Hi All. Happy New Year!
Question for any of you with Adamo ISM saddles. I just had the ISM Road saddle put on the bike, and professionally fitted. The nose of the saddle is behind where my traditional saddle was, just as the installation videos suggest it should be. Even so, I can’t help but feel as if I’m way forward on the bike, and that I am bearing much more weight on the aerobars than before.
I mentioned this during the fitting - and was advised that is somewhat normal, and I’d adjust to that. Something to the effect that my butt is bearing less weight than before which means I’ll have more weight on my feet. I get the feet part, but the extra weight on the arms is very noticable.
Is this typical and something I’ll “get used to”? Will I get better at bearing more weight on the feet and less on the arms? Should I consider moving the saddle back a bit more?
The tip needs to be prob 3 inches back more than a traditional saddle. Tips should be where sit bones previously were. It should feel like hell for a few rides. The very bottom off your cheeks just below the crease close to taint should feel the pressure and will prob hurt. Takes a few rides. Then it’s heaven. Tri shorts are more comfy for me than rode kits.
The ISM on my tri bike felt different from the get go, but not bad. Many people have said the first two rides are brutal but by the third it’s perfect. I had to do a lot of adjustment on the ISM on my road bike to get it right. I would give it a few rides and then start making adjustments.
Try playing with the tilt, (I think), if you slightly tilt the nose up, it may relieve some of that pressure. Also check the seat height, that it isn’t too high.
Well shoot. Read the responses so far and as usual I either am not comprehending what they are trying to convey or I’ve been given really bad info.
I was told you want to sit into the saddle just like any other saddle. That is to say sit so your ischial tuberosity is fully supported by the saddle. What I did years ago was to sit way too far forward on the saddle which is what I’m taking away from other posters here. That position was never comfortable (obviously) and now that I’m sitting further back and supported it feels fine.
Thanks for the responses - perhaps I didn’t frame my question right. My issue isn’t with the pressure of the saddle - it’s that I feel very far forward on the bike compared to before. I get that the undercarriage might be a bit sore while I adjust, and that part of it is actually going quite well. I have minimal soreness so far on the backside.
The saddle nose is roughly 3 inches back from where the last saddle nose was, so I believe it has been set up properly. Even so, I still feel like I’m much more over my aerobars than before.
I had a similar problem with the Adamo, which I just couldn’t resolve. It felt great to sit on but whatever position I set the saddle at I always felt I was taking far too much weight on the aerobars, resulting in very sore shoulders and upper arms. After about a dozen rides, both on the trainer and on the road, I finally switched back to my old saddle. I followed the installation instructions closely, but I wasn’t professionally fitted so I guess there’s a chance it was human error!
The rear of the saddle should be visible. If the ISM works for you, you won’t want to ride anything else - I have them on my road and mtn bikes. It was strange at first, with nothing “there” in front, but I don’t even notice it now and no difference and bike handling.
Try playing with the tilt, (I think), if you slightly tilt the nose up, it may relieve some of that pressure. Also check the seat height, that it isn’t too high.
If you adjust the tilt without accounting for the increased / decreased height then you are effectively changing two things at once. Just bear that in mind.