These can be great, but lately I see more and more people using them as a crutch for a shitty fit.

Interesting thought. That having been said. No saddle requires more attention to be fitted correctly.

Really liked them. Used a Evolution on my winterbike, Composite on my roadbike and a Full Carbon on my mtbbike before. Liked the full carbon most as it's slimmest and correct mounted I had no problems using it for a long time. So much better than SLR and Arione or Aspide for me.

Now changed for Tune Komm-Vor and Komm-Vor+ on my bikes but got the SMP Strike Composite laying around.

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/jonas l
http://cerrol.wordpress.com (my cyclingblog)

Not true. I see lots of people running them pretty nose down and too far back. They relieve perenium pressure but don't solve an improper seat height and setback (well they help that one slightly).

I switched because I never adapted to the shape and they pitched me too far forward under load. For it to be positioned correctly vis-a-vis my seatbones it had me way forward on the bike and handling suffered.

SMP installation guidelines state that +10mm to -25mm from level is acceptable. Mine is mounted very close to level (-2mm). Curious as to how others have positioned theirs.

Cheers,

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My Bikes

SMP instructions suck and are extremely vague. They make absolutely zero sense.

1 degree up or down is about 3mm in terms of nose rise/drop. Most SMP models shouldn't be run more than nose down 3 degrees (9mm). Rarely do I see people actually do this.

It will depend a lot on your style and bike set-up. Mines just a couple of degrees down from level. My biggest breakthrough in getting a good SMP fit was when I realized they worked best run further forward than a normal saddle. Thus why no pro teams use them. The UCI 5mm rule would make it difficult for a pro with short femurs to use one and stay within the regulations. The Footon team used them a few years back. But that's about it. It's also worth noting that no other bike part causes more issues with pro's than saddles. So,, despite the comfort advantages, you'd likely have a pretty pissed off team if you handed these things over to them and said "Here you go,, adjust to these" lol

nm

I decided to go with a selle italia slr superflow 145, I can tell you so far I absolutely love this saddle. Very comfortable and no pressure on my sensitive parts. I can tell you it fits me better than my specialized toupe expert. I think I went in the right direction.

How sturdy, or firm is that superflow? What I mean is does it sag when you sit on it, or does it look like it will start to sag after a bit of use? I haven't seen one in person, but just from photos it looks a bit flimsy through the middle.

I just did a test and my toupe appears to have a little more flex.

I run my Full Carbon 11mm nose down (i.e. difference between the two highest points on the saddle when seen from the side). After being properly fitted I have 3mm rails left in my 25mm setback Campagnolo post. You indeed sit much farther back on an SMP than you do on most other saddles.
My first was an Evolution. Never managed to fit that one properly. In practice it was too narrow for me I think.

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Bianchi-Campagnolo