Saddle Sore

The Bontrager stock saddle that was on my used Trek Pilot 1.2 WSD (aka “Pilot”—yes, I named the Townie “Big Blue” so why not the Trek?) when I bought it a year ago was just fine for almost nine months. Then it started getting uncomfortable on rides longer than about 20 miles, which is almost every training ride I do, and forget about doing hills. Thus began my latest quest for the mythical perfect fitting saddle. I Know every cyclist has undergone this quest at some point in his or her riding career, most settling for “comfortable with a few issues,” but a stalwart few never losing hope that the absolutely 100% perfect saddle is out there. Somewhere. Even if it hasn’t been invented yet.


My first candidate was the WTB Speed She Comp saddle, a general use recreational saddle. It’s narrower than my Bontrager, which you would think with my generous fundament would be a disadvantage, but I actually preferred the narrower width and shorter nose on the WTB. Alas, the “love groove” in the WTB was not sufficient. After three off and on painful weeks, I gave up to go back to a saddle with a cutout.

I next tried the Forte women’s road saddle I had ridden on while I rode the borrowed Bianchi (thus far unnamed). The Forte was adequate enough, but I was convinced that something better was out there, so I hit the internet, checking reviews and comparison shopping. The Brooks B17 got very good reviews, but I was leary of trying another saddle with no cutout. The other strong candidates were the Selle Italia Diva, Fi’zik Vitesse, and Terry Butterfly and Liberator saddles. Then I received an email from Performance Bike about a tent sale they were having on the same weekend I received a 10% discount card in the mail for Performance. It was a clear omen, so I went a-shopping.

The Howe Ave store only carried the Terry Fly, a racing saddle too insubstantial for this fat-bottomed girl. In desperation, I called the Sunrise Blvd store and they had a Terry Butterfly in stock. When I got there, they also had a Terry Liberator in stock, but it was $44 more than the Butterfly, so I reluctantly passed on it. I’ve been riding on the Butterfly for about a month. Unfortunately, it is yet another “not too bad” saddle, but I’m holding out hope for it. Now I’ve entered the weeks-long phase of trying to tweak the saddle for optimum comfort by adjusting saddle height, tilt, etc. And there’s that squeak I haven’t been able to solve even after tightening my cleats and lubing the pedals and seat rails…