Stub nose saddle on an MTB?

Has anyone tried a stub or split nose saddle on a XC mtb? Something like this:

or this:

Since the only point of those is to avoid crossing the UCI rule of saddle nose 5 cm behind bottom bracket, while losing control because you can’t grip the nose with your thighs, no.
Yes, that is the only point, besides looking trendy or being a triathlete (which is also trendy). Comfort wise, it’s about saddle height, fore/aft, saddle width, saddle tilt and cut-out - not nose.

Ah ok. I thought it was a comfort thing. I know some roadies use them even when they don’t need to be UCI legal. Phil Gaimon for example.

They do, when they get paid for using one, like Gaimon does. And then we follow - that’s what I mean with trends and fashion.

Specialized Power, Bontrager Aeolus both work for me. I’m using the Aeolus on my ht, and I like it.

Tried a split saddle once. Once. Not for me.

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I beg to differ. Have always struggled to get on with saddles, never found one that was quite right. Tried an ISM on my TT bike for comfort reasons not UCI rules - made sense to me that if you want to get steep then you want a saddle where you’re sitting on your sit bones with nothing to get in the way of your squishy bits as you pivot forwards. Loved it on the TT bike, so thought I’d try one on the road bike and loved that as well. I know a lot of fast guys who could ride anything they choose who are on ISMs or similar on road bikes. They make sense if you’re a racer who spends a lot of time in the drops position, for the same reason they work well on tri and TT bikes.

I do have an ISM on my MTB but I’ll also be the first to admit that I don’t do a lot of MTBing and nothing too technical, mostly single track that would be very doable on a gravel bike if I had one. There may be reasons they don’t work so well for technical MTB, I wouldn’t know, but certainly for road I didn’t have any handling issues when I switched.

I using a Prologo Dimension NDR Nack CPC Saddle on my hardtail. It’s got a shorter nose that’s helpful with XC riding. The NDR version has a little more padding as opposed to the non-NDR version. I use a non-NDR version on my road bike.

@Jonathan mentioned the Dimension sometime back a year ago or so as an option to consider.

Personally I wouldn’t use a stub nose. Too many very steep and long hills to climb up where you have to be right on the tip of the saddle nose to keep the front wheel weighted.

So your sit bones are on the two tips of the ISM? That’s not how it’s meant to be sat on, but if it’s comfortable for you, sure. It’s really to meant to be sat on just like an ordinary cutout saddle, except for the fact that there is no nose - that doesn’t mean you should move forward on the saddle.
Illustration

Also, if the bike fit is correct and comfortable, you should be able to sit on your sit bones on an ordinary saddle, with a horizontal back and hips closed while pedaling. I’m quite certain that ISM really has two purposes:

  • Avoid breaking UCI/ITU rules.
  • Compensating for poor fit. If your saddle is too far aft, lacks cutout, saddle is too high, handlebars are too far away, you’ll have too much weight on your perineum and want relief (unless pushing 400 W because you’re floating then).

I’m not going to get into an argument about my fit online with somebody who has never seen me ride a bike. I’ve had both road and TT bike fits with 2 of the best respected fitters in my area, who work with a lot of top riders including pros. They both stock the ISM amongst a range of other saddles, they both agree it’s a good saddle choice for me and for many other riders they work with, and it has nothing to do with either UCI rules or compensating for a bad fit.

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I have a Specialized Power on my MTB and like it. Have one on my CX bike too. Works really well for me and my bike fit.