We've tested the Specialized Jett Women's saddle 143mm before but Emma Silversides has been testing it from a professional road racer's point of view. She rides for the Global Racing Team. Spending more hours in the saddle each week than we can imagine, we figure she must know a thing or two about the saddle-bum interface! She'll be testing saddles from our Saddle Demo range, if you'd like to test one check out the Forum for news on which event/ride the Saddle Demo range will be available at next!
Three width sizes
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Specialized Jett saddle 143mm
To look at, I think that it is an attractive saddle. It is available in two colours and should I decide to ride it I'll be hunting for the white one since, according to our team mechanic, it has some pink on it!! I would love to tell you that it is super light (it's actually depends on the width, the 143mm is about 260g) but I am no expert on weights of saddles, I am more interested in comfort rather than saving a few grams which at the end of the day you could save by turning down that second doughnut!
If you're keen to know, I would say that a competition weight for a saddle is about 160g, but this is for a saddle that is very thin with little padding (check out the Specialized Toupe weighing 150g, and the Specialized Gel Toupe at 200g, although neither are female specific saddles and have higher price tags too). The extra weight of the Jett comes from more padding, which can often be worth the extra grams.
The first appealing feature of the Jett is that it is available in three different widths, clever if you should find that the front end suits you but the back isn't quite the perfect width you can try another width version! Personally, I would prefer to have ridden the narrower 130 option, but did not find the 143mm overly uncomfortable for my bum. The gel padding is very comfortable though no different to that which a lot of saddles offer these days.
The front end features a Specialized Body Geometry 'cut out' window. Such a feature aims to remove pressure from the more sensitive areas of your front bum. However, as I said before, the effectiveness of such a feature depends on each individual. For me, the cut out certainly did what it was supposed to. There was no pressure on the most sensitive parts. Even after a 90km Belgian Road Race over some of the roughest roads I've raced on (including one pothole that I was forced to hit on about 10 of the 16 laps!) I did not feel any after effects.
Emma Silversides in action
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However, the buzz of racing can often detract from minor discomforts, you are very active on the bike, in and out of the saddle, and saddle discomfort is not fore-front in your mind. It is more likely that you will notice niggles in training when 3-4 hours sitting down shows the saddles weaknesses. This did occur with the Specialized but not to the extent that I have experienced with other saddles. I found that the right hand ridge (i.e. saddle surface to the right of the cut out) rubbed a little on my front bum. This was not a serious issue in my mind since it was not hitting a 'sensitive area' and I am certain that with a couple more weeks of riding the skin would harden there. I think that if the saddle were to be slightly flatter in this area this problem would not have occurred. It appears to be slightly ridged at this point and it is therefore inevitable that there will be pressure in one specific place when you are sat on the saddle for any considerable period of time.
Specialized have clearly carried out some comprehensive tests with this product and their Body Geometry research seems to have paid off. I would recommend this saddle to anyone and suggest that you select your size according to your hip width with the Specialized 'Butt-ometer' available at Specialized stores offering the Body Geometry fitting service. See the www.specialized.com website for dealer listings.
Elsa Bates
