Saddles: Liberator Race vs. Butterfly vs. San Marco vs. Selle Italia

[wwt]

Just got a new road bike; hate the saddle it came with. Had some success with a Liberator (not the Ti Race) version on my hybrid. Any thoughts on saddles? Is the only difference between the Liberator Ti Race and Butterfly width? (I was quite surprised at the lack of detail on the Terry website...) Thanks in advance!

[Adventure Girl]

Choosing a saddle is a very personal choice. Everybody is different. If you have a good local bike shop (LBS), they may let you test ride a few. I tried quite a few before I found the one I like. I ride the Juliana saddle with Ti rails. I don't think it is made anymore. I have the same saddle on my road bike, my FS mountain bike and my hard tail mountain bike.

You might want to try the saddle off your old bike for a start. What did you like about it? Then try to find other saddles that also have those desirable features.

Good luck!

[bikerchick68]

I agree that it really depends on your body what will be comfortabel for you... I ride the Butterfly and love it, but there are lots of other good choices out there...

Have you tried emailing Terry and asking them the difference? I'm surprised there site wasn't more helpful too... good luck with whatever you decide!

[xeney]

Hi, sorry to revive an old thread but these are some of the same saddles I am considering and I wanted some advice.

I just got my first road bike and I am going to have to replace the saddle -- it is 2003 Bianchi Veloce and it came with a very pretty Selle Italia Trimatic 2 that nearly killed me on my first ride. Right where I would like to have a cut-out, the Selle Italia has a big thick poofy gel pad. My boyfriend has already stolen it for his mountain bike, because I am never using that torture device again.

I ride my hybrid with a Terry Liberator, which I love, and I swapped that onto the road bike to test it out. It was much better than the Selle Italia but I think it is a little too wide and too padded (mine is an older version of what is now the gellissima, I think). I like the general shape of the saddle a lot so I am considering one of the other Terry saddles that is similar in shape but a little bit narrower and less padded.

I am leaning toward the Terry Butterfly, based mostly on the description on the Team Estrogen sales page: "a seamless version of Terry's famous Liberator saddles, but in a narrower, racier package." Sounds like what I want, but I would really like to hear from someone who has used both the Butterfly and the Liberator and can tell me how they compare.

To be specific, I really like the Liberator on the hybrid, but on the road bike it feels a tiny bit too wide and squishy at the nose (I can see a possibility of chafing on a long ride or if I don't wear my very best pair of shorts), and I think I don't need quite so much squish around my sit bones. Otherwise I love the saddle, so if the Butterfly is similar but answers those concerns I think it is probably the right saddle for me.

Thanks for your help!