Selle SMP discussion

The cut out do make a difference, however the middle of the other saddle is likely to be not as stiff as the SMP.

Might be worth looking at a Romin Evo, as that has more of a swooped nose similar to the SMPs.

I find mine (130 Evo) to be fine for most riding, and okay for short periods tucked down on the drops, but after a bit you still notice pressure from the nose, which is where the full cut out of an SMP wins.

Romins are not bad for me and compared to saddle with no cut outs they are very comfy. Still nowhere near smps in terms of comfort for me

if you are in London, nr Euston, you can come have a look at mine and decide what the padding is worth. But the carbon does flex more.

I'm over the water, alas. Tx for the offer ^_^

I'm going to post my TRK to my dad, his bike is super upright may work for him. I get sores as I sit on the drops. (he tried about 6 saddles and ended up with my mum's old saddle so maybe he'll like this?)

Horses for courses.

Okay, I have to accept that my Regale is doing me no favours in the downstairs department, which is a shame, because it works fairly nicely for my sitbones.

My ali-special carbon SMP is the right shape, but too hard for longer rides. Thinking of trialling a Cambium - can anyone (@edscoble ?) who's ridden both give me an inkling of how they compare to something like a Composit? Cutout vs none, C17 vs C15, etc.

The Ali carbons have regular 7 mm rails right?

The oval 7x9 style (at least mine did)

Thanks!

Get the Composit, seriously.

If your downstairs neighbour is complaining, you'll still notice that with the Cambium, it's a great comfortable saddle, but still too much pressure (and it's quite spongy).

The Composit is flexy in the middle, whether the carbon have zero flex whatsoever, if you do get on well with the carbon, then your neighbour will most definitely enjoyed their new resident of the Composit.

BTW is your the real or fake carbon? if former, gimmie.

Nah, fake. I'm not nearly wealthy enough for a proper carbon SMP.

The thing with the Regale is it's not awful, I've done a century on it (not like the Arione that left me numb after 70 miles), it's just not quite right. Bit too soft and padded, I think. Nowhere near me that trials SMPs unfortunately, so it would be a case of waiting for one to come up at the right price. OTOH, I can afford a cambium. Hum.

The other thing is, is this all going to change as I lose weight anyway?

The euro is quite weak at the moment, Bike24 have some new SMP for less than the UK price.

It's actually about £10 more than the Cambium (£123), not including shipping of course.

Doubt losing weight will make that big an impact.

That's not too bad, though I do get an extra 10% off the Brooks from my lbs. Cheers

Nah, fake. I'm not nearly wealthy enough for a proper carbon SMP.

BTW, @miro_o's suggestion of the SMP Hell is sound, conversion is £73 and the shape look really good, padding too for those who's not keen on the non-padded version.

That'll probably go well with this frame

I dont profess to be any kind of expert and have tried all of the above, on my commute, so no long 100km+ journeys.

C15 just didn't work and I think the top is too curved for me (others on here love it) and too narrow. Not sure about the C17 as I tried a short one and it was Ok but it not exactly butter on my butt.

The SMP does feel more comfortable and I think the reason is that once you are on your sitbones, everything else feels less pressured so you don't notice it as much. I also find that I can move around on it enough not to be uncomfortable and for short journey's is OK in just my mtb baggies.

I also had a forma before (the dynamic shape but no padding so similar to your carbon) - and that was uncomfortable for the first 5 mins then much better. At the moment the dynamic is nice to sit on, but I am still messing with my bike fit, so ask me once I get an inline post.

Apples n oranges mate.

The SMPs have more in common with an Adamo than a Cambium.

http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6514397946.html?orderId=65996493720781

Second one looks more promising than getting a carbon one, am i wrong?

This just arrived, nicely padded, similar to my Romin Evo. The main difference is that the rails are a lot shorter I think which might make it hard to get the saddle in the right place

I bought a carbon one, arrived yesterday, considering getting one of those above for my beater though

For anyone interested in the Hell...

It's 280g, the rails are long. The shell is the same shape as the Carbon but with padding of which there is a fair bit (for a race saddle) but it's firm enough.

It's comfortable, although the disconnection with the road is a bit disconcerting after having become accustomed to the (completely rigid, non-padded) Carbon.

So, despite blindly hoping that mine wouldn't, it arrived yesterday, and also has oval rails.

Am I gonna be out of luck trying to find a seatpost that I can fit the saddle to safely? It's a 26.4mm in there atm. If not I'm gonna have to wait until the roadbike is built (takes a 27.2), which I really don't want to have to do!

Thomson or Kalloy.

Told ya :p

What seatpost do you have at the moment? If it clamps top and bottom it should be fine, no? Otherwise I suggest this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kalloy-SP248-alloy-silver-400mm-seatpost-25-0mm-to-31-8-in-0-2mm-increments-/161053764619?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item257f8d6c0b

If it clamps top and bottom it should be fine, no?

Yup, no need for special seatpost, and defintely does not need the side loaded one.