What does Selle SMP have in common with the lead up to the 2013 Tour de France? Absolutely nothing, seeing as possibly no riders are on them in the Tour. It’s a long three weeks of Tour ahead, let’s think about our own asses for a brief moment. As a disclaimer: this is not a Reverence article, yet, maybe after a few centuries and pavé parties it could be. I paid retail from a LBS for this and have no connection to SMP. I’m not even advocating anyone should get one, like I do advocate everyone owning Speedplay pedals. I am just shedding a little light on these unconventional and messed-up looking saddles.
Two years back I stared at one of these saddles on a bike whose owner was a big fella. The saddle was a thin slip of a thing, more space than saddle and it looked unridable. He made a lasting impression when he said it was great. Great? That looks highly uncomfortable, it was nearly devoid of padding and there just wasn’t much to sit on.
We all have our own limit for what we will put on our steeds but eventually a 160 km ride will sort out if form follows function. Those shoes may be the same ones Boonen wears but if they are killing your feet at 80 km, every time, they have to go.
And speaking of Specialized, they have a gizmo for measuring sit bones so one can get a good fitting saddle. I’ve owned two of their saddles and like them enough. Upon restarting long rides after my haitus this winter I re-remembered how much my lower back would hurt, especially on long climbing rides. Also while on haitus, also known as: my position must be wrong, I’ll never ride again, do I need insoles, how high should my saddle be, do I need wedges under my cleats…hell. I read up on Steve Hogg, fitting master, looking for salvation. Steve is an advocate of SMP saddles and makes the point we don’t sit on our sit bones unless on, gasp, a recumbent or bigger gasp, a Harley. Maui’s aforementioned LBS has a nice selection of test saddles, many SMPs in the mix. I went right for the Dynamic model, for my fat ass. It took at least a week before I could even figure out where to sit on it, it’s that different a design.
There are two great things about these saddles: they have a massive cut-out section in the front so nothing gets mashed and the curved profile means one is sitting on the bones forward of the sit bones. That means your hips rotate forward, your lower back can straighten and relax. Do you want to ride the phantom aero bars while staring at your reflection in store front windows, it’s much easier with a relaxed, flatter back and uncrushed bits. I’m using that technical/medical English term to cover everything “down there”.
In summary, if your lower back is fine and you have never experienced torchmen’s taint, keep doing what you are doing. Shoes and saddles fit differently for every body. Comfort and weird looks don’t come cheap. Mine cost $230 US with steel rails but it is made in Italy, so that is a wash. They do come in celeste green if one wants to ruin the look of their Bianchi. Since one is sitting differently on it, the initial set up takes longer. It’s much harder to figure out the correct saddle height with this new position. I do think they have come up with a well researched design, especially for us riders who aim to be cyclists for the long haul.
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@frank
You took the bait -- if I didn't say it someone else surely would have.
Hawt.
Those 2 ridges were torture devices. Never ride one of those fuckers again. On ariones now, but thinking about the center channeled one since averting fitted last week and experiencing a crushed taint. Turns ou not all chamois created equal.
I have to say,and @Gianni said it in the article (excellent as always), saddles and shoes are very personal. What works for me, may not work for you, and that's OK. My favorite, and I've tried more than a few, is the Avocet O2 Air (with Ti rails). The fi'zi:k I'm on now is a very close second: ass hatchet as a couple friends refer to it.
Chronic back pain is a different pain than what we administer to ourselves in search of the V. If this monstrosity helps with that, Merckx bless you. I'm glad it's not me.
I will have something to say if I see one of these mounted on your Cervelo.
@frank
I've been working my way in that direction. I'm down to one 5mm spacer, but to compensate I'm riding a little chode of a stem (90mm, Oh, the shame!). When I first dropped the bars, my hands seemed to be falling, naturally, about an inch short of the hoods, so I swapped to a shorter stem to get balanced. Need a little Viagra for my stem, apparently.
Was all over Selle Italia, until I discovered the Specialized Romin, Riding faster and longer than ever before. (Least thats what she said!)
@Barracuda
Boom!
@Gianni
Good work Gianni. Respect that you've found what works in spite of the ugly step-sister-ness of it.
Question is, when is Marko going to review the Adamo that he secretly has on his Graveur?
Hmmm. I'm on an Antares at the moment. Don't hate it, don't love it. Gotta move around and get my taint in the air periodically, but not experiencing any of the whiskey-dick nonsense I did sometimes in the distant past.
However, living in the Howling Wilderness as I do, I really would love to know of any good saddle demo programs accessible online.
Just got the Dynamic test saddle from local LBS. Have already tried Glider, Lite 209 and Stratos. I am impressed so far with the forward hip rotation, thus enabling a flatter back. I like the look of the Dynamic, technically speaking and will report back soon.
@Rob
I've tried to find a good graphic for that but nothing great. Look at the Steve Hogg link in the article, he does a good job of describing it. Essentially, on a SMP the sit bones are back on the rear slope of the saddle. So the pelvis falls forward and down until the weight is supported by the bones forward of the sit bones. FFS, that is a shiet description.
Read this instead.
@Marcus
And Marcus agrees so I am right. Fuck yeah!
@frank
@Frank - you may think it's ugly, but it's nowhere near as ugly as my fat ass that's sitting on it.