The Best Bike Saddles: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)

RBE top pick

WTB Silverado

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The Silverado wins because WTB attaches a published sit-bone range to every size, so you can match the saddle to a number you measured at home. The Butterfly Century is the one to take instead if soft-tissue pressure rather than sit-bone support is what is hurting.

A saddle is the one component you cannot judge from a photograph, and the industry knows it. Some brands publish a sit-bone range in millimetres for every model and size. Others publish a riding angle in degrees and nothing about your anatomy at all. Those are two different sizing languages measuring two different things, and a width number means very little until you know which language the saddle was designed in. We picked four saddles that sit in different languages and read what each maker states.

RBE top pick

WTB

Silverado

Buy it

A slim, flat-platform saddle sold with a published sit-bone range for each width, which is the rarest and most useful thing on any saddle page.

Best for: Riders who have measured their sit bones and want a saddle whose maker publishes the range it was designed to fit.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• WTB states a sit-bone range for every version: 101 to 130mm for the 142mm Medium on steel or cromoly rails, 110 to 125mm for the Medium Fusion Form models and 90 to 110mm for the 135mm Narrow.
• Five rail choices in Medium, from a stated 308 gram steel version to a 187 gram carbon one.
• A flat top gives you room to move fore and aft as the terrain changes, on a shorter 265mm length that WTB says eases on-off transitions.
• Stated 265mm length and 142mm Medium width put it in the mainstream of road, gravel and trail fit.

Know before buying

• Padding is tuned for performance, so the flat platform feels firm if you ride fully upright.
• No full cutout, only WTB's shallow Love Channel down the centre, so it does less for soft-tissue pressure than a cutaway saddle.
• Only two widths, which leaves riders above 130mm of sit-bone width shopping elsewhere in the range.
• Thin padding relies on shape and base flex, so there is little cushion to fall back on if the width is wrong.

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Terry

Butterfly Century Saddle

Buy it

The cutaway pick, with the largest centre relief in its line and a shock-absorbing layer that lets the foam be thinner rather than deeper.

Best for: Riders whose problem is numbness or soft-tissue pressure rather than sit-bone ache, on endurance rides.

$$$ · premium

Why we like it

• Terry states 262mm by 152mm and 268 grams, so the dimensions are on the page rather than implied.
• A Poron XRD layer sits between the base and the foam, which is how the saddle stays low profile without going hard.
• Widest cutaway in the Butterfly line, aimed squarely at soft-tissue pressure.
• Seamless Fibra-tek cover, which is there to reduce chafing at high cadence.
• Ti-316 rails and hand assembly in Italy.

Know before buying

• Sold as a women's model, which puts off riders who would fit it.
• Terry publishes no sit-bone range, so the width has to be matched by measurement on your side.
• One colour and one rail spec, so there is no lighter or cheaper version of the same shape.
• A large cutaway concentrates load on the two support platforms, which is unforgiving if the width is wrong.

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Brooks England

B17

It depends

A tensioned leather hammock specified for a 60 degree upright position, which is a real answer for touring and the wrong answer for a low race fit.

Best for: Upright commuting and touring riders who want a saddle that adapts to them and are willing to maintain leather.

$$$ · premium

Why we like it

• Brooks states 275mm by 175mm and 520 grams, so you can check it against your frame and post.
• The leather is a suspended top that flexes with each pedal stroke instead of compressing like foam.
• Vegetable-tanned leather moulds to the individual rider over time, which is why the model has lasted more than a century.
• Steel rivets and undercarriage make it repairable in a way a bonded foam saddle is not.

Know before buying

• At a stated 520 grams it is the heaviest here by a wide margin.
• Brooks specifies it for a 60 degree riding angle, so a low, forward position puts load in the wrong place.
• Leather needs a break-in period and ongoing care, and it does not enjoy being left out in the rain.
• No cutout and no published sit-bone range, so fit is judged by posture rather than measurement.

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We'd skip it

WTB

Comfort

Skip it

A deeply padded 174mm cruiser saddle for sit bones of 125 to 155mm, which WTB itself pitches at casual rides of under five miles.

