Selle SMP - Which One?

Triathlon Forum
1

Which model of the Selle SMP is the best for tri/aero riding?

2

I bought a full carbon (but not carbon rails, they’re ti rails) version and I’m thinking with the benefit of hindsight perhaps the partially padded variety may have been better (if for no other reason than for my wallet!) as the sit bones take quite a bit of breaking in. I only have it on my SLC road bike so can’t really comment on tri/aero, sorry. Certainly the style is great for taking pressure of the soft bits the way they were designed to do.

3

I have the SMP strike evolution on my road and tri bike. I believe the stratos is a little more padded. I however have never had a problem. It takes a little while to get used, due not having pressure where you are used to. But after that its good. I’ve had at least 2 or 3 people try mine out and after they tried it they all bought one.

Grant

4

I have the Stratos. It doesn’t have more padding than the evolution. It is just slightly wider than the evolution. There are models with a bit more padding on the nose but I forget which it is. I would call a dealer who carries them to find out the specifics between the various models since Selle’s web site doesn’t adequetely explain it. I know All3Sports carries a full line of SMP saddles.

5

I tried the composit and the pro (fully padded) on my tri bike. Went with the pro as the no padding composit model was uncomfortable. I figured the pro-model saddle would be comfortable with minimal padded shorts in longer races.

I’ve not been on the road yet, but 2-3 hours on the trainer works well. Any saddle that lasts that long on the trainer should be considered.

There is the in-between padded model, the evolution.

6

I demo’s an evolution for a week and liked it. But not $250 worth. I could see it as a really nice saddle for someone who spends more than a few days with rides over 2hr. My longest rides for the year are only about 90 min, so for me it wasn’t worth the investment.

good luck, a good saddle can be tough to find
Barry

7

I demo’s an evolution for a week and liked it. But not $250 worth. I could see it as a really nice saddle for someone who spends more than a few days with rides over 2hr. My longest rides for the year are only about 90 min, so for me it wasn’t worth the investment.

good luck, a good saddle can be tough to find
Barry

For me its not how long im in the saddle but how far forward i ride. That makes the biggest difference for me.

Grant

8

I have the Composit, Glider and Evolution and would recommend the Evolution for tri’s. Once you get it adjusted correctly you’ll be able to ride a forward position for hours without squirming around.

9

If you decide to give the Evolution a shot and want to save some money over new, I have one for sale…

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=2146978;search_string=selle%20smp%20evolution;#2146978

IMO, it is a good choice for the aero position. It has adequate padding, but isn’t too wide. It just wasn’t better (for me) than my Adamo Race.

Steve

10

Any new suggestions as far as an SMP saddle goes for Tri’s? I think they might have come out with some new models since 2009.