Does anyone have any idea what the difference is between the Specialized Romin Expert and Romin Evo Expert Saddles is. On their website it looks the the only differences is that the Expert uses EVA foam while the Evo Expert uses polyurethane foam and that the visual design is different. I am a triathlete looking comfort in the aero position. I have tried the Adamo TT saddle but it was much too wide for me in the front prompting me to look at cut out saddles. Thanks for any help.
In the exact same boat as you - on an Adamo, which works best for me for road riding (I’m about commit to my in-demo Dash for TT use) and looking for something narrower in the front, since the Adamo gives me a little chafing on long rides I think due to its width.
So checked out the Romin and Romin Evo today (also at the Expert level, since the Pro has 7x9mm carbon rails that will not work in come posts, like those on the P3 or S5), and the difference is that the Evo has a narrower nose. Hard to tell on the website, but it’s narrower. Just grabbed an Evo from the Specialized LBS and will be testing it tonight and tomorrow.
I have used both the Romin and the Romin Evo. They are different shapes. If you search you can probably find a description of the ways in which they differ. For starters, I am fairly certain the Evo is rounder laterally.
Obviously saddle choice is very personal but in terms of using as a TT saddle, I would advise against it. I used the Evo on my road bike and loved it. I then used it on my TT bike and pretty much hated it. It has a sweet spot so you more or less locked in to one position while using it. This sweet spot is also fairly far back on the saddle so not in keeping with the tendency of most people to sit on the nose of their saddle while in the TT position.
Evo doesn’t have the plastic insert which has been perfectly placed to ‘split the difference’, and is therefore much more comfortable when you roll forward onto drops/tribars - we have demo models of both instore, so search around for store who do the Specialized demo saddles.
Funny this has come up today. During lunch I took my romin evo fro one of my road bikes and put it on my Shiv. Already have a “regular old romin” on another TT bike and it’s great. And the Evo is great on my road bike. But i couldn’t finish the little 5-mile loop around my house fast enough to get back and make adjustments. Repeated that process 4 more times. Exactly as you said, there’s a sweet spot, but all you have to do is hit a hill and bear down a bit and you lose the spot. Ouch.
Also as has been said, the evo is more round, laterally and the nose slopes downward a bit more.
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Thanks for the input everyone.
It has a sweet spot so you more or less locked in to one position while using it. This sweet spot is also fairly far back on the saddle so not in keeping with the tendency of most people to sit on the nose of their saddle while in the TT position.
I have the Romin Evo on my tri bike and I’m loving it. The saddle looks like it should have a sweet spot due to its fore-aft concavity (i.e. down-turned nose, up-turned tail), but I find that there is actually a fairly long, flat section that I can slide back and forth on. It takes some experimentation to get the right angle. Once I got it right, the saddle accommodates a variety of positions, from hammering on the nose, to coasting on the back.
Funny this has come up today. During lunch I took my romin evo fro one of my road bikes and put it on my Shiv. Already have a “regular old romin” on another TT bike and it’s great. And the Evo is great on my road bike. But i couldn’t finish the little 5-mile loop around my house fast enough to get back and make adjustments. Repeated that process 4 more times. Exactly as you said, there’s a sweet spot, but all you have to do is hit a hill and bear down a bit and you lose the spot. Ouch.
Also as has been said, the evo is more round, laterally and the nose slopes downward a bit more.
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Why do you have the Evo on your road bike and the “regular” Romin on your TT bike? If the “regular” Romin works so well on your TT bike and not on your road bike, why not just run the “regular” on both bikes? Or is there something about the Evo that you prefer for road use?
I’ll be curious to see what the OP thinks of the Romin Evo coming from an Adamo. I tried the Evo this morning and found that while the sit bone support was fine and the narrow nose (at least compares to an Adamo) would present no chafing issues (the primary reason I am looking to change from the Adamo, similar to the OP), it only felt good when I was sitting up on the hoods or drops (I tested it on my road bike). With a proper forward pelvic tilt on the hoods or when moving to the drops, I felt that pressure on the perineal area that caused me to switch to the Adamo in the first place. It wasn’t terrible, and I made it through my 27 mi ride without any major problem, but it wasn’t the “ahhhh” feeling that I got from the Adamo and I know from prior experience that the pressure issue will only get worse (in all likelihood, much worse) on long rides and then compounded riding consecutive days. Also, this saddle simply didn’t work for me as I moved forward “on the rivet” during harder efforts. So the Evo isn’t going to work for me. I’d be really surprised if an Adamo rider found the Evo comfortable in a forward TT/tri position.
Next stops are the Selle Italia SLR Superflow and the Selle SMP Glider.
I’m bumping an old thread - I’ve got a Romin that has seen better days reading hear decided to get the Evo to replace it since my riding style gets me in the drops, low and aero a lot. So my question - when swapping, did people find it was best to install it in exactly the same position on the rails as the romin? Forward? back? Up? down? angle? All the same or did you tweak? I just want to get ahead of the game a little on the tweaking I may have to do.
Thanks.
I set mine up as close to the same as possible and it seemed fine. For me, however, I don’t find the EVO version to be as comfortable as the original. Not sure what they were out to accomplish. It’s still a nice saddle, but the plain old Romin is my favorite road saddle of all time.
For me, however, I don’t find the EVO version to be as comfortable as the original.
For TT and/or road? I love the Romin for TT (when I’m further up the saddle), but the slightly narrower and bent nose of the EVO make it more comfortable for me on the road bikes. I.e. I can have multiple seating positions, forward, mid, back where on the regular Romin, when I slid back, the wider nose would catch the seam of my shorts…