I recently got my hands on a new saddle from Wove. I’ve been following the project for a while now since one of my friends (Dave Simmons) is involved in the production.
I’m not the most likely candidate for this saddle, since from what I gather it’s designed more for TT/Tri, but I wanted to see how it felt on gravel so I mounted it to my 3T and have about 1500 miles on it so far.
I’ve been riding Fizik Antares saddles on my road and gravel bikes for years. The road bike has the Antares 00 and the gravel bike has the cheaper one with metal rails that comes stock on many different bikes. I have the saddle nose pointed up a few degrees on both bikes, which usually draws in comments from other cyclists, but I’ve experimented with the angle a bunch and that’s how I like it. I have my reasons, but that’s a different topic for a different day.
First impressions:
“Wove†is a great name because the first thing I notice on the saddle is the beautiful carbon fiber weave that’s visible through the center channel of the saddle and on the “tail.†Flipping it upside down, I see that the bottom of the saddle is possibly even more pretty than the top… I love the look of carbon fiber weave.
Most of the carbon saddle rails I’ve seen (like the ones on my Antares 00) are not round. They are usually 7mmx9mm and sometimes (like on my Specialized and 3T seatposts) require different seat post hardware than round rails. The Wove saddle has round carbon rails.
This saddle has relatively thick padding. I wasn’t sure I’d like that since my favorite saddles (like the Antares, Selle Italia SLR, etc) have very minimal padding. If I didn’t know better, I’d expect this saddle to be really heavy based on the thick padding and the overall length of the saddle. That assumption couldn’t be any more wrong.
The OEM spec Antares weighed in at 215g. The Bontrager saddle I have on my TT bike is 271g. The Wove I received is 137g…about half the weight of my current TT bike saddle. Picking it up, the weight is almost comical. How does a saddle this light pass ISO testing? I don’t know, but it does. I didn’t put my 00 on the scale because it’s a pain to take on and off the bike that it’s mounted to, but the quoted weight from fizik is 140g…almost exactly the same weight as the Wove.
First ride:
I first mounted it with the nose at a similar angle to my Antares. I did a 60 mile ride and didn’t have any pain, but i wasn’t as comfortable as I have been on my old saddle. I decided to make it more level before my next ride…if you’ve ever had a 3T difflock seat post, you’ll know that it took me some time, math, and lots of trial and error to get the angle right where I wanted it…but that’s the post’s fault and not the saddle’s fault.
The next ride was SO much better. When I had the nose tilted up, I kept catching the nose on my shorts when I stood up and sat down. That hasn’t happened at all since I changed the tilt. The wide nose with a deep channel makes “riding on the rivet†very comfortable for me, and since the sides of the saddle are almost parallel for a few inches it feels equally as good a few inches back. I can also scoot myself all the way back and it feels comfortable in a “traditional†riding position…which is great for my gravel bike. Like I said at the top, I was a little worried that this would be a great TT saddle and a mediocre road saddle, but once I found the right angle to mount it, it’s been good no matter how I sit on it.
I was concerned that the amount of padding would feel like too much, but it doesn’t. It’s not like you’re sitting on a lazy boy. The foam compresses a bit, but it still feels firm, which I like.
Even with the thick padding, I had to raise my seat post 8mm to order to match the height of my old saddle. That by itself isn’t a problem, but this saddle is so low profile that it just BARELY fits on my 3T seat post. The carbon fiber bottom of the saddle it actually resting on the top of my seat post. If the saddle was designed to flex in the middle (I’m not sure if it was or not) it won’t be flexing on this post. You’d think that a saddle resting on the post like this would be brutally stiff, but I don’t feel that at all. If I didn’t see that it was touching, I’d never know it. I guess the foam padding is really doing it’s job. I did a 100k gravel race that took us through some rocky jeep roads out on a prairie in Oklahoma and never thought twice about vibrations or hard hits through the saddle. There was plenty of gap on my P3C post, and I think every other seat post I own would have plenty of space. The 3t post is unique, but it’s also proprietary so I can’t easily just swap out posts.
The saddle is more grippy than other saddles I have. For a TT bike I think that’s great. I hate sliding all around in the TT position, and this material isn’t a short-shredder like the sandpaper some pro cyclists use (thinking about Tony Martin). Even though a grippy saddle isn’t my top choice for a gravel bike, I got used to it quickly and don’t notice it anymore.
I’ve used it on my gravel bike with aerobars, without aerobars, on smooth roads, on rocky double track, on flats, on hils, and everything in between. When I first mounted it, I honestly didn’t think I’d keep it on my gravel bike for long. It was so different than what I’ve been using. But now I like it a lot. I’ve been in the planning process of a 300+ mile gravel ride soon, and I’ll be keeping this saddle on for it.
I went bike packing with it this weekend. I had a 13 pound backpack on and had zero issues with the saddle. Another guy I was with had similar weight on his back and he was miserable on his saddle all day. I figure it’s a pretty solid testament to this saddle if I can ride in a weird position for ~70 miles each way with a heavy load on my back and not have any discomfort whatsoever.
Like I said at the top, I’m friends with a guy who is making the saddle, but I’m not getting paid to write a good review. I didn’t expect to love this saddle on a gravel bike, but it’s surpassed all my expectations by a long shot. I’ll still give the Wove road/gravel saddle a try when it eventually launches, but I’ll be happily putting thousands of miles on this saddle in the meantime, and then I’ll transition it to my TT bike afterwards if the next Wove saddle feels better.