Best for: Short upright leisure rides by a rider whose measured sit bones fall in the 125 to 155mm range WTB states.

$ · budget

Why we like it

• WTB publishes its sit-bone range like every other model in the line, so you can tell before buying whether it fits you.
• Extra-thick padding and a 174mm platform genuinely suit the rider it was drawn for.
• The same flex-tuned shell and microfiber cover as the rest of the range.

Know before buying

• WTB describes it as great for casual rides of less than five miles, which is a narrow brief for a saddle bought as a comfort upgrade.
• Steel rails only, at a stated 390 grams.
• WTB lists the use case as urban and describes it as the saddle on their own employee grocery-getter cruiser fleet, not as a general comfort upgrade.
• Deep foam under sit bones that do not reach the support platforms transfers load to soft tissue, which is the opposite of the intent.

See our pick instead See it at Amazon anyway Read our detailed assessment ↓

How we judged the field

Five things decide a saddle, and only some of them get published. The first is width relative to your sit bones, which is the one number that determines whether your weight lands on bone or on soft tissue. The second is the sizing language the maker uses, because a brand that publishes a sit-bone range is telling you something checkable while a brand that publishes a riding angle is telling you about posture instead. The third is what the top is made of and how it deflects, since a tensioned leather hammock, foam over a nylon shell and foam over a shock-absorbing layer all behave differently under the same load. The fourth is whether there is a cutout, which addresses a different symptom from width. The fifth is stated weight and rail material, which decide what you can fit and what you pay.

The field splits along the sizing language, so we took saddles from both sides of it. WTB publishes a sit-bone range for every model and every width, which let us use two saddles from the same catalogue as the clearest available evidence: the Silverado Medium on steel or cromoly rails is specified for 101 to 130mm, the Koda Wide for 115 to 130mm, and the Comfort for 125 to 155mm. That ladder is the argument, and it comes from one maker’s own pages rather than from comparing across brands that measure differently. Against it we set Terry, which sizes by anatomy and cutaway and publishes exact dimensions but no sit-bone figure, and Brooks, which sizes by riding angle and publishes a 60 degree specification and nothing about sit bones at all.

The Silverado is the saddle we would put under most people, and the reason is on the page rather than under the cover. WTB states a sit-bone range for each version: 101 to 130mm for the 142mm Medium on steel or cromoly rails, 110 to 125mm for the Medium Fusion Form models, and 90 to 110mm for the 135mm Narrow. Measure yourself on a piece of cardboard and you can pick the right one without sitting on either. The current version is a shorter 265mm flat platform, which still gives you room to shift fore and aft as the gradient changes, and WTB offers the Medium on five rail materials, from a stated 308 gram steel version to a 187 gram carbon one. That range means one shape can follow you from a commuter to a gravel bike. The compromise is that the padding is tuned for riding rather than sitting, so a fully upright position will find it firm, and there is no full cutout, only WTB’s shallow Love Channel, so it does less about numbness than a cutaway saddle. For a rider who knows their number and wants a saddle matched to it, this is the straightforward answer.

The Butterfly Century is the one to buy when the problem is in the middle. Terry states 262mm by 152mm and 268 grams, and builds it around the widest cutaway in the Butterfly line, which is the feature that addresses soft-tissue pressure directly. The interesting engineering is underneath: a Poron XRD layer sits between the base and the foam, absorbing shock so that the foam can be thinner rather than deeper. A thinner saddle that still cushions is easier to pedal around, which is the whole point of an endurance shape. The cover is seamless Fibra-tek, chosen to cut chafing at high cadence, and the rails are ti-316. What it does not give you is a published sit-bone range, so the 152mm width has to be matched by your own measurement, and there is only one rail spec and one colour, so there is no lighter or cheaper version of the shape. It is sold as a women’s model, which is a shape description more than a restriction.

