I had the same problem with ISM. The saddle was just too wide for my narrow hips. I am not 100% this was what caused the sores though. I was constantly getting them in the same position.

I eventually went back to my bike fitter who had a saddle pressure measurer (am sure there is a better name for it),and we found two problems. My left left was ever so slightly shorter than the right, so we added a spacer to my left cleat which theoretically would take a bit of pressure off the left side of my hips. Additionally we measured my sit bones and picked a Cobb 55.

ISM saddle shell thickness is probably more than your original saddle, you may be sitting a little higher (or in a different place)
Double check you may need to lower your saddle a few mm.

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Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com

There is a "adjustment period" where you need to get used to the saddle. Also, you could be sitting on the saddle the "wrong way", you might need to lower it and/or move it backwards as well. You're supposed to sit on the "very front" and have your stuff hanging in free air more or less.

I've tried numerous saddles and there's just some that work and some that doesn't. Which ISM are you currently on? For an example I found the PN 1.1 too wide, PN2.1 good and PN3.0 close to perfection. Dash is also quite nice, but a different price league.

The Adamo Attack was the first saddle I tried that didn't cause me numbness, and I've put about 10k miles on it. Unfortunately, the last season or so I have been fighting the start of a saddle sore on my right side. The hotspot was located where my bone rested, right as it met the outer rounded edge of the Attack, farther back on the saddle.

I tried narrower saddles, the Prologue and the Cobb Randee; while these eliminated the occasional chafing of the Attack, I was shifting all around and could never get comfortable on them. A good short with a dense pad was all that helped on long rides on the Attack, but I'm still looking for a different saddle. Narrower doesn't seem to be the solution, but wider doesn't seem right, either. I keep wondering if the Dash saddles might be the next style to try, and whether the 55mm or 65mm width.

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◼︎ We shall soon be in a world in which a man may be howled down for saying that two and two make four, in which people will persecute the heresy of calling a triangle a three-sided figure, and hang a man for maddening a mob with the news that grass is green. - Chesterton

I've had similar experiences. Typically if I give it a few days / week all is good to go. Try to focus on not rocking your hips in the saddle. Also learn to feel when it's setting in / rubbing. Typically for me it's on 2+ hour rides or when I'm sitting upright on higher intensity rides.

Same issues for me if I do longer rides. I ziptied the prongs narrower. Officially frowned on but it seems better.

I had an older Time Trial and started having issues as well. Talking with the guys and ISM they told me that it was probably time to replace it. They recommended the same saddle (now called the PS1.0) because if the shape was right it was just padding that broke down over time and that lead to issues. I followed there advice and couldn’t be happier! All the problems are gone :)

I’d say that’s your cause here. I’m not sure which model the Attack is now (with the new naming scheme) but it should be pretty easy to figure it out. If you had 10k miles that were good, then it’s probably just time for a new saddle. I’d just get the same one and have another 10k miles in it.

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-Nate
Triathlonpal.com
Flaer|Team Kiwami|Nuun Hydration|Honey Stinger
Twitter: @N8deck

Depending on the type of sores you’re talking about (don’t need TMI here) but generally there is a break in period. Just make sure it’s set up right (or: lower and back from your traditional saddle position). It takes a bit to get use to.

If you have to zip tie the rails it means your sitting too far back on the saddle in my experience (and from what I’ve read from ISM) so before trying that, I’d move the saddle backward.

I emailed ISM for help setting things up and they were very helpful getting things right. We went back and fourth by email a lot and dialed it in right away. I’d reach out to them if it doesn’t go away after a few more rides.

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-Nate
Triathlonpal.com
Flaer|Team Kiwami|Nuun Hydration|Honey Stinger
Twitter: @N8deck

What was your saddle that you took off?

To Anne’s point, The ISM’s are pretty tall saddles. Add to this that if you set it up properly (which in my experience takes a fair amount of experience and good understanding of the differences between it and a conventional saddle) and you try to ride it sitting far back (front arms exposed) then the saddle is even taller. You could easily be 5-10mm higher than your previous set up. Needless to say this isn’t the correct way to ride an ISM.

All this being said, in my experience the ISM’s only fault is inner thigh rub. It’s too wide through the mid section. Try the COBB fifty-five. It’s designed to provide less conflict in that area.

Had the same problem. No matter what I did. Switched to the Cobb and didn't have them anymore but I will say that the Breakaway was way more comfortable. Just picked up a new P2 and it came with the Adamo again and I am going to do a few weeks of trainer rides to see if the saddle sores come back. If they do then going back to Cobb.

Yes, had this with the ISM. They were never that bad but throughout the season I nearly always had some degree of sores, managed by almost constantly treating with various rash creams.

Things boiled to a head, so to speak, after my 12 hour time trial in 2016. 12 hours....255 miles....rough roads as well....last 4 hours were excruciating. My wife, treating the sores noted 'you've got 4 now'....;-). I was off the bike for 10 days, did not ride pain free for a month and it ripped the heart out of my season.

Knew I had to do something (other than just never enter a 12 hour time trial again), ordered the Dash Stage 9 and its been much better. But I've still not entered another 12 hour time trial...

My wife had the same issue last season with her ISM, it didn't get better til her bike fitter recommended she switch to a cobb. The guy who her fit did say that he sees quite a few people on ISMs with bad saddle sores on one side.

Seems to me the angle of the saddle is pretty important as well, and I haven't gotten mine dialed yet, nor figured out what angle is good, or why it's good. Any good guidelines to study up on?

