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SEVEN DAY CYCLIST
CYCLING, BUT NOT USUALLY RACING
LATEST UPDATE: JANUARY 18th
HOW DO WE DECIDE OUR OVERALL RATINGS FOR PRODUCTS WE REVIEW?
WTB Rocket Saddle
317g £ 66.31
The WTB Rocket Saddle is described as an incredibly versatile saddle reckoned good for trails, cross country, gravel and bike packing duties. 550 miles down the line, I’m inclined to agree. It’s available in three widths, a choice of three rail materials, and though generous, I’ve found the padding density supportive, compensating for the narrower than typical width.
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Pros: Generally solid construction, choice of three widths, choice of three rail materials, supportive for extended periods.
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Cons: Better suited to riders who tend to sit in one position, not shufflers.
Specification
Ours was the medium, which is a genre typical 265mm long, though narrower than medium might suggest at 142mm. Narrow translates as 130mm wide, while wide is 150mm. There are three rail materials - steel, Cro-moly and titanium. Again, we’ve gone the mid-point Cro-moly route. Rails are hollow, painted, rather than powder coated but again, the finish and incremental detailing are pleasing. These slot into a sculpted “flex tuned” nylon base, which as the name implies is designed to flex slightly under load, providing additional compliance. WTB describe this as medium flex, designed to suit most riders. Talking of which, they haven’t stipulated a maximum rider weight but tell me “All WTB saddles meet or exceed the ISO saddle standard, which is 400 kN in a downward direction on the tail of the saddle.” i.e. force, not rider weight is what will result in saddle failure.
Looking at the underside, you’d be forgiven for thinking it employs a clear gel, or hybrid. However, WTB have gone for HLX, which is a memory foam, approximately 35mm thick and I’m told, softer than the brands’ DNAx pad which is a light PU foam. The satin black cover is a low maintenance, perforated, faux leather microtex, which is neatly screwed and stapled to the base. Continuing this narrative, round the back, we have “ABR corners” which are protective strips of material designed to protect against abrasion and general, everyday wear and tear.
Now a quick word about the shape. This is described as “contoured” which has a gently sloping spoon like profile, designed for those preferring to get into and hold their position. Now, this snagged my attention since I’m someone who falls into both camps. I’m a minute shuffler on longer road rides, though also like to get into the zone and canter, especially riding fixed. The swooped tail is designed so you can sit and push back on the climbs, which is intended at e-bike riders but an obvious choice for tourists, too.
WTB has gone with a graduated pressure relieving channel, rather than cut out. On a very personal level, I get along rather nicely with most designs but on balance, a pressure relieving channels are a better bet for bikes shunning mudguards. Some folks might find a soggy crotch refreshing - I’m not one of them.
Test Bike & Contexts
I’d been struggling to achieve high mileage comfort on Ursula, which seems very strange since saddle height, length and width were very much aligned to my bike-fit ideal. Real world, the Ergon SR All Road came mighty close, leaving me wondering whether I needed more support at the rear corners. Musical saddles followed, seeing me switch my fixed gear winter trainer’s shorter Ritchey for the Ergon SR All Road, the WTB to Ursula.
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Besides, in essence, Ursula is a drop bar mountain bike with touring touches, and I tend to sit back and winch my way up the climbs, turning moderate to lower gears. For the first 250 miles, I left the Kinekt 2.1 post’s travel unchanged and set out doing the usual mix of metaled, unmade road, bridlepath and forest mileage. I also stuck with longer serving tights and ¾ lengths to rule out any potential biases. 400 miles in, I switched to Denise, if only to test WTB’s assertion that it’s equally suited to gravel antics.
Performance 3.5/5
Contact points are incredibly personal things, and on balance, I wonder if WTB’s DNAx foam padding might be the best fit for my derriere, but the Rocket’s HLX came remarkably close. This was particularly obvious on extended trail sessions and having dialled the posts travel down by an eighth of a turn.
