# What's your favorite saddle?



## MK_ (Nov 15, 2004)

My girlfriend really doesn't get on well with her Terry Liberator. She hates it so bad, she stopped riding her bike. I hope that some of you would like to share what your little behinds find comfortable. Her bike is a hartail and she rides XC exclusively, even curbs are scary. Thanks in advance.

_MK


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## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

I got a specialized unisex, bought it based on saddle size/sit bones width. Your local specialized dealer can help you with that.


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## RMG (Oct 13, 2004)

Terry Butterfly with ti rails ...a lot softer than the Terry Liberator and is one of the finest saddles I think they make for us. Well worth the extra money, IMO.


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## Kallisti (Feb 15, 2005)

*The whole Terry line-up is good*

I have the Damselfly on all my bikes. Very comfortable if you like a slim seat.

Getting her measured is definitely a good idea.


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## Doña Gringis (Oct 17, 2005)

I ride a rigid SS so my body feels every lil' pebble, I mean EVERYTHING....I have the Terry Dragon Fly and love it, I know three other women who have it also and the all swear by it!

Good luck!



MK_ said:


> My girlfriend really doesn't get on well with her Terry Liberator. She hates it so bad, she stopped riding her bike. I hope that some of you would like to share what your little behinds find comfortable. Her bike is a hartail and she rides XC exclusively, even curbs are scary. Thanks in advance.
> 
> _MK


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## scubaklook (Apr 20, 2005)

*WTB for me*

I have a WTB Rocket V on my xc bike and a WTB Laser V on my pack. I also have a rocket on my commuter. If you are getting a saddle locally make sure they will let you return it if she doesnt like it. Most of our stores around here will let you bring it back within 30 days and trade for something else.


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## mahgnillig (Mar 12, 2004)

I also have a Specialized saddle. I took Formica's advice and headed to my not-so-local Specialized dealer and got one of their Alias saddles in 143mm size (they come in 3 sizes). So far I'm liking it. It's a lot harder than my old WTB Lazer V, but feels pretty comfy. The big test will be riding on the road just sitting and spinning... thet's where the Lazer V didn't do so well.

- Jen.


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## poacher (Jul 1, 2003)

I really like the Selle San Marco Atola. I got one and liked it so much, that I put one on all my bikes.


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## problematiks (Oct 18, 2005)

Yes, the Selle San Marco Atola is gathering quite a following it seems.My girlfriend said it's the best saddle she's ever tried.Has one on both her bikes, and both her sister and mother have them, too.I know a couple more women that use this saddle and they all love it.

Marko


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## MK_ (Nov 15, 2004)

I personally swear by my WTB saddles and was leaning towards the Speed She. I see that none of you use it and scubaklook uses male saddles as did mahgnillig before switching to the Specialized. I don't think that I will be able to convice her to sit on another Terry saddle, so that leaves me the Selle Atola and Specialized. Any of you had any experience with WTB Speed She before settling on any of the saddles mentioned above?

_MK


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## dir-T (Jan 20, 2004)

My wife went from a OEM schwinn saddle to some really big couch-like monster and finally to the Speed She on her MTB. She's been on the Speed She for a couple years now and likes it so much she just ordered another to put on her new road bike. The road bike came with some sort of Specialized BG saddle - which by the way caused her much discomfort.


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## aword4you (Jul 25, 2005)

I love my Spec. BG MTB saddle. I tried a few that were in stock and that one felt the best.


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## mattbikeboy (Jun 8, 2004)

I bought my wife a WTB Speed She Ti and she says its pretty good. I think it is great -- I haven't heard any complaints (during or after a ride) since she's been riding with it -- and she is even riding more than she used to. 

mbb


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## connie (Mar 16, 2004)

I don't like the Terry Liberator either - it seems too big. I have a nice Specialized... I think it's the avatar saddle. It's a men's saddle, but I like it. It also comes in the choice of widths. I've found through trial and error that less squish is better. I've tried some WTB saddles that I like as well.



MK_ said:


> Her bike is a hartail and she rides XC exclusively, even curbs are scary. Thanks in advance.


BUT - why is her butt on the seat while she's going over a curb? Even on a DH bike - I'd be standing (or at least hovering/unweighted) when going over that kind of stuff. No seat is going to fix sitting too much over rough terrain.

All I'm saying is that even if your saddle was made for your butt, it will still hurt if you're bouncing around on it too much.

Mind you - don't you go saying "I think you sit too much when your ride". Because I know it's one of those things she'll probably get defensive about if it's coming from you (it sounds like nagging and an accusation of being lazy). Tell her that someone here said, from her own personal experience, that learning to stand MORE was a bigger improvement in butt comfort than any saddle ever could be. Saddles are still important though.

So go find her a better saddle AND make sure she knows that getting her butt off the saddle is important too.


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## MK_ (Nov 15, 2004)

connie said:


> BUT - why is her butt on the seat while she's going over a curb? Even on a DH bike - I'd be standing (or at least hovering/unweighted) when going over that kind of stuff. No seat is going to fix sitting too much over rough terrain.
> 
> All I'm saying is that even if your saddle was made for your butt, it will still hurt if you're bouncing around on it too much.
> 
> ...


 I think we should go out for a drink .