The B17 is the most interesting saddle here and the one with the narrowest correct audience. It is not foam over a shell. It is a piece of vegetable-tanned leather tensioned between a steel frame, so it works as a hammock that flexes with each pedal stroke and gradually takes the shape of the rider sitting on it. Brooks states 275mm by 175mm and 520 grams, and it specifies the saddle for a 60 degree riding position, which is the crucial line on the page and the one most buyers skip. At 60 degrees your weight sits back on the wide rear of the hammock, which is what the design expects. Lower and further forward, you load the nose of a saddle that was never drawn for it. The other costs are real: it is heaviest here by a long way, it needs a break-in period before it feels like yours, and leather resents repeated soakings. Buy it for upright touring and commuting and it will outlast several foam saddles.

The Comfort is a competent saddle that most people should not buy, and WTB tells you so on its own page. The stated sit-bone range is 125 to 155mm, and WTB describes it as great for casual rides of less than five miles. For scale, the Silverado Medium covers 101 to 130mm and the Koda Wide 115 to 130mm, so the Comfort sits at the wide end of the ladder. WTB also lists its use as urban and describes it as the saddle on their own employee grocery-getter cruiser fleet, which is a fair description of a deeply padded 174mm platform on steel rails at a stated 390 grams. The failure mode when you buy it anyway is specific: if your sit bones do not reach the wide supporting platforms, your weight ends up carried by the deep foam in the middle, which is exactly the soft-tissue loading you were trying to escape. The lesson is not that wide padding is bad. The Brooks B17 is 175mm wide, a millimetre wider, and is a touring classic. The lesson is that the range is the spec, not the width.

WTB Silverado vs Terry Butterfly Century Saddle: which should you buy?

The Silverado and the Butterfly Century are the two to choose between, and the choice is decided by which symptom you have rather than by which saddle is better. If after an hour you ache on the bones themselves, that is a width and support problem, and the Silverado is the saddle that lets you solve it by measurement: WTB publishes 101 to 130mm for the Medium, so you can check your number against the product before you commit. If instead you get numbness or pressure in the middle, width will not fix it, and the Butterfly Century is built around the largest cutaway in its line for precisely that reason.

The secondary differences follow from that. The Silverado is a platform you can buy across five rail materials and carry between bikes, which matters if you own more than one. The Butterfly Century is one specification at a stated 268 grams on ti-316 rails, a little heavier than the 245 gram titanium Silverado Medium, and its Poron XRD layer lets it cushion without getting tall. Position matters too: the Silverado’s flat top rewards a rider who moves around, while Terry designed the Butterfly Century for endurance riding. Measure first, identify the symptom second, and the decision makes itself.

What to look for

• Measure before you shop: sit on corrugated cardboard with your feet up, find the two dimples, measure centre to centre, and compare that figure to the maker’s sit-bone range.
• Look for a published sit-bone range: WTB prints one for every model and width, and it is the only spec that connects a saddle to your body rather than to an average.
• Check which language the page is written in: a riding angle in degrees, as Brooks uses for the B17, is telling you about posture and says nothing about your width.
• Treat width as a result, not a target: the B17 at 175mm and the WTB Comfort at 174mm are a millimetre apart and built for completely different riders.
• Separate your symptom from the feature: ache on the bones is a width and support question, numbness in the middle is a cutout question, and the fixes do not substitute for one another.
• Read the stated weight on the page, not the shipping weight: Terry lists the Butterfly Century at 268 grams while the store’s shipping data says 312, and the page is the one describing the product.

Our final take

Saddles are the component people buy by eye and then replace twice, and the reason is that the most important number is usually missing from the listing. Where a maker publishes a sit-bone range, use it: the WTB Silverado in the right width is a straightforward, well-specified answer for most riders. Where a maker publishes a cutaway and exact dimensions instead, as Terry does, match the width yourself and buy for the symptom you actually have. Where a maker publishes a riding angle, as Brooks does for the B17, take that seriously, because a 60 degree saddle on a low road position is a mismatch no amount of leather will fix. And when a maker tells you a saddle is for casual rides of under five miles, believe it.

Deciding between the top two? See our head-to-head: WTB Silverado vs Terry Butterfly Century Saddle.

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