Selle SMP Strike TRK Lady Saddle

[cycotourer]

OK... I did it...

I bought the STRIKE and I have my own little concord mounted on my TT bike...

I have ridden it a few times this week, just in short half-hour rides, as I have the East Coast Champs this weekend - a crit on Saturday (my first crit ever) and the 25km time trial on Sunday. (The other two races are in Gisborne in two weeks).

So I get to try it full-on and hard-out on Sunday.

My first impressions are that it is very comfortable.

I was worried after i had read someone (here? or somewhere else?) saying that the cut-out was so wide it felt (after some time) that it was like sitting on two hard ridges.
But I have no sense of this after the short rides. Nothing feels squished or bruised.

On my first ride, after adjusting for height and nose angle and feeling it was ok, I set out to do reps on false flats. After about fifteen minutes my right leg began aching... it took me a further ten minutes of messing about, pedaling with my knees in/out, pedaling fast and slow, before I realised that the seat was pessing into my thigh. So whipped out the allen keys and adjusted the seat 3-4mm to the left and it was fine. No leg discomfort - I guess the slightly wider nose made a tad of difference and showed up my uneven hips, or perhaps a leg longer than the other...

I have had to put tape on one side of the nose as the place where the seat material is welded together is "sharp" - however, this will smooth down with wear...

Anyways, I will check back in after Sunday. I should have ridden 10-20kms in a warm-up and cool-down, as well as the 25km ITT.

PLease let us know how you go with the Selle SMP saddle. My husband and I both trialled a couple of SMP saddles that we got on approval from the Australian distributor .... if we didn't like them we could send them back. My husband kept the Strike Plus and we returned the Glider. They were both too narrow for me (wide sit bones), but the cut-out and Concord nose were outstanding, its like there was no saddle there at all.

I was disappointed that the lady's TRK was not leather like all the men's models.

As I require the saddle for touring I am going to try the Selle SMP Martin Touring Saddle, but from the images on the US distibutor's web site it looks much wider in the nose than the other models (due to extra padding) and this may be a concern.

BTW so many people think it looks goofy, but i think the SMP Strike saddles look racy, and it rides "fast".

[RoadRaven]

ok...
A dream to ride on. The nose looks really wide, and at first glance I thought too wide... but my tape measure tells me its not, and so does my fanny

The TT went well as far as soft tissue comfort went. I didn't move for 37 minutes, no standing, no 'scooching' - nothing... and I was not at all numb in my soft tissue, no pain or discomfort at all.

Unfortunately, the horizontal/directional angle was STILL a bit wrong, and for the entire 37 minutes the right side of the nose pressed into my right inner thigh which meant my leg was in extreme pain (but being the stubborn person I am I didn't stop race mode). You can read about this aspect of the seat in the racing forum - ECNI Champs 2008.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=23375

But I am going to persevere as there was no bruising or swelling like I would normally have after the all-out effort I try to apply in an ITT.

I'll update again when I have had a chance to ride again on it... maybe this coming Sunday.

Like you, cyco, I like the concord racey look of the seat. Thanks for your reviews too.

[kadoozie]

Hey guys, any updates on the results of the Allay women's seat? Has anyone tried both the Selle SMP TRK ladies and the Allay?

[Thorn]

I have ridden them both. The SMP Lady Strike and the Allay Sport 175mm. I tossed the Allay in the trash. That is after drooling over the Allay website for months before it was in production and nagging my LBS for 2 months to order it. I really thought the Allay was going to be the answer to saddle needs. Nope.

First, I like the SMP concept. It is a very friendly saddle with respect to the girlie bits. It is very comfortable when riding in the drops with that nose for support. My issue is that the Lady Strike is just a teensy bit too narrow and/or too cushy for me at the sit bones when I'm riding comfy (e.g., hands on the hoods). As such, I get numbness in the left hip. So, my goal was to find a saddle that is a little wider, a little less cushy and still kept the naughty bits happy.

Enter the Allay. It looked right. Everything about it should have been right. But what I found was that the rear was so soft that I couldn't sit on the saddle. The foam would compress and I kept rolling off the rear platform and into the sling. If I put the air support pillow back in, then it wasn't comfortable since now I rolled forward onto the harder pillow I tried nosing it up and down, but to no avail.

For me, the Allay just didn't work. I was disappointed and surprised. Everything I read on the Allay site seemed to indicate that they really understood saddles (because, of course, they agreed with my anecdotal research ), but Allay over stuffed the wider saddle. I'd love to hear someone else's opinion on one of the other versions.

[kadoozie]

thanks Thorn, I actually just read a post you'd made in another thread which has kept me from leaning towards it (I think Ive been researching saddles for a solid week now :S)

Ive only actually started riding regularly, I have wide sitbones (half-assed self measurement of 160cm, Im not a slight girl) and I know I definitely need the cut-out! (found out the hard way on a borrowed mens seat for two hours ...eeeeee)

So my first seat purchase two days ago was a Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow. It was awesome for about the first half-hour (hadnt ridden for 48 hours prior), then I had to do a little adjustment. Seemed better yet! Things were going really really well! For another 45 minutes, but by the time the two-hour mark hit I was whining, and still had another hour to go...

Now I want to put my MTN bike saddle back on.

My problem, after success with cutouts, is that I know I can handle sitbone soreness after a long ride, but I cannot handle bruising and extreme tenderness in the pubic bone region, where the bones and tendons connect your legs and groin.

Problem is in the middle, not the front or rear.

I know it's a long-winded post, but if anyone has found a similar problem, please help

Like I say, I've done alot of research, the majority on this forum, you guys have been helpful so far!

ps Thorn: which Allay model did you try?

[Thorn]

The Allay model was the Sport--the "highest end" model that came in a 175mm width.

There was a thread on saddles for wide sitbones (search "sitbone" not "sit bone" if you haven't seen it). One of the things AlpineRabbit asked me was the longest ride I've done on the SMP. It made me think--I have done 3 imperial centuries on that saddle, so the saddle isn't *that* uncomfortable. Also, in that thread someone pointed out one of the Specialized that comes in a 175mm width. I haven't tried that one....I have such a fear that it will be too plush (DH has a recreational Specialized and [shudder]it is too soft for me [shudder]. I'm still waiting on my Terry Rosie.

My mutilated Brooks (B68 with a Selle Anatomica cutout) just doesn't have the soft tissue relief of the SMP. I'm afraid the SMP is the standard I hold all cutout saddles to. Also, because of the width of the B68, I'm constantly tightening up the laces I installed to keep the slot from folding inward when I ride. It isn't bad, but, like the SMP, just not perfect.

I know, I know...picky, picky, picky, but when I ride I want the only body parts to be taking punishment to be my legs, my heart and my lungs; the rest are just along for the ride.

[Andrea]

My problem, after success with cutouts, is that I know I can handle sitbone soreness after a long ride, but I cannot handle bruising and extreme tenderness in the pubic bone region, where the bones and tendons connect your legs and groin.

Problem is in the middle, not the front or rear.

I know it's a long-winded post, but if anyone has found a similar problem, please help

Any bone soreness will eventually lessen- I found this out when I tried the SMP Glider. The curved shape of the saddle follows the curve of your pelvis- the result is that there's pressure/soreness on bones that aren't accustomed to it. I was worried at first, but then I realized that it's a lot like the sitbone pain I felt when I first started riding. It's not nearly as bad now, but I'm still getting some chafing (which is a whole 'nother issue )

[kadoozie]

thanks you guys!