Transitioning from hybrid to road/cyclocross

[north woods gal]

Well, clearly, everyone here views the bike as a canvas and you customize it to notch it up and turn it into a work of art. I'm really pretty cheap and my Madone is not, by any means, top of the line but it is the nicest bike I've ever owned and I love it. But that said, I've pretty much stuck with the original equipment. But that seat...I'd sell it in a minute if I felt comfortable that I was leaping towards improvement.

Does the Thompson seat post mostly add reduced weight or does it improve ride?

The Thompson CAN reduce weight, depending on what you have, now. Even if it doesn't, I love the way it adjusts the angle of the seat, plus the quality is top notch. Won't make up for a poorly fitting seat, though.

As for your Madone, I had a WSD Madone and it really is a GREAT bike. Mine was the basic 105 model, but it remains the ONLY new bike I've ever bought that needed no mods to fit me. I reluctantly sold it. Too many years and too many thousands of miles on a drop bar road bike was causing repetitive stress injuries for me, mostly pinched nerves in my back. That, and switching back and forth between my flat bar MTBs and drop bar road bikes was just too hard on my body, so I now ride only flat bar bikes, road or trails. Never have to feel under-biked with any Madone, though. Class bike all the way.

As for the seat, that is a whole topic until itself. Very personal thing. We all go though it, trying to find what works best for us. Lots of trail and error. Took me a long time to figure out that I have very wide sit bones and therefore need a wider than average seat. Going too narrow on the seat for all those years may have contributed to my pinched nerve thing on the road bikes. My guy at the bike shop tells me this is not at all uncommon for us gals and he knows other gals who developed the same problems. Poper support on a seat is very important, but going too wide can also cause problems. The seat is less of an issue for me on my MTB riding, because a lot of my riding on the trails is with weight up off the seat or just standing on the pedals. Out on the pavement, though, you're on that saddle just about full time, so very important.