Selle SMP discussion

Yeh lordgun is probably the cheapest retailer. I got my composit for 129e+shipping iirc from a sale they had few years back.

I don't know, the budget SMP Extra have been plentiful despite being utterly ugly.

For the price point, my view is that if you managed to find THE saddle, then that alone is priceless.

The SMP Hell isn't a great saddle, it look like it should but for some reason it was uncomfortable, I think the amount of padding on a plastic shell flex too much and put too much pressure on nerve.

I've had quite unpleasant experiences too with smp hell. While it had the padding on it was too much a sofa and when stripped shape is close to smp dynamic which didnt work for me either. I find them too narrow and couldnt set it up without feeling I was constantly slipping forward or "through" the saddle. Not enough support. Composit is just phenomenally good for me.

I think the fact it's just plain old plastic than the much firmer material is why it failed miserably.

The SMP clearly don't work when the shell have a little too much flex like a normal saddle.

but I mean the ultra firm china copy fits me better as it has less "tumblehome" than the stripped hell.

I did find the carbon copy very comfortable, rigid shell make a lots of sense, still saving up for the proper SMP one!

Which one is the carbon copy? I'm currently testing the Forma but might test the Dynamic before making my choice.

I do agree with @edscoble despite being expensive if it allows for plenty of pain free days in the saddle that in itself is worth a lot of money. And also the money you could waste trying out lots of different cheaper options that won't work out.

Did a fifty mile ride today, longest I've done in a while. I noticed around 40mi that I could feel the stitched logo on my Forma and it got really quite uncomfortable.

SMP y u make a comfortable saddle then put raised stitching on the bit where your arse goes?

Just what bibs short were you using that you can feel that?? I usually ride sans bibs on the Brompton with a Composit and never even notice this.

Lusso Peloton Pro. I've never had issues with those bibs before and like I said, it was only once I got to about 40mi in that I felt it. I'd never noticed it on shorter rides...

Anyone have a cheap smp saddle going spare? looking to try without waiting for shipment from china. will need to ship to europe

Hi,
Have somebody tried both composit and forma and care to explain their difference in feeling ? I love the composit. I tried the dynamic (forma shell plus padding) and did not like it so much, hard to find a comfortable spot, but I think it mainly due to the padding. Maybe I'll like a forma more ? Any opinion ? Thanks !

Forma is wider and more curvy, that's about it I think.

I have similar experiences as you, think it really varies on person, I'm much happier on the flatter thinner Composit than on the Forma, especially on a fixed wheeler.

I guess I'll really have to try then ! :) Or maybe as you say, it's the flatter area of the composit that make me prefer it over the dynamic, in that case, I'll stick with composit.

After a long time and a couple of China copies, I've decided to pony up and get myself a legit SMP. What's the real-world difference between steel and carbon rails? It's a big price difference but if I'm already paying a lot for comfort, should I go all the way?

Go for normal rail, carbon supposedly more comfortable, but I never sat on an SMP and wonder if I need carbon rail.

If anyone wants to test, I'm (shamelessly) selling a China carbon copy here: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/303294/

I just bought a full price Forma myself and will look at buying the full China carbon one for another bike soon (Need one in black)

I am currently commuting on stratos having loved the composit .. I think stratos is perfect for commuting without bibs.

Damn, just saw this 4th dibs lol

I've put my SMP Dynamics up for sale now - https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/303354/
I've PM'd the people who showed interest approx 4 months ago.

I bought an SMP Extra off @M_V a little while ago, it was big and red and had about inch thick padding, but the shell is the same shape as the Dynamic. Inspired by whoever it was that recovered one a few pages back I bought it to strip and recover.

Step 1, the stripping, was pretty awful. The foam is seemingly melted and bonded on, so there's no easy way of cutting it off. I got it as best I could and tried to make it as flat as possible for the new cover but it there was only so much I could do. Also it turned out that there's a couple of screws that come through the shell so I had to file those back as much as I could too.

Step 2 was recovering it. I initially went to some fabric shops to see if they had any offcuts I could use, they didn't, and you can't easily buy a square piece of fabric because it all comes on meter wide rolls. So I ended up buying a 50cm square piece of leather from ebay for £3. It was meant to be black but is actually a very dark green.

I used some strong contact adhesive to stick it down and folded the edges over. It's definitely an amateur job but in my defence there are parts where the original melted on foam didn't give any room for overlapping leather. The not-completely-flat surface of the saddle before resurfacing has meant to me it looks like I've covered it in lizard skin. Which I like. I left the middle gaps covered up because I think it makes it look a bit different from the regular SMP's.

Not actually ridden it yet, but I'm quite pleased for a total spend of just under £20.

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Wow that looks pretty good!

I thought about stripping it myself but when I looked at it and saw that the padding was, as you say, melted/glued on I couldn't be bothered.

Where are all the Chinese copies at? I've been searching for 'chaunts' but coming up blank?

Just checked my aliexpress orders and the places I got my two don't have them anymore...