{"id":116082,"date":"2015-12-08T18:05:44","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T17:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/?p=116082"},"modified":"2015-12-09T07:22:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T06:22:16","slug":"tested-fizik-monte-kium-saddle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/en\/tested-fizik-monte-kium-saddle\/","title":{"rendered":"[Tested] Fizik Monte K:ium Saddle"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ad3]
\nFizik recently released a new “Enduro” rated saddle dubbed the K:ium<\/a>. It takes a bit more of a traditional shape than many of Fizik’s other wild looking offerings and offers a gengerous amount of padding, abrasion resistance and comes in at a competitive weight of 230 grams. Once we laid eyes on it, we sought one out right away.<\/p>\n

\"_DSC1688\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Specs<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Shell:<\/strong> Carbon Reinforced Nylon Extended Tail Flex
\nRail:<\/strong> K:ium
\nPadding:<\/strong> Low Density with Pressure Relief Channel
\nCover:<\/strong> Black Microtex
\nThigh Glides:<\/strong> Black Cordura
\nWeight:<\/strong> 230 gr
\nDimensions:<\/strong> 275×143 mm
\nPrice:<\/strong> \u20ac119.00<\/p>\n

First Impressions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Monte’s silhouette looks very familiar to us. After some head scratching, eventually we realized it looks similar to a WTB Silverado. That’s okay with us as it’s a rather popular saddle for many reasons. Anyhow – it’s a very different saddle throughout and shape isn’t everything. \u00a0We like the curved shape of the nose, which features some dense padding. \u00a0Out back, the tail features cordura to keep it durable after the inevitable crashes. \u00a0It also acts as a buffer from premature wear from the more abrasive shorts on the market. \u00a0The rails are plenty long, offering good fore to aft adjustment and the tail is also quite wide. \u00a0For as burly of a saddle as it appears to be, it comes in at a rather low weight considering it doesn’t have titanium rails or any other fussy high price features. \u00a0Anyhow, let’s see how it did on the long days in the saddle.<\/p>\n

\"_DSC1692\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the trail<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

With long travel bikes that manage to get you up and down the hill without the help of a shuttle or a chairlift, we feel that saddle comfort and quality has become even more important than ever while it’s also become increasingly\u00a0difficult to build a saddle for said bikes. \u00a0Think about it. \u00a0On a 160mm bike, a seat has to likely withstand more intense crashes and some cases. \u00a0These bikes are also harder to climb up techy bits, so more often their pilots find themselves sitting up at saddle’s\u00a0nose trying to get their weight forward to improve traction. \u00a0 Lastly, since many of these bikes are tipping the scales around 30 pounds, riders are looking to shave weight where ever possible.<\/p>\n

Anyhow, the first thing we noticed about the Monte was its contour. \u00a0It had a very natural shape that lent itself to allowing the rider to move about without feeling slippery. \u00a0We found it had all the right padding in all the right places, particularly in the nose. \u00a0 We’ve spent the majority of our time with the Monte bolted up to both our Evil Insurgent<\/a> and Following<\/a>. \u00a0Neither of those bikes have particularly steep seat angles and boast rather aggressive sets of geometry. \u00a0So as mentioned earlier, often we often find ourselves scooting up toward the front of the seat on the super steep, techy climbs. \u00a0The Monte has quite a large amount of dense padding and a really pleasant curvature to the nose of the saddle. \u00a0It’s also not too wide or narrow, so during the worst parts of our rides, you know – the parts where the nose is up your ass… This was the best saddle we’ve used.<\/p>\n

\"_DSC9958\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We found the tail to have a moderate amount of flex and padding. \u00a0It’s a bit outshone by the nose, but it’s definitely substantial and we typically feel that the comfort offered at the back of a saddle has less to do with padding and more to do with contour, width, flex and how those variables work with the rider above it.<\/p>\n

In the grand scheme of things\u00a0this saddle has been fantastic. \u00a0It hasn’t caused any numbness or soreness on even the longest of rides, all while providing a bit more width and padding for the wilder rides that we’ve been on. \u00a0It isn’t DH saddle big but it isn’t XC saddle small – rather, it’s nestled nicely in the middle. \u00a0It has a more traditional shape than many of Fizik’s other offerings. \u00a0Aesthetically, we think it’s the best looking saddle that we have in our rotation at the moment. \u00a0The Monte doesn’t boast\u00a0any super high end features – its cover is synthetic, not leather; the rails are chromoly, not titanium or carbon. \u00a0With that in mind, it comes in at a solid price and a rather low weight considering its size. \u00a0If we had to really dig to come up with something to complain about, we say\u00a0Fizik should’ve had\u00a0the anti abrasive cordura section wrap around a bit more to better protect the sides of the tail. \u00a0With that in mind, we’ve had a few small crashes that have been deflected and well handled without resulting in any rips or tears so apparently it’s doing a great job.<\/p>\n

Overall<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Fizik made their intentions very clear when designing this saddle : it was made for Enduro. \u00a0While we prefer to call Enduro “mountain biking”, we know what they mean…It’s meant for longer travel bikes around the 160mm range. \u00a0Those bikes see rowdy situations frequently and they generally suck to climb. \u00a0The Monte saddle held its own when things got sketchy and it made the climbs suck a lot less so we’re going to give it two thumbs way up.<\/p>\n

www.fizik.it<\/a>
\n[ad45]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[ad3] Fizik recently released a new “Enduro” rated saddle dubbed the K:ium. It takes a bit more of a traditional shape than many of Fizik’s other wild looking offerings and offers a gengerous amount of padding, abrasion resistance and comes in at a competitive weight of 230 grams. Once we laid eyes on it, we sought one out right away. Specs Shell: Carbon Reinforced Nylon Extended Tail Flex Rail: K:ium Padding: Low Density with Pressure Relief Channel Cover: Black Microtex Thigh Glides: Black Cordura Weight: 230 gr Dimensions: 275×143 mm Price: \u20ac119.00 First Impressions The Monte’s silhouette looks very familiar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170425,"featured_media":116083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3683,3677],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n[Tested] Fizik Monte K:ium Saddle | MTB-MAG.COM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/en\/tested-fizik-monte-kium-saddle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"[Tested] Fizik Monte K:ium Saddle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[ad3] Fizik recently released a new “Enduro” rated saddle dubbed the K:ium. It takes a bit more of a traditional shape than many of Fizik’s other wild looking offerings and offers a gengerous amount of padding, abrasion resistance and comes in at a competitive weight of 230 grams. Once we laid eyes on it, we sought one out right away. Specs Shell: Carbon Reinforced Nylon Extended Tail Flex Rail: K:ium Padding: Low Density with Pressure Relief Channel Cover: Black Microtex Thigh Glides: Black Cordura Weight: 230 gr Dimensions: 275×143 mm Price: \u20ac119.00 First Impressions The Monte’s silhouette looks very familiar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/en\/tested-fizik-monte-kium-saddle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MTB-MAG.COM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mtbmagcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-08T17:05:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-09T06:22:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/DSC1688.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1065\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ian Collins\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mtbmagcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mtbmagcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ian Collins\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/en\/tested-fizik-monte-kium-saddle\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/en\/tested-fizik-monte-kium-saddle\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ian Collins\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9e7dbb79510ff29a5f7147ec5b91f27f\"},\"headline\":\"[Tested] Fizik Monte K:ium 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