Comparing Terry Saddles

[LadyDian]

I am looking for a good saddle for a century. I am pretty well decided on either a butterfly or a falcon. Does anyone know the difference between the two? I know one is a tri saddle, but what does that really mean?
Thanks gals!
Di

[Thorn]

Did you see this page on their site?

http://terrybikes.forest.net/ftp/pub/2007_saddles.pdf

Weight, size, material differences are laid out in a table.

[LadyDian]

No, I had not seen that. Though comparing the two on the charts, they still look pretty darmn similar. It looks like one reduces heat build up, and one relieves pressure. Thank you!~

[Thorn]

I believe Terry has a 30 day trial run policy. So, you could pick the one that sounds closer and give it a spin.

I used the Butterfly Tri for a while, but, for me, it was too narrow. For a while I swear I had that chart memorized trying to figure out which one to buy. In the end, I couldn't use Terry's saddles.

[LadyDian]

May I ask what you did go with? I am aiming toward the falcon as when I ride pressure is an issue on the rear of the saddle. (Or my saddle to be exact ) I am a bigger rider 5'8 175.

[Thorn]

There are a couple of threads here on measuring your "sit bones". It is a bit of contortion, depending upon your..uh...errrr...natural padding level, but worth it. When I did that, I discovered that my 6' frame did indeed have a wide sit bone distance. So, then I started looking for saddles that were a little wider than the spacing of my sit bones. Argggg.....the struggle began.

The saddle I've gone with is the Selle SMP Strike "Lady". It is wide enough to support my sit bones and has a generous cutout to relieve pressure. It is, however, a bit softer than I'd like, but I haven't found much alternative. The primary complaint about the saddle is the width of the nose--it is wide, but, for me, it works. It is best I've found.

One of the wise ones on these board said that they know the saddle is wide enough when the sit bones hurt after a long ride. For me, riding the Butterfly, my sit bones never got sore. What would happen though was after riding for a while, when I stood up, I'd have terrible pain in the coccyx area--it was as if I'd stretched out the muscles and they were slowly moving back into to place. Hard to explain, but, in retrospect, I believe that is the indication that the saddle was too narrow for me. I wasn't sitting on the sit bones--I was sitting on soft tissue.

Anyway...if you haven't tried to figure out your sit bone width, you might want to search for the older threads. From what I've read on the board, height isn't necessarily a good indicator--it all depends upon your bone structure.

[cyclingmom01]

I bought the Terry FAlcon and like it, but it seems a little too cushioned. Found the ping Terry Butterfly @ my LBS yesterday and bought it yesterday. Did an easy 20 miler this morning with my hubby and I think I like the butterfly better. Am sending the Falcon back tomorrow.

[Zen]

individual anatomy dictates.
I like my Falcon X.

[cyclingmom01]

Your exactly coorect Zen. Anatomy dictates! The butterfly is working for me. The Falcon seemed too cushiony.

[trichef]

i ride on a terry butterfly ti saddle. for me it isn't the best saddle but heck, i haven't ridden any other saddles in the past so no point of reference. not the best because i feel pain in my (you know where) after 1.5hours of riding. my girlfriends are riding on selle italia lady saddle (not sure the exact model, though) and they attest to the comfort and no-pain anywhere promise.

[Skierchickie]

trichef: i ride on a terry butterfly ti saddle. for me it isn't the best saddle but heck, i haven't ridden any other saddles in the past so no point of reference. not the best because i feel pain in my (you know where) after 1.5hours of riding.

I had issues with the Butterfly, too, and abandoned it after 2 or 3 rides this summer. I got it maybe 3 seasons earlier, but at the end of the season, and then barely rode the next 2 summers. I had soft tissue issues, it was too wide in the rear, and kept pushing me forward, and I had some inner thigh chafing. One thing I did like about it was that at the end of a ride on a really hot day, the saddle was actually cold to the touch in the area of the cutout - very weird, but very intriguing. It will probably end up for sale here pretty soon. I've tried several that are much better since then, but still have not found the Holy Grail.

[redrhodie]

I have the Terry Zero X, and also had inner thigh chafing and chamois bunching at first. I really wanted this saddle to work cause the color is so purdy (metalic pearl), so instead of trying a new saddle, I bought some Terry knickers, the ones with the pink chamois. Tah dah--magic! No more issues. The Terry saddle/shorts combo is great.

My old shorts were Specialized, and were great with my Specialized saddle. Maybe when saddles are being designed, the company uses their own brand of shorts to test comfort? Just a thought.