Selle SMP Strike

[koala]

Hi Mags..., now that you've narrowed it down to $$ issues, I'll throw in my 2 cents. You can take it for what it's worth.

No matter which way you go, you're out the $35 for shipping. Since you've already decided you would really like to have both, get both & your ship cost per short goes down to half. You will be able to try on both styles so that if your sit-bones don't end up on the ridges, you already have your back-up in hand. If both fit, you now have the option of retiring your older shorts with thinner chamois. A chamois doesn't last forever, and particularly after being washed & sweated into, what little resiliency was in the thin models wears out. When you think of how much riding you do, to buy 2 pair of shorts for one season isn't a whole lot. And if you've already accepted the price of the more expensive style, plus shipping, the additional cost of the 2nd short isn't that much. You can probably find something else in your budget to cut back on to make that up rather quickly.

After some years of dealing with lesser gear that left me cursing & sore after riding, I have gotten over this issue of retiring shorts. Comes a time to bury them & admit they were the cost of your learning curve. I won't even use them on short rides anymore, soreness is a cumulative issue. In the long run, you are better off with 2 pair of great shorts that you can ride day after day without soreness, than 10 pair of shorts that make you hurt.

Because you're so far away, it makes sense to load up with anything else you're likely to need/want for the rest of the season with this order. Gloves? I happen to be very fond of LG's Airstream glove, comfortable & light-weight. I find myself moving away from gel models, they're hot, heavy & the gel hardens over time. Sports bra? CW-X is great. How about a new jersey for spring? Cycling socks? Get your money's worth out of that shipping. Instead of placing little orders & feeling like you're being eaten up by shipping, save up & do one big hit. Then sit back, enjoy all the great gear you got & go for a ride!

Maybe talk it over with hubby, too. Men are usually pretty sensible about these things, they tend to look at the bigger picture. We women get caught up in the little details & end up worrying stuff too much. Then we end up doing nothing due to analysis paralysis. I know all too well...

Best of luck!

[Mags...]

hahaha koala, we think along the same lines..
I have now put in an order with TE, I only ordered the one pair of shorts, the Alveos. Only because we're now heading out of summer and I'm thinking ahead to autumn and beyond, I'll be needing nickers and then longs before too long. Decided to buy the one pair to see how they go, so that I'll have more hands-on experience when I decide what I'll be wearing as the cooler months approach. (Won't say cold - in comparison to your winter - I'd imagine you'd find my winter quite different to yours).

So... I agree completely on the shipping issue - to 'save' (hubby would roll his eyes upwards if he read this)... I had to buy a few more items, so thinking ahead - I ordered some gloves (haha), I ordered the Gore Windstoppers (blue) as well as a long sleeve crew and the Sugoi Mid-Zero knickers (no pad) - both for running in cooler weather.

So, I'll now be eagerly awaiting the delivery man, hope everything fits. Thanks so much for all of your help, it's been really interesting, I appreciate your input. I'll let you know how the shorts go...

[merryn ferguson]

koala, I'm agreeing with all you say. You are probably right about the manufacturers developing their shorts based on popular saddle choices by the majority of women. In fact I own a couple of pairs of Shebeest shorts as well and when I'm riding only 30km I usually wear them. I've now got good reason to look around for some new shorts - I was thinking along these lines anyway, and it happens that I was looking at the Etxe Ondo and the Descente's. I'm anti-PI these days because i've bought some of their gear and each time it's been a disappointment for one reason or another and I reckon they are just overpriced. The brands you've mentioned, would it be fair to say they are all a smaller fit? I wear size S both in Shebeest and Sugoi. I'd have to buy online as my LBS is a no-go for clothing, and I dislike having to do returns via post. Would you have any advice about sizing?

As well as frequently changing my sitting position, I'll add in the occasional stand and pedal for relief - one of my favorite riding buddies does this also. It seems a sensible thing to do. We don't do a lot of hills, 'cos we live in a very flat region, almost all of my riding is done in the saddle, even on hills, so standing-up will have to be the go.



... I don't think there's only one sweet spot - this would have become apparent on my recent 80km ride, and I don't recall focussing on that issue, so I'd have to say it didn't seem too critical on how and where I positioned myself. I think that one of the main differences for me, is how my fleshy parts fit comfortably with the very wide channel down the centre. As well as needing sufficient padding up the back, I'd say it's a good idea to look at the amount of padding around the ridges that travel from the nose to the back. With your fleshy bits sitting comfy in the channel, you'd want to make sure there was sufficient padding on those ridges because a fair bit of your weight is sitting on them lower pelvic bones between your legs.

