WTB Rocket V

[jmeloy]

Anyone tried one of these on the road?

[Peter P.]

Yes. I LOVE IT!

I normally ride a WTB SST or similar, wider saddle (@143mm). When the seat on my mountain bike wore out, I decided to try and save a few bucks by shopping for a seat on ebay. I won an auction for a Rocket V. Problem is, I didn't do my homework and only discovered when I received it, that it was narrower than what I usually use, at 137mm; it was plainly obvious by looking at it.

Anyway, I set it up on my mountain bike and it definitely wasn't going to work-sitting more upright on the ATB, the seat felt like it was going up my sphincter rather than sitting on it. It clearly felt narrower to sit on. I thought I wasted my money. Then I got an idea.

I switched the Rocket V with the SST on my road bike. My reasoning was, with more weight on the arms and more hip rotation on the road bike, maybe the seat would feel more comfortable. BINGO! I never thought such a narrow saddle could feel so good. It's remarkably cushy; not like many of the minimalist saddles out there, but if you're a gram counter you'll find this seat is sub-300 grams, too. This seat is so comfortable that I actually look forward to riding my road bike just to enjoy the seat!

I think one key is you have to set the tail of the seat higher than the nose. Or, another way to look at it is, the forward section of the saddle should be horizontal and you should ignore the tail. Here's a photo of my setup:

[giordana93]

definitely worth a try on the road; quite a few people run them. I agree that it works best for me nose down with the mid section a bit level or tilted down to nose. there's a lot of built in flex in the nylon shell, and it's not a boat anchor either. on the other hand, I don't care for the versions with a stitched cover as much as a smooth one if you can find one.

[quattro]

Does WBT make anything in the 150+ mm width range? In white?

Thanks,
quattro

[Peter P.]

Does WBT make anything in the 150+ mm width range? In white?

Thanks,
quattro

Check the WTB web site; it lists the widths and colors of all their saddles.