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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@Ron I have always preferred the term "grundle" myself.
Serious question about back pain: Tough for me to be a good judge because I fractured three vertebrae in my lumbar region as a small child, and as a result they're all one calcified piece. I'm four Inches shorter than my two brothers, and as I've aged, my back has become progressively less flexible.
While riding, I find myself standing on the pedals and pushing my hips forward to stretch my lower back quite a lot. Inevitably, this begins at around 16K, and the frequency of this requirement increases with each passing hour. Climbing doesn't seem to aggravate it any more than riding on the flat.
While I am certain that I could eliviate some of this pain through a regimen of core strengthening exercise, I can't stand planking, sit-ups, etc.
Does everyone suffer from similar stiffness, or is mine more pronounced?
I have nothing to say about SMPs, but having put a fizik seatpin in my new custom, I will say that it is a fantastic design.
Been riding hard since 1975. These are the saddles I rode for more that a year: Cool Gear Ti, Unicator #3, San Marco Rolls, Avocet Mod III's, Sella Italia TurboMatic, Sella Italia Flite and San Marco Regal. And I tried dozens of others. My favorite saddle of all time was the Turbomatic. This is what I ride today.
@Spun Up
What you're describing sounds like my old pain. I think we asume the flexibility is coming from our backs, but really its the hamstrings and hip flexors that need to be nice and flexible.
It sounds like your back is doing a lot of balancing which is causing the pain, and the answer to that could be a longer stem (more reach) or lower bars. It can't hurt to try; an LBS or friend could have a stem laying around and bars can (usually) be lowered easily enough. For a test ride or two, go extreme to see how the effect is on your back - add two cm to the stem and drop the bars by at least the same amount.
I stress that this extreme recommendation is not for the long-term; for a long-term adjustment you will want to move gradually with .5 to 1cm adjustments. I'm suggesting an extreme change for one ride or maybe two just to see if it helps or makes things worse.
As for strengthening your core, a little work can go a long way, and once you've done some basics you don't need to do much to keep it strong enough for riding (its not like we're alpine ski racers or something).
I did a spell of situps and planks etc to get the basics up, but then have really just resorted to once a week doing three sets of 50 leg lifts where I lay on my back and left the legs to 90 degrees and lowering them back down to a few centimeters off the ground. Keeping your feet shoulder-width apart makes it harder! Also, I finish each set with holding them just above the ground for about 10 seconds.
I do this while watching TV before bed and I hardly even know its happening.
@Mike_P
Cool, glad to hear you are a user. I don't think there is any turning back for me either. Now I have to find a second one for the other bike. And don't tell anyone but I am liking my saddle's look too! It's nuts.
@Nate
One of the things I'm most psyched about the new frame (which I should have Friday) is that I'll be using the Fizik seat pin on it. By far the best design I've seen. It makes me hate every other seatpost.
@SloKenny
You have something growing under that saddle.
The Regal and Rolls were my all-time favorites back in the day, but I love the flatness of the Arione and the amount of adjustment on those long rails. I have a Rolls on my steel and the setback on the saddle is like a 1/4 of that on the newer saddles.
@Gianni
Be a man and post up a picture of your bike with that giant wart of a saddle on it.
@SloKenny
Ha! That is quite a list. I bought my Peugeot in 76 and went Brooks, Avocet, Concor (the worst), Selle something with the big silver rivets, a green Fizik, (also bad but I liked the color), Sella Italia Flite, some Specialized taupes, and now the SMP. I'm sure to have forgotten a few. I had forgotten about Avocet until you reminded me.
@frank
Is it custom? The 400mm can't possibly be long enough.