or lack of padding, was quickly and painfully noticed. I am waiting for the loaner saddle for Cobb, from the same LBS. I also have WTB sending me some seats to try, should be here Thursday!

[millargeo]

Bontrager Big Earl. More of a DH/Free saddle, big rails, which are also replaceable. Ugly, but effective.

[Burnt-Orange]

reported Sj

[Graham77]

If you find a seat that feels real nice to sit on, you may hinder your performance due to all the added bouncing ruining your efficiency.

I find more important than the seat is using padded clothing. If I ride without my bike shorts I get sore after an hour. With the pads I get away using a $30 gel padded seat with good dimensions.

Aerotech designs clothing was mentioned in another thread, I was looking at their chamoise padding and it looks real nice.

[_Alberto_]

Amazon prime. Avenir 100 series men's saddle. $18 and check all the reviews. I have a ton of friends from 170-240lbs who all love it. Can't find better at that price IMO.

[jeffj]

Make sure you mount the saddle so the clamp is far back on the rails so the widest part of the saddle is as supported as possible. I see many saddles destroyed because of this alone, but with you being 380lbs, you have to be especially aware of this.

As for a saddle, you might look into something like a Brooks B17.

[ThundaCrymz]

Not sure if they have MTB saddles, but I've bought saddles made by Cloud 9 and they are comfortable. the two i bought run about 30 bux a piece but they're worth it

[The Butcher]

WTB Pure V with CroMo rails is the way to go. Stay away from Ti rails. They are stronger in some sense, but when side loaded (as a seat clamp does) they are actually seem more brittle than CroMo. I've broken 3 PureV Ti rail seats, and only one CroMo Pure V over the years. I find the Pure V last about 4 times as long. The nice thing is they are half as expensive!

The Silverado sucks for big guys. At 380lbs I doubt you are XC racing, so you need to ditch the XC race saddle.

Also, as mentioned, try and get a seat post with a clamp that spreads out the force at the rail attachment points. The closer the clamp edges are, and the smaller the contact point, the less of the strength of the rail is being utilized. Did I say that in a way that makes sense?

[psunuc]

Make sure you mount the saddle so the clamp is far back on the rails so the widest part of the saddle is as supported as possible. I see many saddles destroyed because of this alone, but with you being 380lbs, you have to be especially aware of this.

As for a saddle, you might look into something like a Brooks B17.

Good call, jeffj. I second the B17.

I swore by WTB seats, but they still kind of bothered me at 6'4 265lbs. My brain swore that the B17 would not be comfy, but my brain was wrong (like usual). I just wear underwear and athletic shorts and the B17 is ultra comfy. I went with the Imperial model; its supposed to keep you from getting a numb thumb, but it also breaks in faster. Good luck

[Wryknow]

I like the specialized Henge saddle. You should get your sit bones measured at a LBS to make sure you get the right size though - it makes a huge difference in your ride comfort.

[Bike Whisperer]

WTB Pure V with CroMo rails is the way to go. Stay away from Ti rails. They are stronger in some sense, but when side loaded (as a seat clamp does) they are actually seem more brittle than CroMo.

Ti has 1/2 the density of steel, so it would be about 1/2 the weight given the same size seat rail diameter (assuming both are solid). However, it would also have 1/2 the stiffness (this is why Ti bikes use larger diameter tubes than steel bikes) so they will flex a lot more and eventually fatigue and break which can happen despite Ti's very high tensile and elongation strength.

So yes, stick with solid heat treated Cro-Mo rails such as the Pure V Race