Review: Selle SMP Avant

[tongue_tied]

I was fortunate enough to demo a Selle SMP Avant saddle from www.theprosstuff.com. BTW: They have great customer service. I had my sitbones measured at a Specialized dealer and I was somewhere in the 150-155 range so I got the Avant model because it measured 154. My current saddle is probably a 143 and quite frankly, I never really had any problems with it other than numbness after a while. No real sitbone issues. But I wanted something better, something that would cure the numbness, and... well... something in red.

If you have seen these saddles, they look like torture devices. A cut-out you can put your hand through, an eagle beak nose... where do I sit on this thing? How do I sit??

After reading some over reviews, it seemed like the trick was to get it as level as possible.

Don't tighten it enough so that everytime you sit on it it slips.

Scream.

Finally get it tight.

Great. Maybe I can finally test this thing out. It's weird at first. I sat on it and my first reaction was "maybe this could be the one". But then I started to pedal. And I could feel my sitbone hitting the saddle. Maybe that's normal for you all, but on my other saddle, whenever my foot was at, say, 12o'clock, I wouldn't feel anything, but with this saddle, I could feel my sitbone hitting the saddle and it was uncomfortable. Sometimes, the faster I moved my legs, the more the saddle seemed to disappear. It was actual comfortable to the extent of being non-existent. But as soon as I started to slow down, maybe change into a higher gear and start climbing intervals, it was rough. I got off the saddle, adjusted it, got back on it, got off, adjusted it. I'm wondering if maybe the saddle was just too wide and the cut out too large for me. Instead of my sitbones resting on the buttocks area, above the cut-out, it was straddling the cut-out. Or at least that's what it felt like. And the nose was too wide. My thighs were causing enough friction to start a fire. And I had on my good bibs too. I wanted to make sure I had good chamois padding on so I couldn't blame any discomfort on that.

I wanted to make it work. I haven't really found a negative review on the saddle. People really seem to love it which makes me want to love it too. I'm going to a Selle SMP test center today to maybe talk to someone. Maybe it was MY problem, and that's okay. If it doesn't work out, that's okay too because it's a lot of freaking money to spend on a saddle.

But if anyone can give me any leads on something in, maybe, a 143? Red? That would be greatly appreciated too.

Thanks for reading!

[nscrbug]

As a Christmas gift to myself, I bought a Selle Italia ProLink Light Gel Flow saddle.

http://http://www.coloradocyclist.co.../item/SELKBS31

Unfortunately, I have not been able to test it out just yet. As soon as we get a mild, dry weekend here (I see you're in Chicago like me!), I plan on doing a test ride with it.

It used to be available in red...however, based on my last Google search, it looks like the 2010 model is only available in black or white. But it is 144mm...so the width is close to what you're looking for. Of course, I have no idea if it will be comfortable for you or not...heck, I don't even know if I'll like it. Just thought I'd throw that out there for you to ponder.

Linda