This shows the relief cutouts on the bottom.
WTB Silverado Team Saddle
Out of the box
Quite noticeable upon first encounter of this saddle is the low profile. Now it seems the trend of saddles has taken a minimalistic turn for the potentially worse. This is contributing to larger and thicker chamois to make up for the reduced padding at the saddle level. This is sort of the case with the WTB but in a subtle manor. It sort of sits in the middle between cushy and slab of wood. On the under side you can see some cut outs for pressure point relief which is helpful because this saddle is somewhat pointy in the hind quarters.
On the trail
Ok so this area is very subjective I know. What’s good for some is horrible for others, this saddle is no exception. It definitely brings out the love it or hate it opinions, there seems to be no middle ground for those just trying to get by on a universal saddle.
It seems to be tailored quite well to my bony ass. When I first used it I actually hated it. Rode it twice then took it off my bike and put on an Arionne which I was also using on my road bike at the time. Well for one reason or another I ended up coming back to the Silverado. I think it was because I needed to use it out of necessity having sold all of my other saddles at the time. I gave it a good two weeks and it really started to grow on me. Not only was I breaking it in, it seemed to be breaking me in too, lol. I must say out of all the saddles I’ve used, this one is the least prone to giving me saddle sores and never bothers me in the one area that I always seemed to get them before. I have put a lot of hours and miles on the Silverado, using it on a number of different bikes including my hardtail. Took me a while to warm up to it but I’m glad I did because it seems to fit me very well now.
The profile offers very little in the way of seating positions. At the same token it takes very little effort to slide forward into a climbing posture. It is fairly wide at the back and offers decent support but is still easy to pass through the legs for particularly harrowing descents. Probably more suited to a race saddle due to its singular position capacity and minimal padding. That said though I have done many a 4-6 hour ride with no complaints, but then again I am hardcore ;-)
Specs and features (actual)
Length: 28cm
Stack Height: 4.5cm
Rail Length: 7.5cm
Weight: 245grams
The saddle is pretty low profile, a nice characteristic for its intended use as a mountain bike saddle. Has a relatively low stack height, not too long, slender width but flares out fairly wide at the back.
Verdict
If you are looking for a cheap and light saddle this is about as good as it gets without getting too cheap. It comes in a couple different varieties with Ti rails and leather that are a bit more spendy. Still not too high in price though and they drop a couple grams. If you get a chance to ride one, make sure you get a couple good rides on it before you judge whether it is a good fit for you or not. I’d say it is on my short list of go-to saddles if I need something cheap and fairly light to throw on a bike. I would and have bought this saddle after market, which is a pretty good indicator if I like something or not. I give the Silverado two buns up.
Pros
-light weight
-cheap
-nice mountain biking profile
Cons
-love it or hate it fit
-no flash
Rating
Performance: 13.5 cm of snow out of a projected 16cm
Value: $3000.00 on your Christmas credit card out of $3150.00
Out of the box
Quite noticeable upon first encounter of this saddle is the low profile. Now it seems the trend of saddles has taken a minimalistic turn for the potentially worse. This is contributing to larger and thicker chamois to make up for the reduced padding at the saddle level. This is sort of the case with the WTB but in a subtle manor. It sort of sits in the middle between cushy and slab of wood. On the under side you can see some cut outs for pressure point relief which is helpful because this saddle is somewhat pointy in the hind quarters.
On the trail
Ok so this area is very subjective I know. What’s good for some is horrible for others, this saddle is no exception. It definitely brings out the love it or hate it opinions, there seems to be no middle ground for those just trying to get by on a universal saddle.
It seems to be tailored quite well to my bony ass. When I first used it I actually hated it. Rode it twice then took it off my bike and put on an Arionne which I was also using on my road bike at the time. Well for one reason or another I ended up coming back to the Silverado. I think it was because I needed to use it out of necessity having sold all of my other saddles at the time. I gave it a good two weeks and it really started to grow on me. Not only was I breaking it in, it seemed to be breaking me in too, lol. I must say out of all the saddles I’ve used, this one is the least prone to giving me saddle sores and never bothers me in the one area that I always seemed to get them before. I have put a lot of hours and miles on the Silverado, using it on a number of different bikes including my hardtail. Took me a while to warm up to it but I’m glad I did because it seems to fit me very well now.
The profile offers very little in the way of seating positions. At the same token it takes very little effort to slide forward into a climbing posture. It is fairly wide at the back and offers decent support but is still easy to pass through the legs for particularly harrowing descents. Probably more suited to a race saddle due to its singular position capacity and minimal padding. That said though I have done many a 4-6 hour ride with no complaints, but then again I am hardcore ;-)
Specs and features (actual)
Length: 28cm
Stack Height: 4.5cm
Rail Length: 7.5cm
Weight: 245grams
The saddle is pretty low profile, a nice characteristic for its intended use as a mountain bike saddle. Has a relatively low stack height, not too long, slender width but flares out fairly wide at the back.
Verdict
If you are looking for a cheap and light saddle this is about as good as it gets without getting too cheap. It comes in a couple different varieties with Ti rails and leather that are a bit more spendy. Still not too high in price though and they drop a couple grams. If you get a chance to ride one, make sure you get a couple good rides on it before you judge whether it is a good fit for you or not. I’d say it is on my short list of go-to saddles if I need something cheap and fairly light to throw on a bike. I would and have bought this saddle after market, which is a pretty good indicator if I like something or not. I give the Silverado two buns up.
Pros
-light weight
-cheap
-nice mountain biking profile
Cons
-love it or hate it fit
-no flash
Rating
Performance: 13.5 cm of snow out of a projected 16cm
Value: $3000.00 on your Christmas credit card out of $3150.00
An illustration of its tapered profile. Narrow at the front, wider at the back.
A bit of a hammock to the mid section. Just enough to be comfortable without making your butt gravitate right into it.
The adjustment on the rails.
Thanks for the test and photos. Really helpful.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Marjan
Do you know if the sit bones are supposed to rest on the back part or the middle part of the saddle?
ReplyDeleteyou want to be close to the middle with some bias to the back of the saddle. If you have it pretty well parallel with the ground you will find that you naturally end up at that part of the seat anyway. You can slide forward onto the nose for steeper climbs. The idea is that for the bulk of your riding you don't want to use your arms to hold yourself on a certain part of the saddle because you'll get tired constantly holding yourself in place. That is why you go pretty close to level.
DeleteFrom there you can decide whether the width and profile of the saddle match your anatomy.