The problem is that she's a novice, and she's hardheaded and whatever advice I offer, the end result is her doing the opposite. And the saddle puts pressure in her most sensitive spot, so that she simply hates being on the bike. That goes primarily for pedaling up the hill, on the downhill, she's slowly coming around to getting her pretty little behind off. I mentioned the curb as a way of showing her skill level. She's in the saddle, 90% of the time, trucking along. Her hands are spazzed on the brakes on the downhills.

I really appreciate all the advice. I'm gonna get going with saddle selection and letting her try different ones. I'm gonna have to be careful, though, to not turn her off to the saddle before I even put it on.

Cheers.

_MK


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## mahgnillig (Mar 12, 2004)

MK_ said:


> I personally swear by my WTB saddles and was leaning towards the Speed She. I see that none of you use it and scubaklook uses male saddles as did mahgnillig before switching to the Specialized. I don't think that I will be able to convice her to sit on another Terry saddle, so that leaves me the Selle Atola and Specialized. Any of you had any experience with WTB Speed She before settling on any of the saddles mentioned above?
> 
> _MK


I don't know how different a Speed She is to a Speed V... but I tried my hubby's Speed V and I can honestly say it's the most uncomfortable saddle I've ever ridden (well, maybe my solid plasic BMX saddle was worse, but this one came pretty close). As for WTB, I really liked my Lazer V until I started riding for longer and spent more time spinning up long hills and doing road rides.

When I bought my Specialized saddle I tried measuring my sit bone width on their 'ass-o-meter', but it's black with gel inside and springs back to shape really too quickly to get a good measurement. What I did was take a piece of plain white paper, go into my back yard and put the outside door mat onto a garden chair, then sit on it in bike position and wiggle around a bit until I had indents from the mat in the paper. Then I drew circles around the largest collection of indents in each side, drew an X in the middle of each circle and measured between the two X marks to get my sit bone width. If you can find a saddle (any saddle) that will fit your girlfriend's sit bones just right, it should be comfy for her. IIRC if you buy from REI, you can return it if she doesn't like it and they'll give you a full refund.

- Jen.


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## CraigH (Dec 22, 2003)

My wife has the various WTB SpeedShe saddles on her 3 bikes and likes it a lot. She posts on MTBR once in a while as "TheOtherH".


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## CraigH (Dec 22, 2003)

See if she would be interested in taking a women's mtn biking course.


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## MJ51 (Sep 15, 2005)

My wife had a heck of a time finding a saddle that worked for her... and after MANY saddles, she found bliss with the Fizik Vitesse. So happy was she that we bought two more to replace them as they wear out or rip. I'm not sure if they are still available.

Mark


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## tattiefritter (Aug 16, 2005)

I would second mahgnillig suggestion of measuring sitbones (I had to resort to the piece of paper trick as well). I spent ages looking for the right saddle as they all seemed to put a lot of pressure on some delicate anatomy, I used a Liberator Ti race X for ages as it had a massive cutout (the bog standard Liberator and the Butterfly were hell on earth for me) but I still wasn't really happy with it. I demoed a Specialized bike with a 143mm saddle on it (blokes not women's) and thought it was fab and when I measured my Terry it was wider than this. I then measured my sitbones and found that was probably the best width for me and now have a Selle Italia Flite (143mm wide) on my roadie and full-suss. Even though its a narrow firm saddle and has a small cutout I sit on my sitbones now and it has taken all the weight off the delicate parts and put it where it should be (sitbones complained like hell for the first few rides though as I don't think they were being used before). Definitely get "measured" but there may still be some trial and error involved in getting a good saddle.


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## jkelman (Nov 11, 2004)

*Women's seats*

My anecdotal experience is that most of the women I ride with (including my wife) usually fall into two main camps: WTB Speed She or Terry Liberator. Some women only find saddles with a cutout (like the liberator) comfortable, while other friends of mine have derided the Terry as "the Labiator." The Speed She tends to work well for these people, and my wife is now on Speed She #2. Of course, like I said, this is all anecdotal.

Oh, and to answer someone's earlier question, the difference between the Speed V and the Speed She is that the latter is shorter in length and wider in the sit bone area.


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## Cato (Feb 25, 2004)

*Depends on the tookis*

I had ridden on a Selle Italia Trans Am Max for a couple of years and it was hell. I had new saddle sores and hot spots every ride, even butt lube didn't help. Why did I put up with it for so long, I don't know. I heard good things about the Terry Butterfly and got one for the new Turner last year. It is, IMHO THE best saddle ever. Bought one for the road bike too. No saddle sores, and still comfy after 50 mile rides. I've tried the Speed She and Speed V, both very uncomfortable...the stitching runs up the top and rubbed me raw!

I agree with the post above that she should stay out of the saddle on drops and decents, and move around on the bike more. Get her to log on and join in the posts, it's a great way to learn about the sport in a non-threatening environment.


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## smw (Jun 22, 2005)

formica said:


> I got a specialized unisex, bought it based on saddle size/sit bones width. Your local specialized dealer can help you with that.


 I agree. Get sized and take all the guess work out of the equation. I went through too many seats trying to get comfortable. Once I did the Specialized sit bone sizing thing I have bought only one seat, Specialized Alias. Proper fit is most important, more than how soft a seat is.


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