Specialized unveils aggressive position Power road saddle

[dha]

Mine arrived today. Forgot to weigh it before I fitted it to the bike. Looks like it is way too far back on the seatpost.

[5DII]

used mine on a couple of rides - the bigger cutout is definitely more comfortable for the perineal area compared to the toupe and romin. I just wish the saddle was flatter like the toupe - but for those who use the romin this saddle should be great

[dha]

First ride out today, I set it up so the rear of the saddle was the same distance from the stem as my previous fizik kurve was.

Initial impression is that it is a firm saddle, however no harsher over bumps than the kurve and the padding does seem to absorb some of the road buzz. However how I naturally sat there was a discomfort with the sit bones. Moving the saddle forward half a cm cured this. It seems that if you sit on it where you "should" its very comfortable, sit ahead of this in the less padded area and the firmness really shows up on the sit bones.

On the drops your legs feel less constrained, no doubt due to the shorter nose. Maybe the hip angle is different as a result of this?

[guyc]

Half a cm making that much diff tells me this really is a saddle only if you don't move. At all.

[KWalker]

You can move fore/aft probably 1cm. Its not that drastic. But if you're like a Contador or Terpstra who sit on the very tip then ya, you're screwed.

[entropy]

Just wondering if someone can chime in on the different padding levels? I want the Pro, but just wondering if the loss of padding over the Comp and Expert is noticeable? Thanks!

[Curious George]

Bought one (pro version) tried it for 5 days and returned it for a refund.
I found it to be very uncomfortable with no give in the saddle chassis at all.
The level of padding is minimal which compounds the lack of flex.
However the saddle does achieve it's aim of fixing the rider in a single position.

For comparison I have been ridding a Prologo scratch nack which I remain on.

[entropy]

Well that is interesting! I trialed a Comp and found it fine, maybe the lesser padding is a bad idea.

[wheelsONfire]

If you'd like a contender which i personally love best of my 9 saddles, try Bontrager Hilo XXX.

[entropy]

For anyone interested, I ended up going with the Power Pro after feeling the Expert was a bit squishy in the padding. Did a couple of trainer rides and was a bit concerned that it would be too harsh, but after riding on the road I am super happy with it. Nice and firm, but gets rid of the road buzz perfectly.

My experience anyway fwiw. Super happy with the saddle!

[hasbeen]

thanks entropy for the update. I started another thread on this saddle so sorry about that. anyway, I am looking to try out a Pro myself soon.

[jeffy]

picked one up. been using the roman for a long time due to numbnutz™

Romin - have been very very happy with it - except it could be more comfy when in the drops (why the Power seemed attractive)

set the power up in same position (rail markings) as romin, and after one ride i think i will move it forward a couple of mm.
(this this might be because i tended to sit a little forward on the Romin)

Feel slightly cheated that that Expert Level Power is more padded than the Expert Level Romin...... but i wouldn't consider
spending the extra on the Pro (almost double) ---- but might keep an eye on ebay as i will likely buy another and replace the other Romin on winter bike.

Initial impression is that it is a better fit - but damn close - to the Romin - but significantly better in the drops.
(so long as you don't tend to move about to much - as previously stated you can move forward and back a bit but not as extreme as conventional saddles)

If you use and like the Romin, it is well worth a try. slightly annoyed by the extra padding - more off putting than worse (i think) ... time will tell.

even though i was prepared for it to look 'different' it is a little bit of a shock - it grows on you though.

[wheelzqc]

I'm not sure why but I could never get away from having too much weight on my hands-arms. The Romin EVO at the same spot doesn't do that. Too bad, outside of that it was solid on the comfort zone. Agreed that it's too bad the Expert is squishy.

[KWalker]

I've found and been told by many a fitter that the optimal starting point is either the same marking on the rail as your other Speci saddle +5mm further rearwards OR add 25-35mm of setback measured behind the bb

[jeffy]

would be interested in how users level the power saddle.

initially i used front to back leveling, and felt a bit slipping forward
- so i reverted to how i levelled (and how i read that the big S recommends) for the romin which was
placing the spirit level perpendicular 2/3rds (or slightly passed halfway) back where the sit bones would be positioned.

Havn't tried it yet but with the sit bone area levelled the tip of the saddle is very much pointing up - to the point that i now doubt that this would work
..... weird saddle looks weirder!

How has other users levelled the Power?