I have an '11 Felt B16 where I’m looking to replace the saddle. I’ve been eyeing the Adamo Road, Racing II, and Time Trial but am not in a position to demo the saddles before buying (no local stock and can’t find an on-line option). Has anyone tried all 3 that can give some feedback? Is the Road geared more towards road bikes versus a B16 and similar bikes? Are the Racing II and Time Trial much different? Is the sloped nose of the Time Trial significantly “better” than the Racing II?
Trisports.com has a demo saddle program. I had the Cobb VFlow but it wasn’t comfy after about 20 miles. The Adamo road has been the best option. You can also zip tie the forks closer if its too wide. The Adamo to saddle was a little too aggressive
I haven’t ridden all three but did demo the Racing II and Time Trial. I went with the Time Trial as it felt a bit wider, though Adamo states the deminsions are the same.
For what it’s worth I changed out from a Cobb V-Flow Plus. The biggest difference between the Cobb and the Adamos to me was cushioning. The Cobb was way more comfotable on hard bumps, but put too much pressure on my taint which caused foot numbness and prostate issues after long rides. The Time Trial feels much harder on rough surfaces, but so far no foot numbness or pissing of prostate issues following long rides.
The one problem I have with the Time Trial is the nifty hook on the rear of the seat for racking your bike. It diesn’t allow for a clean snug fit of my saddle bag. Sooooooo I’m in the market for a new Dark Speed Works bag to replace the saddle bag.
The Felt Tri saddle is HORRIBLE. It came on my DA2, and I suffered at least 10 hours of hell on the trainer with it before finally giving up. I’ve tried five other Tri-specific saddles (demos or borrowed saddles) so far and every single one of them was way better then the Felt. So far I’ve tried the following, in descending order of preference:
Specialized Tri Tip 40mm. Overall very comfortable and light, distributes the pressure very evenly for me - I just did a 5 hour trainer session on it and it was not a problem throughout. Semi-round laterally in the back, with a slight kick-up in the tail. Negatives are that it’s slightly hard on the sit-bones (maybe I just need to HTFU!), I wish it was a bit rounder in the back laterally, and the nose was a bit too narrow to scoot up on. It felt like it was primarily a one position saddle, so I will try the 50mm version as well to see if it’s the best of both worlds. I put this saddle first because it’s nearly as comfortable as the Profile Design, but much lighter.
Profile Design Tri-Stryke. Really really comfortable, super plush, and I can sit on it anywhere comfortably. Rounded laterally in the back, which I like. But I’m concerned that it may be too soft - I’ve only done a two hour ride on it, so I’m not sure how it will do over a really long ride. Also, it’s really heavy, so I’m relegating it to second place/backup.
Fizik Arione Tri2. Semi-round laterally, flat longitudinally. Comfortable overall for me - excellent on the sit bones, but a bit too narrow on the nose (although the padding is nice). Also, I prefer a bit of kick-up in the tail - this saddle didn’t make me feel as ‘planted’ as the two above.
San Marco Ponza TT. Semi-round laterally in the back, rounded nose, and curved significantly longitudinally (big kick-up in the tail, with a rising nose). I loved the back-half of this seat, but hated the front half - the hard rounded nose put sharp pressure to my junk, and that was really uncomfortable.
ISM Adamo Racing 2. Didn’t work for me at all, I couldn’t sit on it for even a minute. Evidently it doesn’t work for certain kinds of asses, and I happen to have one of them.
I’m going to try only four more saddles ( !!!) and then settle it:
Specialized Tri Tip 50mm - hopefully will help with riding on the nose
Specialized Romin Pro and Romin Evo Pro - (rounded and semi-rounded respectively, which I like); and
Specialized TTS
So in conclusion, dump the Felt saddle and beg, borrow or steal some other Tri saddles to try out. And by the way, I think you have a 30-day money back guaranty from Specialized - so you can try their saddles and return them if you don’t like them.
I have an Adamo TT and I have tried the Racing II before. The only difference is the sloped nose and I bought the TT because I thought it would be more comfortable in the aero position. Not a big difference.
If you never tried a split nose saddle, maybe you should before buying…
Dash have a great demo program. If you have the money, care about the weight of your bike then you should demo one.
The Felt Tri saddle is HORRIBLE. It came on my DA2, and I suffered at least 10 hours of hell on the trainer with it before finally giving up. I’ve tried five other Tri-specific saddles (demos or borrowed saddles) so far and every single one of them was way better then the Felt. So far I’ve tried the following, in descending order of preference:
Specialized Tri Tip 40mm. Overall very comfortable and light, distributes the pressure very evenly for me - I just did a 5 hour trainer session on it and it was not a problem throughout. Semi-round laterally in the back, with a slight kick-up in the tail. Negatives are that it’s slightly hard on the sit-bones (maybe I just need to HTFU!), I wish it was a bit rounder in the back laterally, and the nose was a bit too narrow to scoot up on. It felt like it was primarily a one position saddle, so I will try the 50mm version as well to see if it’s the best of both worlds. I put this saddle first because it’s nearly as comfortable as the Profile Design, but much lighter.
2. Profile Design Tri-Stryke. Really really comfortable, super plush, and I can sit on it anywhere comfortably. Rounded laterally in the back, which I like. But I’m concerned that it may be too soft - I’ve only done a two hour ride on it, so I’m not sure how it will do over a really long ride. Also, it’s really heavy, so I’m relegating it to second place/backup.
Fizik Arione Tri2. Semi-round laterally, flat longitudinally. Comfortable overall for me - excellent on the sit bones, but a bit too narrow on the nose (although the padding is nice). Also, I prefer a bit of kick-up in the tail - this saddle didn’t make me feel as ‘planted’ as the two above.
