SPECIALIZED SEATS / SADDLES TESTINGSpecialized measured my sitbones at 12 cm.
I ride in jeans!Riva Road 143mm - heavy at approx. 350g, but very comfortable, very similar shape to Toupe, but there's so much padding and flex... the negative side though, it has sharp edges which are destroying my pants when I paddle
Toupe 143mm - nice looking, but very hard especially at nose... after 10km my butt was in pain, not sitbones and not the sensitive area, but something between, which is a good thing I guess - might need to do more testing.
Fizik Arione - very long and weird looking seat... I loved the free movement of my thighs, but the seat was narrow (approx. 130mm) and I constantly felt the pressure in the middle, where are all the sensitive nerves.
Romin Pro 155mm - (I was told this is correct size for me, as Romin are sized up)
This seat was perfect at first... it had no padding, but the moment I sat on it I was enthralled...
The wide nose was very comfortable in agressive positions.
I thought I have found my saddle, better than Riva Road, although Romin has basically no padding and carbon rails.
Unfortunately, after just 10 minutes my sitbones hurt extensively.
I tryed to get to drops and pedal harder, which eased the pain, but just slightly.
At home, I couldn't sit on a chair!
Romin Evo 155mm (weight 237g instead official 212g -
source)
This one is noticeably narrower nose, so it isn't as comfy in drops as Romin was, but we're talking minimal difference.
It has more padding, but in reality the difference is not that visible as on picture... they look pretty much the same.
It doesn't hurt sitbones like Romin Pro, but it puts lots of pressure on same spots and kind of spreads it all over, so you are not that uncomfortable, but you feel it when off the bike... like if I stab you with a pen or I put something heavy on your hand and rest it there for a day... both things are bad.
I'd say the pressure on the sitbones is 70% lower than with Romin Pro.
I kept this seat, but after 1 month of everyday riding I started to have this neural pain in my butt, whether I was sitting or just lying on the bed... it was like rays of pain going through a nerve in my butt in specific intervals
, took few days to disappear.
It wasn't at my sitbones, but like at the bottom of a butt... so I noticed that while pedalling I actually don't like how wide that seat is, and remembered Arione, which offered that free movement of thighs.
I switched back to Riva Road and just couldn't believe how comfortable that seat actually is.
Phenom 143mm - this narrower version actually felt better to me, seems not that rounded as Romin, so I had no issues with thighs movement... however it put the exact pressure on sitbones as Romin did.
The padding is somewhere between Romin and Evo, so not very padded.
Fizik Antares Versus - nice quality and finish, but other than that nothing special... the seat is totally flat... I was actually surprised how hard this seat is!
Something like Romin I guess... I was expecting comfortable (padded) seat, but NOT REALLY.
It didn't look special on the bike either and for the weight I think it's ridiculously expensive.
I rode in jeans and it was bearable... most of the pressure was in the middle part of the seat, NOT sitbones and NOT sensitive middle parts, but like outside of these parts.
I've done a ride with padded pants also and it was much better.
It still offered free movement of thighs like Arione, but I could feel my sitbones, so it fitted me much better.
This seat is pretty much same as Toupé or Riva Road, but slightly narrower (just few mm, but I felt the difference).
After going back to Riva Road I felt it's 100% same but 200% more comfortable.
Seat returned and journey continues.
Specialized Tarmac SL4
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