"Yes dear", or, questions for Selle SMP users

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Hmmm...I'm reading a bit and thinking the Drakos or Dynamic look kind of intriguing. I'm just having a really tough time considering the price. These SMP saddles are about double the price of anything else I've tried...but nothing else I've tried hasn't drawn blood on some rides.

That's my big frustration. My Bontrager Affinity saddle is thus-far the best I've tried and sometimes I can ride for 50+ miles without significant discomfort. Other times I'm miserable within 3-4 miles. I think it's likely related to where I am in my cycle and various changes that yields down-below.

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Gosh, the more I read, the more I think I might pull the trigger. I just wish I knew what level of padding to go with. I currently have the Affinity RL, which is their middle padding level...it feels about right.

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OK, so I pulled the trigger on a blue Drakon (I have blue bar tape, cables, Velocity A23 rims...). I hope I like it...or this could be an expensive experiment. But I'm having a hard time finding negative reviews of any SMP saddles. Granted, most reviews are from guys. Hopefully my girl anatomy won't yield vastly different results.

[JulieBH]

The SMP Glider is a great saddle for me. I have been cycling since I was a teenager and I'm now mid 40s. I rr, TT, ride distance and dabble in MTB and CX. I have ridden a gazillion saddles and never found one that I could truly be comfortable on ALL DAY. I would say that the biggest factor in finding comfort on an SMP (beyond choosing a model that is way too wide or narrow) is the tilt. They are getting more popular so it's getting easier to find a shop that demos several different models. You may also be able to demo via the web and get it shipped to you for a week or two. The glider is NOT a saddle for flat bar bikes. It has a little less upturn at the back of the saddle than a couple of other models and a moderate amount of padding. Also, I think that measuring the sit bones is a fairly inaccurate way to determine which saddle to get. It may get u in the ballpark, but the other factors are pelvic tilt in your riding position and how much mass you have in the crotch meets butt area. SMPs are generally NOT pearshaped. If you have chafing problems with a traditional pear-shaped "women's" saddle, you may like the SMP shape. I've got them on all my bikes. I think they are worth the $$. My husband rides a stratos model and has gotten several of his friends to happily convert. Women seem to be afraid of the design, but it's way more comfortable spreading the pressure over the pelvis than concentrating it on the sit bones and "junk"

[JulieBH]

We keep you cycling has SMPs on sale

[nuliajuk]

That's a good sale price. Unfortunately, the only one they have on sale that I could (possibly) use would be the celeste green Stratos. I didn't quite get on with the Stratos. They have a few SMP models on that website that don't appear on the manufacturers site. Not sure why.

[Rebecca19804]

I went through years of pain (clit more than labia, if that helps clarify). Cut-outs didn't extend far enough up the nose. A friend has a Selle SMP Dynamic. She wouldn't "recommend it" (she's smart enough to know what works for one may not for another) but the entire concept was intriguing. I read and re-read Steve Hogg's info. Finally got a Dynamic in July. It has entirely sorted the problem out.

For background: up to July, I'd determined that I need a T-shape, quite narrow, quite hard. The best I'd found up to that point was the Brooks Swallow, but would sometimes (not always) get torturous pain after 30 miles. With the Dynamic -- fitted to Steve Hogg's method -- I realised that I do rotate my pelvis quite a lot and sit on the ischiopubic ramus. This has allowed me to be really comfortable at the back/sit bones on quite narrow saddles, but it puts enormous pressure on the front pelvic area. SMPs address all of that.

Yes, the Dynamic is a bit more pear-shaped than I'd have liked -- and I can feel that difference from the T-shapes I've preferred in the past -- but it hasn't actually posed a problem for me. In fact, the longer the ride, the better, as I seem to forget all about the saddle once I'm warmed up and settled into my ride. That's something I could never do before - so something must be working!

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Rebecca, your experience has been similar to mine. I think most of my "issues" in the past were due to an anterior rotated pelvis…I come from a long line of people with noticeable swayback -- and all the women have tilted uteruses (uteri) to go along with it.