San Marco Ponza TT. Semi-round laterally in the back, rounded nose, and curved significantly longitudinally (big kick-up in the tail, with a rising nose). I loved the back-half of this seat, but hated the front half - the hard rounded nose put sharp pressure to my junk, and that was really uncomfortable.
ISM Adamo Racing 2. Didn’t work for me at all, I couldn’t sit on it for even a minute. Evidently it doesn’t work for certain kinds of asses, and I happen to have one of them.
I’m going to try only four more saddles ( !!!) and then settle it:
Specialized Tri Tip 50mm - hopefully will help with riding on the nose
Specialized Romin Pro and Romin Evo Pro - (rounded and semi-rounded respectively, which I like); and
Specialized TTS
So in conclusion, dump the Felt saddle and beg, borrow or steal some other Tri saddles to try out. And by the way, I think you have a 30-day money back guaranty from Specialized - so you can try their saddles and return them if you don’t like them.
1 for the profile design saddle! i’ve had it for a year or so now. trained for and raced a few 70.3’s on it and now i’m onto training for IM TX. It’s a great saddle, and a lot cheaper than most of the other popular saddles out there
these haven’t been mentioned yet, but are worth checking out:
Selle SMP - there are lots of models with variations in width and padding, i’m using a Strike Evolution on my QR Caliente and Yeti MTB(of all things) very wide opening that runs the full length of the saddle, tip to tail
San Marco Aspide Arrowhead - similar shape to the Ponza but lighter, got this one on a lark(109$) totally worth it on my roadie(Cervelo S1). the Arrowhead designation is their cut-out style, generous opening, with a very nice amount of ‘give’ in the middle of the saddle that feels really nice to me.
Selle Italia Signo Gel Flow - decent but not as good as the previous two. the opening isn’t deep enough or wide enough for me. it’s ok for short rides, but i prefer the others for anything longer than an hour.
I first bought the Adamo Racing 2 and sold it to purchase an Adamo Road for my P2. The only differences are the color scheme, small weight difference, and a small amount of padding. The angle is identical. Still cant tell a difference on my undercarriage, but it has a tiny bit more padding. A non-bike-riding person probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two. The TT saddle came out after I purchased my saddles, but can’t imagine it being much different. I wish I would have purchased the Adamo Road first to save some money, but the name of the saddle sucked me in.
FWIW, If I tilt the nose too far down it put a lot of strain on my shoulders, so I tend to ride with the nose of the saddle horizontal or slightly up.
I’ve used the Race, Road & Prologue (in that order). Each was an improvement over the one before.
The Race was REALLY hard on the sitbones, and I could never acclimate.
The Road was softer on the sitbones, but I felt like I’d like a little more room to move around (ie. more available, comfortable positions) and a slightly narrower “nose”.
The Prologue is what I’m currently using, and I’m happy (for now).
I guess I was keeping the selection to the Road, Racing II, and Time Trial based on the face that they are all similar/identical in design and mainly differ in padding.
And come on, they have the transition hook in the back and who can pass that up?
Is the Prologue a different feel from the others? I see that the Racing II and Time Trial really get you “locked” into one position, but the ability to move around on a saddle like the Prologue seems to have advantages too. Though most of my moving around now is for periods of relief and not changes in effort.
I was able to get a loaner of the Racing II from Inside Out Sports today and am looking forward to riding it tomorrow. I figure if it’s “too hard” then the Road is the way to go?
Question is though, I keep coming back to the Prologue saddle for some reason. Is the benefit of being able to “slide around” on that saddle vs. the single-sweet-spot position of the Road/Racing that much of a benefit? Most of my rides are on the trainer or flat-to-rolling terrain outdoors, so I’m not sure what the right need is for that type of terrain and the ability to change positions on the saddle? Typically I’d move on the saddle in the past to get more comfortable, not necessarily get more power…
… Is the benefit of being able to “slide around” on that saddle vs. the single-sweet-spot position of the Road/Racing that much of a benefit?..
On a TT/Tri bike the question is how much time you’ll spend riding in your aerobar position vs. sitting up and riding the basebars. If you intend to spend almost all of your time down in the aero bars then I’d go with a saddle that does not offer a lot of sliding around options. Find your position and stay there. If your terrain, racing or even regular training has you splitting time between aero bars and base bars then a bit more latitude in where you sit on the saddle can be nice. On a road bike the extra saddle positions are very nice.
Thanks for your feedback Dave. Of course I SHOULD spend most of my time in the aero bars, but I guess that’s not an entirely reasonable expectation.
The ride this morning was more pleasant than I was expecting based on what seems to be the most common initial experience. Would anything feel different between the Racing and Prologue when riding in the trainer? The Racing did feel much better when in the aero bars than on the basebars.
Afternoon guys, im looking for a replacement saddle for my B16, I loved the standard saddle but bashed it up when i crashed, have any of you guys still got the B16 standard saddle? If so please do let me know as i cant find anywhere on the net!!
I have a friend that uses 2 of them and loves the road and tri. Personally I hate all of them, but if I was on my TT bike all the time, I might grow to love the tri saddle.
I was able to get a loaner of the Racing II from Inside Out Sports today and am looking forward to riding it tomorrow. I figure if it’s “too hard” then the Road is the way to go?
Typically I’d move on the saddle in the past to get more comfortable, not necessarily get more power…
I did lots of research on ST and the web about this exact scenario. Almost everything i read was people saying go for the Road. I demoed a “Race” and found just what i had read. After about 40 miles it was too uncomfortable and i was shifting around. Ultimately i gave up on the Adamo line because could not find any decent demo programs or local dealer stock on the various models.
!!!) and then settle it: