Selle SMP saddles - advice on fitting and model selection?

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

Post Reply
rynogee
Posts: 62
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:11 am
Location: DK

by rynogee

I'm keen to try an SMP saddle, but don't have access to any demo saddles at all. I've been doing a bit of reading on them (including steve hoggs write up) but can't quite figure out which model to try first as his advice is a bit different to the SMP saddle selector. Wodnering if anyone in similar circumstances might be able to share some advice.

I have sit bones measured at 100mm centre to centre, using the cardboard compression method.

I ride Selle Italia SLRs on virtually all my bikes and they are the best saddle I've found so far. (but still get pressure and numbness and times, including on really long rides, mainly towards the front when in drops etc)

I'm 32 inch waist or so, and 174cm, 74kg. Fit and strong sportive rider/club racer. Ride a reasonably but not extremely aggressive setup including moderate seat to bar drop.

Going on all that it seems the Dynamic model or Evolution could be the place to start, but I'm not sure. Steve Hogg says the evolution doesn't fit consistent with the SMP fitment charts, and is 100mm really that narrow, or not? (my waist says a medium SMP is the go accourding to their chart).

Expensive things to test, so wondering if anyone has similar dimensions, or similarly gets along with SLRs, and which SMP they found works for them.

shimmeD
Posts: 544
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:52 pm
Location: eNZed

by shimmeD

Best thing I ever did!
I still have a Romin: got measured at 143mm at a Specialised store on their ass-o-meter.
Followed Steve Hogg's advice on tilt etc and experimented a little, when I just went to a no-padding Composit. It is a lot narrower than 143mm and I'm fine. If your 100mm is indeed correct there's another model that's narrower than the Composit.
Takes a little bit of getting used to at first, and that happens everytime I spend any length of time not doing my first love.
Now I also have a copy of a Full Carbon (same shape etc of Composit). Search on this forum and you'll find a thread or two. No recommendation because we just don't promote copies on this board. If you're game these are cheap, and it's absolutely fine for my 53kg.
Less is more.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



hambini
Posts: 580
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2016 8:13 am
Location: Cologne, Germany

by hambini

I've got the stratos on both of my bikes but I demoed about 5 of them. The UK distributor allows you to try before you buy.

If I followed Steve Hogg's website I would have ended up with a seat that was far too wide for me. I think his fitting guidance might be an over generalisation and when it actually boils down to it, it's personal preference. I don't think measuring the width of your sit bones is any way of a good measure as actually sitting on the seat.

I tried the Stratos, Glider, Evolution, Dynamic, 209. I ended up with the Stratos which Steve Hogg's fitting guidance suggests would be too narrow and nobody likes but it suited me down to the ground.
Hambini Aeronautical Engineer, Polluting YouTube since 2016 - views expressed are my own...

User avatar
Kraaf
Posts: 557
Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 8:18 pm
Location: Netherlands

by Kraaf

I know this doesn't help much, but there really is no substitute for trying out saddles. The numbness issue does suggest that a cut-out or split saddle is something to try. I came from Selle Italia SLR as well, then the Specialized Toupé, before I tried the SMP's. They didn't work for me, in the TT position (probably would've been fine on the roadbike), but they did get me on to the ISM saddles. I still ride those, but I did find them a bit wide for year-round long road rides. That got me on the Bontrager HiLo.
Moral of the story; it's about personal experience.

Having said that, in my experience, a low-risk gamble for an SLR-using sportive/gran fondo rider would be the Bontrager Hilo; a split that runs along the entire length, but now wide (and the carbon version is quite light). Best I can do. Good luck, it's a true quest to find the right saddle.
.
I love you guys. Seriously.
_________________

MyM3Coupe
Posts: 374
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2016 10:32 pm

by MyM3Coupe

rynogee wrote:Going on all that it seems the Dynamic model or Evolution . . .

I think you're right, as I'm 1.75m tall and 70kg and the Dynamic was perfect.

howheels
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 9:09 pm

by howheels

hambini wrote:If I followed Steve Hogg's website I would have ended up with a seat that was far too wide for me. I think his fitting guidance might be an over generalisation and when it actually boils down to it, it's personal preference. I don't think measuring the width of your sit bones is any way of a good measure as actually sitting on the seat.


Literally the first thing on Steve Hogg's All about SMPs is a discussion about sit bones vs saddle width, which somehow manages to come to the same conclusion you are suggesting.

User avatar
G6612
Posts: 279
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 4:20 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

by G6612

rynogee,
I just sent you a PM, I have a SMP Dynamic that I do not use, I have only two short rides on it if your interested or anyone else let me know.

rynogee
Posts: 62
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:11 am
Location: DK

by rynogee

hambini wrote:I've got the stratos on both of my bikes but I demoed about 5 of them. The UK distributor allows you to try before you buy.

If I followed Steve Hogg's website I would have ended up with a seat that was far too wide for me. I think his fitting guidance might be an over generalisation and when it actually boils down to it, it's personal preference. I don't think measuring the width of your sit bones is any way of a good measure as actually sitting on the seat.

I tried the Stratos, Glider, Evolution, Dynamic, 209. I ended up with the Stratos which Steve Hogg's fitting guidance suggests would be too narrow and nobody likes but it suited me down to the ground.


what are some/any of your measurements? (height or weight or waist measure?) - is the stratos what the SMP selection table would have steered you to?

User avatar
BRM
Posts: 817
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:43 pm

by BRM

Are there really no (online) shops that have SMP demo saddles?
Try (online) shops where they sell them and just ask if you can test SMP saddles, some shops are willing to help you.

also look to this topic>>
http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=88123

rynogee
Posts: 62
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:11 am
Location: DK

by rynogee

BRM wrote:Are there really no (online) shops that have SMP demo saddles?
Try (online) shops where they sell them and just ask if you can test SMP saddles, some shops are willing to help you.

also look to this topic>>
http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=88123


I did try a couple that wouldn't, but now have found one that will. Cell bikes. thanks for that suggestion.

gceniza
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 6:43 pm

by gceniza

rynogee wrote:I'm keen to try an SMP saddle, but don't have access to any demo saddles at all. I've been doing a bit of reading on them (including steve hoggs write up) but can't quite figure out which model to try first as his advice is a bit different to the SMP saddle selector. Wodnering if anyone in similar circumstances might be able to share some advice.

I have sit bones measured at 100mm centre to centre, using the cardboard compression method.

I ride Selle Italia SLRs on virtually all my bikes and they are the best saddle I've found so far. (but still get pressure and numbness and times, including on really long rides, mainly towards the front when in drops etc)

I'm 32 inch waist or so, and 174cm, 74kg. Fit and strong sportive rider/club racer. Ride a reasonably but not extremely aggressive setup including moderate seat to bar drop.

Going on all that it seems the Dynamicn model or Evolution could be the place to start, but I'm not sure. Steve Hogg says the evolution doesn't fit consistent with the SMP fitment charts, and is 100mm really that narrow, or not? (my waist says a medium SMP is the go accourding to their chart).

Expensive things to test, so wondering if anyone has similar dimensions, or similarly gets along with SLRs, and which SMP they found works for them.


I am almost exactly the same height, weight, and waist size as you ... FWIW I am 5'8", 32in inseam, 31-32in waist, 154lbs/in-season, 162lbs/off-season. I rode Selle Italia saddles (Flite, SLR, and Kit Carbonio) for over 20 years. In my mid-40s (I am now turning 48), I started having serious pudendal nerve problems resulting in numbness and perineum pain. I went to a local bike shop where they have a comprehensive selection of demo saddles that you can take home for test rides. I tried nearly every model from every brand (Specialized, Fizik, Prologo, Selle Italia, etc). The Selle SMP saddles were a complete revelation for me. It is as if the saddle does not touch your perineum at all and focuses all contact at the sit bones. I cannot overstate how different this felt to me than any other saddle I tried. I don't remember all of the Selle SMP models I tried, but at the time, the one that seemed to fit the best was the Selle SMP Dynamic. I now ride the Dynamic on every bike I own including my mountain bike. Right away, in the very first ride, I had ZERO numbness. The other unforeseen benefit I experienced was the ability to ride with a much lower stem height. I believe the trough in the Dynamic allowed me to rotate my pelvis more forward and get much lower on the front. With this saddle I have progressively gone from 20mm of spacers under my stem to now riding a 5mm spacer on a fairly aggressive Pinarello race geometry.

You will need to fiddle with the tilt angle a bit as Steve Hogg says ... I bought an actual digital level for $30 just to make sure I had the same tilt angle across all of my bikes right down to the decimal point.

-Glen

User avatar
ryanw
in the industry
Posts: 2284
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2016 6:52 pm
Location: London

by ryanw

SL8 S-Works Project Black - 6.29kg
IG: RhinosWorkshop

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply