OK...for those interested, the preliminary report is...."OK". Not perfect, but "OK".

I currently ride a SMP Lady Strike. It has a wonderfully wide cutout, but is just a tad bit too narrow for me across the back.

Enter Rosie. Rosie is about the same width in the back as the SMP LS, but she's got a flatter top thus she provides a wider sitting platform than the SMP. That's good--the sit bones are sitting firmly on the saddle. Rosie has a slightly thinner nose and is a teensy bit less pear shaped than the SMP. That's also good as the chafing I get from the SMP is at the panty line. Rosie is also a tad bit less squishy than the SMP. Again, a good thing if you ride long distances. But, Rosie is not a firm saddle.

But....the SMP really spoils you with the cutout. Rosie is a flat-top Terry saddle with just a small cutout. The Terry cutout really just provides an escape route for the saddle padding, not really an escape route for your...uh..parts. I did do some riding in the full drops on the Rosie. I could ride in the drops and she was "OK"--there was pressure, but it wasn't overwhelming like, for me, riding a Brooks without a cutout.

However, riding an SMP spoils you. If I hadn't spent the last year on a saddle that removes all pressure on the girly bits, I'd probably be jumping up and down and cheering Rosie on. It is wide enough, there is some soft tissue releif and it isn't super squishy, but the SMP taught me that a saddle could be more in the soft tissue relief department. So, at this point Rosie is just "OK".

Oh, and yes, having a saddle have a person's name like Rosie is a bit odd. Yes, my bikes have names, but they have personalities. Do saddles have personalities independent of your bike? But, after a while you just start calling it by name and ignore those 13-year style comments that result. And, as for the pink "Ride Like a Girl"--if you're not a pink person (and, trust me, I'm not), I guess you try justify it....uh...."yeah, riding my bike makes me feel like a kid again"?