So yesterday a friend of mine came over as he wanted some help with his bike position. He had his P2K set up with the slack seat angle with an Adamo saddle with the clamp midway on the rails. I had seen him riding outdoors and I had noticed that he seemed super duper steep, almost pushing backwards like a football player pushing on a blocking sled. It just seemed very unnatural and he looked like he was riding ~84 degrees which was totally counterintuitive to where his seat was placed on the rails. He was getting no power from his quads and his tibias were constanly pointing well back. This was certainly in contradition to the saddle being mounted centred in the P2K 75 degree position
Well, I read Slowman’s article and it now makes more sense. Since the Adamo effectively has no nose, having it mounted slack still means you are going to end up sitting steep because your sit bones are on the “two noses” of the Adamo. It now makes way more sense. Anyway, we slid him back an inch and lowered his saddle by a cm and he now seems in a more “mainstream tri position” and said he was getting a lot more power and a much more circular pedal stroke…goes to show the impact of the saddle type on the entire fit thing!
It took me a couple adjustments to find the right spot for me with the Adamo saddle, as a bigger guy I like how there is little pressure in the aero position.
Over time I have moved it back a little as I have found it more comfortable for long rides a little further back.
You can tip the nose down slightly, I think 7 degrees is the max recommended by Blackwell, I have mine less than that but it did help with getting into a good position.
I also have a P2K with the seat clamp reversed in the steep position (78 deg.???). I currently have a FIZIK, but changing to the Adamo. I’ve been fitted to me current set-up, so are you saying that with the Adamo seat I should have the “2-noses” positioned 1 " further back than my current FIZIK and lower it 1 cm? I was hoping to make the change myself and not have to take it to my LBS. Thanks!!!
If you look at the Adamo from the side it has a vertical stripe which indicates the relative center of the saddle. It is further forward than the true center if you were to measure the length so it helps to determine the saddle position in relation to the saddle you previously used on your bike.
We seem to get good results using it as a reference point when people come into our store and want to get the Adamo and sit in the same position they were in on their old saddle. You may need to play with the fore/aft position to get it in the right place for you since it is different from traditional saddles.
PKKC…my friend was suffering from the “seat to high” syndrome…I’m not saying everyone on Adamo needs to go lower…just him. Darrell, thanks for the point about the “relative centre” of the Adamo saddle. It all makes more sense now. My buddy has a half Ironman in a 10 days and I was reluctant to play with his position, however he was suffering from some major body pain issues the way he had it previously and I am hoping that the drastic change despite the proximity to the half ironman is a worthwhile investment in getting him to the start line in one piece vs being cripple.
For the record, this boy is a really big dude. I had him pedalling and did not realize that he was in his 53x14 and I had the TACX trainer at 5% grade…next thing I look down and he is grinding out 350W. I was shocked as it is his first year in tris. I am hoping that as he builds base and drops weight and stays uninjured (the goal of playing with his current setup), he can turn into a bike monster!
I went from an aroine tri to the adamo, that sounds about right. I think there are some instructions on the blackwell/ism website and/or in the saddle box too. I went from the front position to the rear position on the cervelo seatpost but still sit in the same place relative to the bb. I also have a decent amount of tilt which seems to work for me, I wouldn’t have much tilt if any with a regular saddle.
OK guys, thanks for the info. Its just so important to determine the position in space relative to the BB and the pads that the rider is at, vs where the actual saddle is clamped relative to other saddles. Even within conventional saddles, the actual sitting position can be so different. For example with the Avocet O2 vs the Selle Italia Flite, I needed the flite nose almost 2 cm forward compared to the O2 to end up sitting in the same position in space.
question: what type body pains did your rider have? i’m a smaller rider (150#s) with saddle sore pains greater than knee pain; so my question is do i lower the saddle height ~3mm or do i lower the tilt a degree or 2, or both… i ride steep, more of a time-trial position for sprint distance tris. has been tough with shoulder (rhomboid) pain as i feel like i’m sliding forward on the adamo. is this the football blocking position you’re refering to? i’d post a pic, but i’m not that smart…thanks in advance.
Thanks…I’ll keep my height the same and position the Adamo saddle 1" further back and then follow the suggestions based on the ISM wedpage for adjustments.
Yeah, I figured out pretty quickly to sit way out on the front of the Adamo. You have to hang your bits off the front of this saddle. It took a couple rides to adjust to the different pressure points, but I really like this saddle. I can ride for long, long stretches without squirming for feeling like I need to “switch sides.” This is a great saddle for achieving a nice low forward position on a relatively normal bike. Then, when you sit up for climbing, you can be back farther on the saddle like a road bike. A great design. Perfect for something like a Soloist or Talon.
No, his feet were always pointing way backwards, he had too much weight on his elbows, and his shoulders and neck were sore. The guy is training for an Ironman next year and his back was also tight. He was also unable to use his bigger biking muscles effectively (quads and glutes) in this rather extreme forward position that was more like a variation of running. I was just surprised with how far back I had to slide the adamo in the “Cervelo 75 degree seat position” to actually get him looking like most guys in the 78-80 range!
We had his Adamo tilted marginally down…perhaps a few degrees.
I switched from a Profile Tri Stryke to the Adamo. FWIW I measured from the back of the old seat to the center of the handlebar. (where it is bolted to the stem) Use whatever reference point you wish. I took that measurement and matched it to the Back of the Adamo. So the nose of the Adamo falls naturally a inch or so further from the stem. Seemed to be a good starting point for me. I may still adjust it someday, fore, aft, not sure as I’ll be playing with the front end as well. Like I said it was a good place to start for me. In the directions on the box, it says to lower the saddle half of full centimeter (can’t remember for sure) because you sit more “on top” of the saddle as opposed to other saddles therefore effectively increasing the distance to the pedals.