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Thing about solid saddle is that you notice the smallest difference in height, wether normal saddle with a bit of give or padding compensate for slightly incorrect height.
I can emphasised on the stiffness can be uncomfortable when you hit an unexpected crack on the road, easily remedy with lower tyres pressure and decent padded short that you're comfortable on.
The SMP Extra is perfect for MTB and town bike despite the massive padding, (friend of mine do 24h endurance MTB wax lyrical on it).
And I'm pulling your legs about the SMP earlier.
edscoble
???
Anyway, the fake SMP,
Despite already mounting a fair bit further forward than my Arione I had to stop quite quickly and move it forward further still. The clamp on my post is now beyond the rear most 'stop' mark on the rail but hey ho, can't see anything different about the rail after this mark and I'm sitting over the clamp so I suspect I'll be ok.
After a short initial ride, I know I probably need to make time to read that Steve Hogg (is that right?) article and spend time tweaking it and getting used to it but I'd have to say it's a bit of a revalation. 90% of the time it's as if there's no saddle under me. Was really surprised at it being so comfy as the carbon is rock solid.
I did get a bit of a bounce on on a descent and hit a few rough bits of road and at these points it went from being one of the most comfortable saddles I've used to one of the least!
I know my pedalling technique needs work, I think this saddle exacerbates the issue I have with disengaging my back, sitting right into the saddle and just letting my legs spin. We will see if it gets better with time. Also may try swapping it to a bike with a freewheel.
It should be noted that I was riding today in a pair of lightly padded Endura undershorts and chino shorts, would be interesting to see how it is with a thicker chamois.
Definitely feeling I would now be more confident in spending more on a genuine (and slightly padded) version.