Selle SMP discussion

Id look at the stratos if i were you.

I’ve got a Blaster that I’m looking to sell. I can’t recall how it compares to the Evolution, but is effectively a Composit with light padding.

Let me know if you’d be interested in it.

Cheers

Scott

Think it’s supposed to be a composit with a thin and even padding ( no ridge effect). Evolution feels narrow compared to composit, but stripped to bare shell is identical.

According to the chart half way through this article the Blaster seems to be similar to evolution but a bit wider - might be the one! I have PM'ed you @Lemond75

https://gearmashers.com/selle-smp-cycling-saddles-review-2018/

I have a composit in yellow and 2 formas in black. Anyone interested in these?
All in great condition

Hi all, I've got a composit on trial at the moment, and am busy fettling with the angle to see if I can get it right. At the moment I'm struggling to find a good angle that suits both when on the hoods and on the drops. Comfy on the hoods seems a bit ball squashing on the drops, good on the drops feels a bit too much kick back when on the hoods. Any tips/experience that may help would be appreciated please.

How much are you varying the angle? Very small differences (talking 0.5 degree in saddle angle can make a big difference).

Use a chopping board/flat surface and an app on your phone to see how many degrees nose down your saddle is. Find what angle your hands/squashables feel comfy in the hoods, and then drop saddle angle by o.2 degrees every 3 or so proper rides (>30k) until things feel good in both drops and hoods. Then make a note of saddle height, setback and angle so you can replicate it if things ever get messed up or need to change. Sounds a pain but once things are dialled in you'll forget saddle related misery exists.

Thanks very much Jupiz. I haven't been that methodical at all to be honest haha! I'll get to work on it asap to make the most of the trial. Really hoping I can get next level comfort from my romin evo.

No worries, moved from romin evo 155mm to smp myself. I’m skinny but both worked. Going back to the romin after though was agony. I moved my saddle forward about 10mm, and saddle height measured through dead centre of the saddle rails stayed the same. Angle is super import, and no saddle more diffficult to set up but worth it

Nice one, thanks. All sounds very encouraging. I've been commuting on the composit this week with normal clothes and it felt a lot better than I thought it would, bit strange compared to previous saddles, but good. Got a few opportunities to use it in anger with padded bibs before I send it back.

Cool. Hope it works out for you. For future notice, all composit type saddles with padding, when stripped are the same shell. Helps if trying to get composit on the cheap

Anyone got a smp for sale or they would sell?

I've got a forma on trial from dillglove at the moment. Thinking about giving them another deposit for the composit. People that have used both, how do you describe the difference between the two?
Edit: just rang dillglove and paid another deposit for the composit so I can try them side by side.

The composit feels stiffer to my butt bones. The composit one would say is less comfortable when just trying them out due to this fact. But over time and once you get use to it i think the composit is as comfortable, but it does not feel like it have as much "give" as the forma.

your experience may vary.

Thanks, you still running either of them? The composit is arriving tomorrow. I've got a 440k ride at the weekend with my house 180k in. I'm thinking of trying one for the first 180k and the other for the next 260k. Either that or just take both with me and put the spare in my bag.

Hmm yeah well i have invested to much cash into smp to totally abandoning them as i had 3 of them shipped to australia for re-leathering .)

Im bit of a nut (obviously). But lately i have found the berk lupina which works for me pretty good. The reason i started with smp way back when was because of severe groin pain, they actually saved me from quitting riding bikes at the time. But now those issues have lessened and i can ride a few other saddles again. Since i think there are prettier saddles out there than the smp i find myself mostly riding those. I guess staring at my saddle while pedaling or sometin similar..

Your suggestion of riding one half seem like an okay idea. Unless you usually have issues with longer rides on saddles? Then the comparison may be skewed unfavorably towards the saddle you take for the latter part. But i think one has to do just that to draw conclusions, ride them as much as possibly back to back. For me smp were lifesavers back when.. Best of luck.

The composit feels stiffer to my butt bones.

Butt bones as in sit bones or the bones between your arse and baby maker?

I was thinking of the sit bones this time.

I probably wouldn't advise this; as most people suggest that the comfort of an SMP comes from dialing in a pretty finicky saddle angle till you get the right support. Depends how long you have to fettle for the swap over I guess?

I personally ride mine with the main section basically horizontal though, so more like a regular saddle with a full length cut-out. If you went like that it would probably be easier.

Also, what surfaces/bike is it? Composit probably fine on road/tarmac but might prove uncomfortable over rough stuff where you're inevitably going to get jolted by things

Cheers @branwen it's a Bob Jackson Vigorelli with 25mm tyres used on the road.

New plan! I've got work tomorrow, that's a 10 mile ride each way. I'll ride one saddle there and the other on the way back. Whatever feels best will come with me on the Audax. If it gets unbearable after 180k when I pass my house I'll pop in and swap them over, if not I guess I've found a saddle that's fine.

I was thinking of the sit bones this time.

That the thing, it never suppose to be sat on with pressure on the sit bones, only between the buttocks and lower part of the pelvic bone.

Well hmm then i must sit on one again and feel what bone it actually is. I thought the question rather was if it was bones or the soft parts in my groin area and that was what i was trying to get away from to begin with and the reason i went with smp. So bones not soft parts. Wether it was sit bone or pelvic bone i would have to google (turns out not so easy to understand from images).

I guess my anatomy wording in english is not great.

Its the bones more like inbetween my legs rather than in my arse. So not the ones i used when on a chair so to speak

Its the bones more like inbetween my legs rather than in my arse. So not the ones i used when on a chair so to speak

That a much better way of explaining it (inbetween legs).

Composit has turned up. I have done around 1 mile on each (I'm poorly) but my first feeling is that they are both comfortable but the composit felt less imposing. By that I mean I didn't feel the "scoop" under me as much. Some real testing tomorrow.

OK, tried the composit both ways, it was comfy and painful at the same time. Moved it forward quite a bit and pointed the nose down a bit. Made around 5/6 adjustments. I have always known I don't sit on the saddle straight but can't break the habit, the SMP forces you to. I'll pop down to my LBS tomorrow for some salt tablets for Sundays ride, I'll give the forma a go.