I've seen quite a few people talk about using zip ties to make the nose of an ISM saddle narrower, but I think I want to do the opposite (make the front wider) and wanted to get peoples thoughts before I go ahead and bend the rails of a saddle to do this. I'm curious to hear if others have done this, or felt the same way.
I have tried a number of different saddles on my tri bike over the years and have always struggled a bit with prenium pressure causing numbness (especially during winter long base rides on the trainer). ISM saddles (Attack and Prologue) have worked best for me due to the middle cutout, but I've always felt like I wanted the centre cutout to be a bit wider to reduce pressure. If I tilt down the nose to the point that it doesn't cause me any numbness, then I find the support a bit lacking and my triceps get sore from working too hard to hold my body back. I usually sit in about the middle of an ISM saddle - I have heard the guidance about sitting right on the end, but at that point the centre groove is so narrow that it causes way too much pressure for me to sit there for any amount of time. When I am in aero position, my pelvis is rotated fairly far forward and my back is fairly flat. In aero position, my sit bones don't really naturally tough the saddle, I have to really consciously arch my back if I want to make my sit bones contact with the saddle.
I had an older ISM Attack saddle where I recently bent the front section of the saddle rails outward to make the centre cutout wider. This seemed to be a fairly big improvement and I was able to keep the saddle about level and have support, while not experiencing numbness. I was also able to sit at the end of the saddle as is normally described as the 'correct' way to sit on these saddles. Yes there was a bit more pressure on the inside of my thighs due to the increased width, but it wasn't a deal breaker and I was willing to live with that to have the numbness go away. The only issue with this setup was that I have always found the padding on this saddle to be a bit too firm and would like to have something a bit softer.
I just bought an ISM PR 2 with the intention of also bending the rails to make it a bit wider and then have more padding, but had a last minute hesitiation about the thought of bending a brand new saddle and figured I should check with the Slowtwitch community first.
Appreciate peoples thoughts on this.
I have tried a number of different saddles on my tri bike over the years and have always struggled a bit with prenium pressure causing numbness (especially during winter long base rides on the trainer). ISM saddles (Attack and Prologue) have worked best for me due to the middle cutout, but I've always felt like I wanted the centre cutout to be a bit wider to reduce pressure. If I tilt down the nose to the point that it doesn't cause me any numbness, then I find the support a bit lacking and my triceps get sore from working too hard to hold my body back. I usually sit in about the middle of an ISM saddle - I have heard the guidance about sitting right on the end, but at that point the centre groove is so narrow that it causes way too much pressure for me to sit there for any amount of time. When I am in aero position, my pelvis is rotated fairly far forward and my back is fairly flat. In aero position, my sit bones don't really naturally tough the saddle, I have to really consciously arch my back if I want to make my sit bones contact with the saddle.
I had an older ISM Attack saddle where I recently bent the front section of the saddle rails outward to make the centre cutout wider. This seemed to be a fairly big improvement and I was able to keep the saddle about level and have support, while not experiencing numbness. I was also able to sit at the end of the saddle as is normally described as the 'correct' way to sit on these saddles. Yes there was a bit more pressure on the inside of my thighs due to the increased width, but it wasn't a deal breaker and I was willing to live with that to have the numbness go away. The only issue with this setup was that I have always found the padding on this saddle to be a bit too firm and would like to have something a bit softer.
I just bought an ISM PR 2 with the intention of also bending the rails to make it a bit wider and then have more padding, but had a last minute hesitiation about the thought of bending a brand new saddle and figured I should check with the Slowtwitch community first.
Appreciate peoples thoughts on this.