Hi! I am new to the sport of triathlon. I am about to set up a road bike for a race, by adding a set of clip-on aero bars. In order to get into a more comfortable aero position, I am planning on buying an ISM Saddle. I have been looking at the PS 1.1 and the PN 2.1. Which would be better as a starting point for me?
I am a 6’3, 170 lbs male. The courses I will be riding won’t be all flat, I am expecting some climbing and downhill maneuvering.
I appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thanks.
I’m not familiar with the new model numbers. I have a Adamo Road on my old bike and a Adamo TT, a little narrower with sloping nose, on my new bike, and I have been on a Adamo Attack a few times. Since I sit so far forward on these saddles, if your boys are not hanging off the front you are too far back, I don’t think it makes much of a difference which one I sit on.
I have the saddle tilted down like they advise and these saddles work great for me.
I have the ISM Road on my tri bike and used to have one on my road bike as well. When in the aero position, the split nose saddle is the most comfortable saddle I have used. When sitting up for climbing extended periods of time or sitting up road style, it is mildly uncomfortable. Mildly uncomfortable to the point where I switched my road bike saddle out to a Cobb saddle. Just my experience, everyone is different though.
I’d suggest going for one of the narrow shaped saddles, especially since you will be riding a lot of hills. A couple of years ago I tried the ISM Breakaway, Time Trial and Attack saddles. These names have been changed in the last year or so but they are the current PL, PS and PN shapes respectively. When riding hard on the flat, I didn’t notice a big difference between these 3 different ISM saddle shapes. I really liked the Breakaway (PL shape) and found it great when pushing hard on the flat but slightly annoying when I sat up or on steep climbs where I tended to slide back slightly and found the saddle didn’t accomodate this well although it was a little better than the Time Trial (PS shape) which just wasn’t comfy at all when not in an aero position. I now use the Attack which I find just as good on the flat but more versatile and very comfortable in more upright positions especially when climbing. I believe the Attack and the current PN1.0 are essentially identical. Either the PN1.0, PN1.1 or PN2.1 should give the same benefits. The only differences as far as I’m aware are rail material, padding level and the shape of the back of the 2.1 which is designed for racking the bike but shouldn’t effect comfort.
If you don’t like these saddles at first don’t panic. They can be awful for a couple of weeks while you get used to them but in my experience on two separate occasions, after about 2.5-3 weeks they suddenly become the most comfortable saddles going.
Thanks for your feedback. I will be looking closer at the PN models first, then. Will it not be a problem that it is so narrow? At just 110 mm width, it is a lot smaller than my current saddle, which measures 145 mm (a traditional road saddle).
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