Can anyone claim saddle comfort on the trainer with no numbness at all? Seem to be tweaking my aero position ‘too much’ chasing what may be the impossible? (so, kinda like the saddle determining my bike fit).
Telling a lie, I can get comfort on the adamo’s but was forced to switch as it was too wide while sat-up - went to the narrower cobb-shc (worked sometimes, odd!) and now trialling the vflow+. Can’t say its working that well, perhaps my 170lbs forces the seat to flex too much in the middle, it kinda ‘hammocks’ a little. Do find it a bit soft and overly padded.
Maybe I haven’t found the sweetspot at yet although toying with the idea of just sticking on my selle’s SLR roadie saddle and have done with it or put up with the abrasions (yes I lube-up a ton & wear thin padded tri-shorts) of the adamo podium.
Any thoughts? Perhaps I just need an indoor & outdoor saddle!
Sounds like you’re on the right path…you’re trying different saddles w/ different shorts. I personally like the fleece liner in the Desoto tri shorts with an Adamo. If I use a heavily padded short my junk goes numb. If the Adamo fees too wide, you might have it too far forward. You should be sitting on the prongs and your glutes should clear the back of the saddle.
I always experience more discomfort on the trainer than on the road. On the trainer you just don’t move as much therefore the pressure builds up. I just try and remember to stand frequently to relieve the pressure.
For me the adamo gets wide too quickly along its length, only takes a slight shuffle back, such as seated but out of aero climbing and you’re having to accommodate the entire width (which is similar to the very widest & rear-most width of a conventional saddle). For aero / fixed position then no problems as you’re sat on the prongs & hips rotated forwards so yeah, sat on the turbo would be fine also but what about when you venture outside and having come out of the fixed TT position?
I have a suspicion that any conventional saddle would work IF you can get on your sit-bones with hips rotated forwards - depends how much you want your overall bike fit to be dictated to by your saddle - thats my 2c’s worth anyways!
The trainer is a great crucible for saddle testing, because as drp says it tends to really concentrate whatever issues you have due to the lack of variation that naturally occurs on the road. If it’ll work inside, it’ll almost certainly work outside, while the reverse isn’t necessarily true.
For my arse & TT/Tri style, the winner was/is the Specialized Tri-Tip and a thinner pad than what I normally use on my regular road bike. I like the cut-out channel, but a thicker pad tends to “fill” the void and put the pressure back on the soft parts like a more solid saddle; same with a saddle that’s too soft so you sink into it more rather than perch the weight on your sit bones. I also like it because it doesn’t flare too wide too quickly and the length allows for a fair bit of micro-adjustment just scooching fore/aft on the fly due to hills, big swings in wind direction, fatigue, etc, while it’s flat/firm enough to minimize the “hammock” effect.
Of course the caveat is everyone’s ass/position combo is different, so my recommendation may not fit you, but hopefully at least the explanation why I think it works may help even if you decide on something different. Good luck.
