Selle SMP Strike

[koala]

I do not have experience with this particular saddle, but I can answer some of your questions. No, your saddle does not need breaking in. Your butt does experience some conditioning & toughening, but it is the large muscles that get tougher, not the bones, and most certainly not the sit bones. If you are okay up front, and you are not chafing to the point of rawness in the thighs, then you have solved the major issues that lead people to ditch a saddle & seek another. The one remaining issue of minimal padding is the easiest to solve -- try a short with a thicker chamois. I ride a hard saddle made with a carbon shell & not much in the way of padding. I wear well-padded shorts. I think for long rides this is the better solution. Too much padding on a saddle just squishes down & gives you too much contact area that can rub & irritate. Less is more. So try putting your padding in your shorts.

I am very interested in hearing how you fared on your 100 km ride as I am contemplating this same saddle. I've been riding the Arione for a couple of years now, which is fine in the back but bothers me in the front on a long ride. It seems to be a function of aging that I am more sensitive in front than when I was younger. It seems to be a lubrication issue, and the chamois creams only seem to be able to provide limited relief in that specific area. I haven't jumped out there to buy one yet because I haven't been able to decide between the Glider (same width, a little more padded), the Stratos & the Evolution (even less padding than the Stratos). Yours is right in the middle. Please write back with your impressions when you have the time.

[Mags...]

Your butt does experience some conditioning & toughening, but it is the large muscles that get tougher, not the bones, and most certainly not the sit bones.

I was beginning to think this was probably the case. My problems with discomfort have always been one of either 2 scenarios: being aware of low level of pain in the sit bones - result - lots of squirming and shifting around to try to alleviate it, or: feeling pain and discomfort of the pubic bone area.- result very tender afterwards and redness of the skin. It's generally not both areas at the same time, so different saddles have been successful in eliminating one or the other of these problems, never both.

Well, I ended up going for an 80km ride on Sunday, at a higher intensity level as I went with a different group than originally planned. As a consequence, I spent more time in the drops or up the back of the group on the aero bars, than sitting up straight. The verdict on this saddle for the front pressure - it's perfect, all the way through between the legs, perfect also. No rubbing or pressure. I was unaware of any discomfort. On the back, well it wasn't perfectly pain-free, I was starting to feel those bones at about the 60km point, but wasn't too bad, I've certainly felt worse.

My thinking on it at this stage is that if I was on a ride where I was to spend a fair bit of the time sitting up, rather than on the drops, then it may be that my sit bones would be feeling like they'd had a bit of a pounding. I think it may have something to do with weight distrubution.

I sit at a desk all day at work, and my sit bones sometimes feel sore just from having sat on them for so many hours... so it seems reasonable that if you sit on any surface without shifting positions, you'll feel sore after a while. Your suggestion of more padded shorts could be a good solution, but I wore my best ones (Sugoi RS Flex) anyway.

I'm thinking that if I'm able to change my positions frequently throughout a longer ride - some times on the drops, some times on the aero bars, some times sitting up on the hoods, then I'm unlikely to be putting too much pressure on any one area for extended periods. So, my next plan is to see if making that sort of conscious choices as to position might make it that I don't have any discomfort at all.

My current goal is I'll be doing the ride leg for a team in a half Ironman triathlon in early May (90km), where the ride position will be drops & aero bars for pretty much the entire time, so my priority for this saddle is to feel comfy in those positions. I'm feeling very positive that this saddle will work for me.

[Mags...]

I haven't jumped out there to buy one yet because I haven't been able to decide between the Glider (same width, a little more padded), the Stratos & the Evolution (even less padding than the Stratos). Yours is right in the middle. Please write back with your impressions when you have the time.

I was, and still am, in the same dilemma with regards to the choice of model - I made a deal with the bike shop that if the Stratos wasn't going to work for me, that I could swap it for the Glider - I'm glad to have that option to fall back on if I need it.