Every time I make a tweak in one spot, I'm probably de-optimizing somewhere else. :)

Had the saddle level at first (ISM PR 2.0) and seemed to have no problems for the first few rides, then dipped the nose so the rails are just short of horizontal (while raising the saddle height 4mm to compensate, so I don't close up the hip angle) and pow, got raw saddle sores on left and irritated on the right. Stayed off that bike for the past 5 days, but did a road bike ride on my Arione K1 saddle yesterday and it was survivable (of course, the riding position is much more upright than on an aero bike, but I was in a semi-aero position much of the time and the saddle just let me pedal smoothly without issues most of the day). That saddle is so terrific, just love it on my road bike.

I guess I'm the problem. I need to learn how to ride a split-nose properly, I must've pushed myself back on the saddle periodically during rides after tipping the angle downward. Probably wasn't used to the feeling and pushed back so the nose was where it didn't belong and caused the saddle sores, rather than the saddle not fitting me well.

Next, I'll back off on the angle of the nose dip, cutting half the radius from where I have it angled now to horizontal, will drop saddle height 2mm concurrently, and try to be more diligent about riding on the tip of the saddle the entire time.

Finally got my ISM dialed in for position so I'm riding it properly. And...I don't like how it feels when I'm riding it properly either, lol. The first ride on it was great, but I wasn't contacting it the way it was designed to be ridden (on the very front, junk in the wind). Now that I've ridden it correctly, I realize I don't like that feeling, at all. I must be a total wimp or something, but with such little contact with the saddle, it just feels like there's too much pressure at the contact point, no matter what hip angle, and it distracts me while riding. I don't want to think about my saddle, at all.

On the road bike, I never think about the saddle, I can just focus on riding. Got to get this aero bike seating situation to be similar. Back to the drawing board.

The Spesh Power Arc looks kind of like a compressed version of an Arione shape, so I'm going to try it and see how it compares to the ISM. Rode with a body on one yesterday, and he was so happy and comfortable. Then took a little spin on his bike, and it was much more natural for me than the ISM. Will put some miles in on one and report back.

It seems to me a lot of us struggle with the same kind of thing. Like you I've got an Arione on my road bike and the Mtb equivalent on there and can ride all day on them. But off the front is something different. Seems to me it's different enough that you start from scratch and I wonder if less than a week of being in the right position is giving it enough time? If we accept that it is the way to ride a TT bike then it is worth persevering with. It is frustrating. I had mine on the turbo with the allen keys to hand and kept getting on and off. This was over a few weeks. At times I was tempted to get the credit card out but I'm glad I kept at it and I'm pretty happy now. All the little adjustments people have mentioned make a difference but also changes at the arm rest and pretty much anything that you possibly can adjust on a bike. But there is also your own adaption. I'm no expert but your experience rang a bell and wanted to say it might be worth giving it a bit longer.

I think that's a very reasonable approach and I've done similarly with all of my saddles and bikes. Typically go through three saddles per bike historically before settling on one to keep long-term. Riding with tools, making angle, fore-aft and height adjustments during rides (so I can feel differences right away without the variables of different single-adjustments on different days).

I'm probably just a bit intolerant of discomfort with key contact points compared to most. For example, I'm really hard to get fitted with shoes, and even when I did settle on shoes to use on my road bike, I bought a spot stretcher to customize them. Ski boots, same deal, I used to use boots that I could get used to in terms of discomfort and high pressure areas (used to race and basically had incredibly tight, stiff custom boots which could transfer energy and movement well, and got used to it over years, but it wasn't enjoyable); now I only use oven-baked customizable shells with a step below race stiffness to get everything as neutral and comfortable as possible while still performing well. When those are dialed in, it's not a feeling of "okay, now it's neutral, and I still feel like it's not for me", it's just benign and the boots become an afterthought. Same with shoes. I need the seat contact to be that way. (Finicky guy, I admit it.) :)

I've no doubt I could keep going and get used to such little contact with the saddle, but ultimately, I don't believe concentrating pressure over such a small area will work for me. When testing road saddles, I ended up settling on a softer nosed saddle for this very reason. The harder noses concentrated pressure in a smaller area when I was riding in aero positions (which tends to be often), and the softer nose of the tri-oriented road saddles I opted for spread pressure over a wider area.

Really, if I can make the feel of the bike as neutral as possible and just focus on line, handling, breathing, body and head position, pedal stroke smoothness, pace, fueling and hydrating, power output, traffic or other riders, and have some extra attention left over to enjoy the environment, I feel like my plate is full. I'm easily distracted and when I've had cockpit discomfort on the road bike, I made changes to dial it out, so the bike is sort of just going along for the ride with me without disrupting my thoughts.

Not to hijack this thread but has anybody ever pop their saddle sores to try and get them to heal up

:D

I hate that movie.
And no one answered my question.

Sorry, was trying to be funny. #HumorFail

I've heard of people getting boils from saddle sores, and those can get infected. I'd seriously have a doctor look at it, not joking here.

I got the humor. Did feel like I killed the thread. LOL. I jammed a needle in it and drained the bitch. Little better now.

I do hate that movie.

I've had good luck with tea tree oil to prevent it from getting really bad... but if you had to do a major drainage, I'd go straight to polysporin to keep the infection away. I've known folks to get cortisone injections if they have a really chronic/hard sore that won't go away.

Yep. Cleaned up with alcohol and triple antibiotic.

Im having issues with what feels like bruising of the tissue were the tail bone is at. Any ideas?