Specialized Power saddle too wide?

[cyberknight]

swapped my saddle for the infamous charge spoon today as a test as i had one lieing around, i have always got one with the stock saddles on boardmans but maybe my behind has changed. spoon felt firm but no issues with rubbing or bunching .

 

[Ian H]

I'm a little confused. You have one saddle which is comfortable and one which isn't. Surely the answer is to replace the second with one like the first.

 

[Shearwater Missile]

From what I have seen with saddles is perhaps not how wide they are at the rear but how wide they are mid section. Or rather how quickly they taper to the narrow section. I have a Charge spoon and is my second best saddle, comfortable but even that is slightly wide in the middle section so my thighs rub. The San Marco compared to the Specialized at the beginning of this thread shows it off quite well. I am quite slim in build and hav`nt got overly large thighs but if I had I would certainly struggle with the Specialized one. My saddle of choice is the Prologo Kappa PAS. It is fairly firm but since I angled it down about 3mm is magic.

 

[fossala]

Call that a cut out?
Pah! - My new bike has been fitted (after a bike fit) with a Bontrager aeolus pro....

View attachment 511441
Now thats a cut-out.. the two halves are only joined at the extreme end of the nose.... So far I have to admit it's bloody comfortable (although longest ride has been less than 50k so far - so time will tell).

Mrs Kes has one of the spec Power jobbies and seems to like it too.

They ripped of berks lupina.

 

[cyberknight]

Bit of a follow up on my earlier posts .
I was still uncomfy although not as as bad so i did a bit of research and on some advice on facefluff from a rider it appears a narrow saddle is not what i am best suited too, tried the charge spoon i had stripped from a scrap bike on the off chance and although a bit harder my saddle sores have pretty much gone .

 

[Globalti]

Hardness has nowt to do with it. In fact I reckon an over-soft saddle can give you saddle sores. Charge Spoon is justifiably a popular saddle. Charge Knife is the same shape but cut away a bit.

 

[fossyant]

The 'old' Knife was the same design as the Spoon, but stripped down for weight. I snapped two bases under warrenty. If your bum likes them, the Spoons are great (as was the Knife until it kept snapping).

 

[Globalti]

Are they still made?

 

[Grant Fondo]

Anybody got one of these and finding it too wide? Here are pictures of the San Marco saddle on my hooligan bike, which is extremely comfortable and the saddle on the new Roubaix, which is a good shape fore and aft but I'm thinking too wide in the middle as it causes folding and rucking up of the skin or the shorts at the very junction of thigh and groin.

View attachment 510976

View attachment 510977

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions? I think I'll fit an old Charge Knife, my favourite saddle, to the Roubaix and see if it feels better. Once you've squirmed around a bit and got things settled on the saddle it seems fine but the early stages of a ride aren't comfortable.

What's the idea behind the Specialized saddle? How is it supposed to give you more power? Supposed to fit their new idea of unisex bikes? Any women on here who've tried one? How do you find it?

Oddly i have just switched a Toupe Sport from Spesh Diverge for a Prologo, which is narrower firmer and comfier.

 

[ColinJ]

Hardness has nowt to do with it. In fact I reckon an over-soft saddle can give you saddle sores. Charge Spoon is justifiably a popular saddle.

With those comfortable sitting on Charge Spoons! There was one on my secondhand CAADX but I found it really uncomfortable so I replaced it.

 

[Kajjal]

A useful way to look at it is work out where the pain is and measure your sit bones. That way you can have an idea of the best type / shape of saddle as well as width. My Trek came with a narrow saddle that after an hours riding made me feel like James bond when he was sat in the chair in a more recent bond movie. Changing to a saddle with a more pronounced cutaway and also wider at 155mm meant no more problems and I have the same saddle on all my bikes now including mountain bikes.

 

[BigMeatball]

I had my seat bones measured and had that specialised saddle recommended (the 155mm wide).

Ironically, the original saddle on my bike was fine at the beginning of the ride but would start to hurt after a while. The specialised saddle is the opposite: it kinda hurts at the beginning, then it feels good. It's still early to say if I've found the saddle of my life as I've only done 2 rides on it and both rides were less than 50km, but so far so good.

 

[cyberknight]

With those comfortable sitting on Charge Spoons! There was one on my secondhand CAADX but I found it really uncomfortable so I replaced it.

I did notice that i had to drop the saddle height a couple of mm as the spoon does not sag like my other saddles

 

[ColinJ]

I did notice that i had to drop the saddle height a couple of mm as the spoon does not sag like my other saddles

I fiddled with saddle height/fore-aft movement/tilt but it just didn't suit me the way that my Planet X saddles do. I have 4 of those now and will buy a 5th one when my cousin finally gets to come down here post-coronavirus and delivers the mountain bike that he is donating to me.

 

[BigMeatball]

I had my seat bones measured and had that specialised saddle recommended (the 155mm wide).

Ironically, the original saddle on my bike was fine at the beginning of the ride but would start to hurt after a while. The specialised saddle is the opposite: it kinda hurts at the beginning, then it feels good. It's still early to say if I've found the saddle of my life as I've only done 2 rides on it and both rides were less than 50km, but so far so good.

Update after a couple of months and 400km done: I like this saddle A LOT. Took me a while to find the perfect set up, I had to play around with position and height, but I think I got there eventually.

Real game changer was last week when I tilted the saddle forward, probably 1-2 degrees no more than that. At the end of a 80km ride my arse felt as good as at the start