You're right about the Glider being a little wider. The Evolution is just that bit leaner than the Stratos both in width and padding. Hubby rides it and I really can't see that I'd be happy on it myself, even with a thicker chamois. But I've talked with one woman who's riding it and she said it's perfect. So... if you found a shop that would agree to a swap after a trial, you could try the Stratos and if you're not happy, swap to the Evolution.

Thanks so much for your comments...

Hi mags and Koala I have tried the selle smp strike pro and found it very comfortable on a 25 mile ride at a 18mph pace and then tried it immediatly after with a far more padded short and hated the saddle or the shorts was not comfortable at all could feel pressure in the soft tissue where as with the thinner short could not feel the soft tissue at all, actually some of my best shorts that I use for longer distances is by "body torque" in victoria....anyway I would really like to try the smp strike plus because it seems by looking at the photos that the sit bone area is a little wider than that of the strike pro but I have not seen the glider or the evolution can anyone actually tell me the physical visual differences in the saddles ???? thanks for all your in put

[koala]

Well, if you felt pressure in the soft tissue area I would be more suspicious of the shorts than the saddle, as there is no saddle in that area!

If you are looking for wider, forget the Evolution & Stratos. Believe the Evolution is 129 in width, & the Stratos is 131. The Selle SMP site would have the particulars.

[Mags...]

Hi merryn, I have the strike brochure here, the Evolution is 230gr and 129mm wide, the Stratos is 250 gr and 131mm wide and the Glider is 260 gr and 136mm wide. All saddles are 266mm long. The Pro is 290 gr and 148mm wide and the Plus is 330gr and 159mm wide. These saddles are 278mm long. So quite a bit longer, heavier and wider.

Since I posted earlier on this thread, I tried the different shorts that koala suggested. I tried 2 pairs of Louis Garneau shorts, the Alveos and the Airstream in both S & M. Although both of these shorts were beautifully made, excellent fabrics, I wasn't happy with either of them on the fit, the Size S was too snug in the waist while the M was too roomy round the chamois. I also tried on the Etxe Ondo Sahn shorts and while also beautiful fabric and very stylish, I felt the chamois was no better than what I already had. I ended up trying on some Assos shorts and I was so impressed I bought 2 pairs (they're not really that shiny...). They had them on sale at a triathlon store as they were 2006 models. Koala was also spot-on with her comments on sizing, the style is snugly fitted, but the Size S was perfect and the chamois is exceptional.

I can't even feel the saddle until about the 60-70km distance. On a 100km ride I do have some soreness, but it's not too bad and certainly no-where near the level of pain I've felt with other saddles I've tried. If I sit at my desk chair for 3 hours without shifting much I'd have the same level of discomfort.

So, all-in-all, I'm really happy with my saddle and also with my Assos shorts....

[sloflin]

Hello Mags, any updates on how your SMP Stratos saddle is working out? I've been considering this saddle but can't decide between the Evolution, Stratos, and Glider. I'm 5ft2, 120 lbs and have fairly narrow hips. I'm on a Terry Damselfly and have been for a couple of years but am ready to see if something different will be more comfortable for the ultracycling events. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

[Mags...]

update on this saddle is all positive. I've now settled really well with this one, I've done hundreds of kilometres on it now, 4 or 5 100km rides, with no saddle discomfort. Well, I've had fatigue, but not from the saddle. All of my longer rides I've done with my Assos shorts, just to be doubly sure that I'll be comfy. My shorter 30 - 50km rides I've happily done in Sugois and Shebeests.

I'm now questioning whether it's valid to reject a saddle straight up after one or two rides - when I did my first 100km on it, I was really sore and I took it off the bike and was wondering if I should sell it on. But a few people said I should put it back on, give it some time and see if I could toughen up to it. I had my doubts, but did it anyway, as well as taking onboard Koalas opinions on the shorts. But I'm now really happy on it - I'm not sure what changed or if I have 'toughened up'. But on this experience, I'd recommend giving a saddle a bit of time to see if things improve before outright rejecting it.

