The WTB Koda boasts two years of development, and it’s great to see brands putting time and effort into understanding women’s needs for our lady parts when trying to develop the best women’s saddles. It’s also interesting to see how differing research can produce such contrasting end products.

This is a visually graceful saddle with a mid-length nose gently transitioning through to a teardrop shape with a medium-width rear platform. When pedalling it doesn’t inhibit your stroke and is pleasantly discreet. As you start hitting descents, it’s easy to get behind with a dropped nose and smooth edges – nothing to catch loose clothing on.

Available in two widths of 143mm and 150mm to cater for sit bones up to 160mm, it’s layered with DNA padding of a medium density feel. These dimensions are towards the wider end of the advertised range and it left some tenderness and hot spots on longer rides, although it wasn’t noticeable on shorter ventures.

An anatomical channel runs from the rear of the saddle most of the way down the nose. If it’s designed to remove pressure on labial tissue then it doesn’t fulfill the brief. When climbing in a seated position with any forward rotation in the pelvis, the front of the channel actually leads to increased pressure at the point where it ends. There’s a ‘Comfort Zone’ marked on the underside of the saddle, which doesn’t correlate with the channel on the saddle’s surface and didn’t seem to bring any noticeable benefit.

Nice touches on the design include a hard wearing fabric edging running from the side of the wings to the rear of the saddle. If you are a fan of resting your bike against walls or prone to an odd mid-ride tumble, then it’s a nice feature that will prevent you from scuffing the edges and increase durability. Perforations run diagonally across the saddle. giving good grip, but they are deeper than those on other saddles on test and are prone to clogging with mud.