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Obviously, I’ve climbed out of the saddle when negotiating more technical sections of singletrack, weaving around holes and similar obstacles but even allowing for a mechanically sensitive riding style, suspension post and 2.3-inch tyres, sneaky little ruts and similar can still catch us out and induce fatigue.
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Cro-moly rails might not be glamorous, but are popular for good reason, striking an excellent balance of weight, zing and strength, while keeping costs competitive. This coupled with the base’s medium stiffness ensured a compliant, but supportive ride across all surfaces, although particularly across washboard tarmac, rumble strips – no issues with trail buzz, even when I’d dialled the Kinekt 2.1 post to zero travel.
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The padding just seems to suspend, offering some tangible give but without feeling squishy. I’ve not experienced any soreness, or discomfort navigating the regular and indeed, newly discovered routes and rides between 90 minutes and 5 hours, although having tweaked things such as seat post travel, I concluded the slightly firmer DNAx might for my tastes, win by a whisker.
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The pressure relieving channel, though subtle has done does its thing very effectively and without fanfare-no tingling, or minor discomfort, let alone numbness to date. Now, back to my earlier comment about not being able to get things Goldilocks on the saddle front.
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I’d either found the width fractionally too narrow, or too wide, causing my buttocks to hang over the edge slightly, or resulting in painful chafing and broken skin following a week’s riding. Given the medium was well, on the narrow side at 142mm, I only noticed things in the most positive sense- plenty of support and rapid cadences as standard.
Similarly subtle, the swooped tail was similarly supportive, allowing me to press back and power up some subtle, yet sneaky gradients. Talking of which, the faux leather cover does an excellent job of combatting surf, regardless of how wet things have become but while designed to keep you in the zone, it’s proven very tolerant of unconscious fore and aft micro shuffling too.
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Switched to Denise, my gravel bike, this narrative remained unchanged, although doing so cemented my conclusion that the firmer PU padding would arguably be most compatible with me.
Durability/Care 3.5/5
550 miles hence and the WTB Rocket seems very sturdy, thanks to the blend of good design, decent quality materials and workmanship. The anti-abrasion panels are doing their thing handsomely - I've leaned it against rendered brickwork, farm gates, rough sawn woodwork and concrete signs with not so much as a mark. Residual brick dust and similar was easily dismissed with a dry rag and the microtex cover just needs a quick damp cloth wipeover.
Cro-moly rails are rugged and generally resist corrosion well but do like a decent coat of paint. The Rocket’s seem well finished, with no "bite marks" where they've sat, been switched between bikes or moved fore and aft within the post cradles. I tend to give these a light helping of hard paste wax as part of a bike's deep clean, but other than checking for any unusual creaks, or hairline cracks, that's about it.
Value 3.5/5
£66.31 at full rrp sounds relatively spendy, given the specification. Afterall, you can buy a titanium-railed model, such as the Madison Flux Switch Saddle for £44. Indeed, it is in keeping with some other Cro-moly railed competition BBB Echelon (£69.99) is another genre crossing design I 've had positive long-term experiences with. Again, we have Cro-moly rails, a microtex faux leather, a gender-neutral pressure relieving cutout and three widths (145, 155 and 165mm). Then of course, we have the Ergon (£66.99). Again, on paper, the specification seems lower than some, but the build quality and support are generally excellent (although I found the core comp a superior choice, if you can entertain the price differential).
Summary
Though not groundbreaking, the WTB rocket is a very competent and well-conceived saddle capable of spanning different genres of riding. Moreover, it has performed consistently well as a trail, bike packing and gravel perch. On balance, I'm reaching the conclusion my derriere is best complimented by a slightly firmer memory foam. Nonetheless, this is a minor point - I've spent several hours at a time without complaint. Similarly, while some might cite staples as being the stuff of lower rent saddles, the overall build quality is very solid.
Verdict: 3.5/5 Competent and well executed saddle for gravel, bikepacking and mtb duties.
Michael Stenning
PUBLISHED JANUARY 2025