Sloflin, we're very similar in height and weight, I'm also 5'2" and 121 pounds (55kg). The Evolution doesn't appeal to me - it just seems too lean, the Glider seems like the safer option and originally, that was the model I had in mind to buy. Looking at the specs, I imagine it would have been quite OK, there's not a lot of difference between the Glider and the Stratos. The Glider might be less risky, a safer bet, if you aren't able to easily do a return or a swap if it turns out you don't like it.

[sklarewc]

I've been riding a Saddleco Flow saddle for a couple of years now--it looks like one of those office chairs that's mainly made of mesh (check it at www.saddleco.com), and in terms of comfort for the sitbones, it's great. Unfortunately, it's surprisingly not so great for the soft tissue up front. So about 6 months ago I tried the selle smp strike evolution, not realizing there were different models of the strike (duhhhhh, you'd think before spending such big bucks I would have researched more carefully). The cutout is unsurpassed for soft tissue comfort--really great. Unfortunately, the rest of the saddle is *really* hard, creating discomfort not only in the butt but, more acutely, on those lower pelvic bones. I ended up sending it back and going back to my old Saddleco. But after reading this forum, I realized there were different models and decided it might be worth giving the Glider model a try. I ordered one (and received it yesterday) from Masherz.com--they give you 30 days to try it (altho of course you have to return it in essentially new condition)--and now that I've ridden it to work (12 miles, admittedly not much), I can already tell you that the extra bit of padding that it has over the Evolution makes a big difference. It's still a performance saddle, not cushy, but I'm psyched; I think it's going to be great--no soft tissue pain, and a better platform for cranking up hills than the saddleco gave me, AND my bones seem to be fine with it, as well. I'll update this post after I've had more time on it.

[tendy]

I bought a Selle Italia SMP TRK from bikemania.biz beginning of August for around $80 including shipping. It took some days until the product shipped, but they always kept me up to date via email on the process. After shipment left their site, it took about 10 days for the saddle to arrive at my place.

I mounted the saddle, as described on their website, with laying a level on top to achieve perfect sitting angle for the sitbones and the soft tissue.

I am 5'8" and my sitbones are wide. The saddle I was using before caused me pain in the lower back, sitbones, and soft tissue, plus some chafing. At that time I had only ridden 40 miles (64km), and thus the problems were not caused by too many hours in the saddle. Also I am using pearl izumi 3d pants, so the problems were also not caused by uncomfortable pants.

At first I believed it was just me, because I started cycling this year after not having ridden in 16 years, but when I tried my new Selle SMP TRK the first time, I experienced the difference immediately: only very little lower back pain because my back muscles were not trained enough, and neither tissue pain nor sitbone pain, and no chafing.

Now, after 4 weeks and 450 miles (720km) with the new saddle, I am now up to riding 45 miles (72km) of "rolling landscape" (up and down and up and down). Because I am a beginner with no leg muscles, it means that I am in the saddle for many hours, but I do not experience any problems at all.

At first I believed the large amount of padding on the saddle could cause problems, but it does not for me. My sitbones have the support they need when going up hills, my soft tissue is perfectly "cradled", and my lower back has no problems either.

Ok, the saddle is cheaply made, and weighs almost a US pound (around 420 grams), but it is the best saddle I ever used in my whole life. I can shift my weight around on the saddle forward and backwards without chafing or other problems. I can even slide a little to the right or left, if necessary, without losing sitbone support and hurting my soft tissue.

The only "problem" the saddle has is: the writing and artwork on the side where my legs move up and down when pedaling start to wear off. But that just gives the saddle its "broken in" look.

If at sometime I find another Selle SMP for my sitbone width that is lighter and nicer manufactured, I might try it. Others than that I will definitely not change my saddle.

[alpinerabbit]

Summary of my SMP testing experience... just wanted to put this under the right topic.
add another thumbs up to the Glider model which I have now tested for 2x100 K's and then some - it's a keeper.

re: sweet spot, there are several. Comfort depends on how the saddle is adjusted. This means the lowest pt of the curve needs to be level.
The result is two good seating positions for when you're gripping the top bar - one entirely on the seat bones (ischial tuberosities) and one more on the pelvic bone in front of them - which gives a rest to the main ischial tuberosities that do take a lot of load.

For the drop or aero position there's only one but it is entirely discomfort-free.

Somebody in a review on the www mentioned the stitching on the leather chafes the shorts (NOT the body) and it's probably true.

I also tested the composit - rock hard but there are people who live with that and are fine, and the evolution - too narrow for me.