The Ergon SM3 Saddle is designed with XC racing in mind, but still provides the comfort and support needed for big rides in the backcountry or all-day endurance events. The longer padded nose allows you to shift your weight forward for more comfort and control on steep climbs, while the generous relief cup removes pressure from sensitive areas when you're spending long hours in the saddle. The padding itself is designed specifically for mountain biking, absorbing small impacts and trail chatter while providing a firm platform to put power to the pedals. Ergon designed the SM3 saddle from the ground up. The ultra-thin shell used an extensive finite element method analysis to map loads and areas of stress. This gives the saddle its distinctive shape, but more importantly, it allowed Ergon to tune the shell construction for optimized deflection. The shell is covered with progressive layers of padding that are individually tailored to the different saddle widths. Every size option gets its own layer for rider-specific compression. Adding to the SM3's trail taming is a nose mounted micro damper. This damper, located in between the shell and TiNox rails, filters out smaller vibrations. The rails are hollow to reduce weight and allow 30mm of adjustment. The SM3 also has an easy-to-clean synthetic leather cover--just wipe it off with a damp rag. Despite Ergon being a German company and doing the design work in-house, they relied on the Italian saddle expertise of Selle Italia to manufacture this particular saddle. To size yourself for an Ergon SM3 Pro Saddle, you'll need to measure the distance between your sit bones. Widths between 9-11cm should ride a Small, 11-13cm a Medium, and 13-15cm should opt for a Large.