WTB Devo Bike Saddle
February 21, 2010
“What is the deal with all these ‘women’s specific’ bike saddles?? I mean, men and women can’t be THAT different down there, can they?”
Yes, that is a direct quote from one of the Geargals. In her defense, beer was heavily involved in this particular testing session. Her point, if I may translate from drunkenese, is that none of us has had particular luck with women’s specific saddles. Personally I have only been able to put in 10-12 miles on my regular women’s saddle before having to take frequent stand-up breaks to ease the pain. So, in desperation, I went to the Vancouver locals, who spend all their time on the North Shore and ride bikes so big my trusty XC rig looks like a toy. I figured if these girls could spend that much time grinding up logging roads for the 30-second trip back down the storied North Shore trails, they would know a thing or two about saddles. They lent me a Devo and I’ve never looked back.
[Speaking of looking back, there may be some TMI coming up. Do not proceed if such things offend you.]
It was love at first pedal as my collective down-there girl parts, still a bit chafed from their extended struggle with my old “women’s” saddle, breathed a sigh of relief and stopped complaining. Even with recent hurts still fresh, I was able to ride all day without constantly thinking “I can’t wait to get off this saddle.” I’ve ridden the Devo ever since, and never had a complaint. No banging, no chafing, no tenderness, no “I need a day off because I’m, er, sore,” no problems. Truly a brilliant piece of engineering. WTB actually makes a women’s version called the Deva (argh! that stupid name rises again. Stop already. Please. Stop. The word “diva” is dead. No one likes it, it’s dumb, there are other great names for women’s gear. Let it go) but as good as the Devo feels, I’ve not yet bothered to try the Deva.
So yeah. My fellow Geargal has a point. If the Devo – a men’s saddle – works so well for so many women, how different can we be? Try pondering THAT during your next beer-induced philosophy session. Believe me, though, it’s not all men’s saddles that have this kind of crossover appeal. My Gearguy lent me his race saddle and we didn’t make it down the trail more than 100 yards before I was yipping in pain and turning around to get a different saddle. So to sum up: some men’s saddles = OUCH. Some women’s saddles = YEOW. The Devo = ahhhhhh. So give it a shot.
I’m interested to see how it all plays out. So if you’re a chick, and you try the Devo and like it or don’t like it, let me know. Seriously – I’m interested. Is this really the one-size-fits-all saddle of the century?
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