I replaced the Adamo on my Dual last night with a new V-Flow Plus. Didn’t get a lot of time to put it through the paces, but did have a couple of observations that I’m curious if other users noticed.
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While I would classify myself as a “nose rider” on most standard saddles, I found that the sweet spot or “cradle” on the V-Flow Plus is on the back half of the saddle (similar to where I would ride in a road position). The nose was not comfortable at all while aero. Because of this, I ended up with the saddle being clamped WAY forward. It’s clamped pretty much right before the rails turn up, and the nose ended up being ~3cm in front of the center of the bottom bracket. I think it looks even weirder to me since I am used to the Adamo, which not only doesn’t have a nose, but the rear section isn’t really used. So, the Adamo has the extra in the back as opposed to the extra being in the front on the V-Flow Plus (since you don’t really use the nose). The rails on the Adamo also go pretty much straight up in the back versus the angled upturn on the V-Flow Plus, which gives the perception that the Adamo isn’t clamped so far back on the rails.
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While I admire the fact that Cobb included a tool kit, written directions and an installation video so that non-wrenches could take a crack at installing their new saddles themselves, the instructions did leave me with some questions. First, they recommend a seat height of 0.889 x inseam. Good enough for a non-wrench to get it close. I’ve seen this equation before. But, there is no mention at all of what crank length this assumes. And, they give a saddle tip to center of stem bar clamp distance of roughly your forearm length with fingers extended. OK. But, is this the horizontal distance or a straight-line measurement? The more drop you ride, the greater the difference will be between these two measurements. Regardless… Maybe I’m weird, but I ended up with my saddle tip to bar distance being much greater than this.
Anyway, those are just my observations from a quick trial/tweak/trial/tweak process.
I am curious if the sweet spot being so far back is going to limit this saddle’s usefulness for seated climbing, though, since there’s really nowhere to “slide back”.
Did anyone else notice these things?
Steve
I’ve got a little over 100 miles on mine. I like the saddle over the PD TriStryke that came OEM. The Cobb allows me to rotate my hips and I’ve been able to (to my uninitiated eyes) get more aero with some stem and drop changes.
My thoughts on your observations:
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I believe that the V-Flow Plus is to be ridden “almost” on the nose. The sweet spot for me is on the front of the 2 padded “rails”, just behind the notch on the nose. IIRC, that notch is a cutout for your junk and that is where mine is when I ride.
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I think the installation tips are more geared for the inexperienced, as evident by the girl in the video. It gives them some place to start if they are not familiar with where to even begin to set up their saddle (fore/aft, height). Most experienced people would just use the measurements from the old saddle and mimic them as close as possible. I did use the “forearm” measurement just to see how close it was to my actual. Turns out that it put the VF+ on 2cm forward of the PD. In order to do this I had to flip the 2-position seat post to the forward position. This took my ESTA from 78 to 80 degrees. I suppose I could have had the post this way for the PD. But, since I was litterally riding the nose of that saddle it was unnecessary.
EDIT to add: I took my measurement from the basebar to the seat while the tape was parallel to the ground to get actual horizontal distance.
I have noticed that I don’t need to shift from one side to the other while riding. I can just jump on and go and the saddle is not even a thought.
I rode the Adamo road on my road bike and the Adamo race on my Tri/TT-Bike. I now ride the V-Flow Plus on my road bike exclusively. It does not work for me on my Tri/TT-Bike though. I also am a nose rider while racing/training for Triathlon. But sit standard (middle-front of seat) for the road bike. The V-Flow gives me plenty of blood flow and keeps me from getting numb. That said it is a much different seat from the Adamo. I certainly can’t sit on both the same way. The V-Flow works much better for me while climbing and really in most situations. Very comfortable on LONG rides.
I set my V-Flow up with the saddle at the same height from the pedal to the seat top, not the bottom bracket to the rails, and set the nose tip about an inch closer to the stem than with the Adamo due to the lack of a true “tip” in the Adamo. I agree that the measurements given are more for “first timers”. If it is your first time making changes on your own, take some measurements from your current set up, and try to duplicate them with your new setup - then tweak until it feels right.
I replaced a Fizik with my V-Flow Plus so can’t compare it with the Adamo, however I find that for me the saddle sets up pretty much all the way forward in the clamp. Now this is on a Kalibur and I’m trying for a 78 degree seat angle, the sweet spot for riding is probably a little forward of the middle but certainly not on the nose.
This does give me lots of options on the bike as I have room at the back for climbing and I can also get on the nose and really spin when the going gets real fast.
I would agree with the others, make note of where you sit in relation to the bike with the Adamo, take measurements and then try to replicate it on the V-Flow.
Mine did take a couple of tweaks to get the level just right, it may still not be exactly spot on as I’ve only done 3 hours at one time, but probably the most comfortable saddle in the aero position, for me anyways.