ISM Saddles

[kwackers]

A recent increase in time in the saddle has once again brought pain & numbness to the forefront of my mind.

So I have a pelvis that is naturally rotated forwards and this in turn means the soft bits tend to get squashed by the nose of the saddle. No amount of adjustment with all the saddles I've ever have can fix this, tilt the saddle forwards and you slide down onto the nose, tilt it back and the nose is lifted and digs in.
My Brooks did a good job but it's not up to 2+ hours a day and lately I've started having issues.

So apart from buying a recumbent (which is always a possibility) I've been looking at saddles and the ISM saddles look like they might work - but they cost £100 or so each which is a lot of cash to splash out just to try.

Anyone have any experience of these (or any alternative suggestions)?

[kwackers]

After much googling and reading I decided the whole thing was too confusing so I just ordered a PR 2.0. (Tredz had them for £88 then as I went to leave the site it offered me another fiver off which sweetened the deal and overcame my pre-purchase doubts).

If it doesn't work I have a special box for all the saddles I've tried over the years (I really should eBay them all).
Also if it doesn't work the ISM 'Touring' saddle looks like it could be the 'final' solution - bar making my own, which is something I've been contemplating anyway...

[Paulatic]

Interestingly I’ve just had to change my saddle on my Road bike.
I’d been ok for years then last year Because of some uncomfort I switched it to a charge spoon I had sitting in the shed. It was ok Then this year on starting to use that bike again the saddle was not endurable.
I got to wondering why after all these years suddenly comfy saddles were no more? Thinking it through my biggest change is I started doing Pilates just over a year ago. I believe that because of the pilates I’m a lot more flexible than I ever was. I no longer sit on my sit bones and bend my back. I now bend from the pelvis and am now sitting along the narrower section of bone heading toward the pubic bone. Hence the discomfort on my older flatter saddles.
Following the Steve Hogg site I studied his recommendation for Selle SMP saddles. I’ve taken the plunge and bought a Well model ~£70 one of the cheaper ones to try. It’s early days as I’ve only had it a couple of weeks. So far though after a few tweaks it’s been an instant love affair. With a generous cut out and a shape which holds you in position. I find I’m riding longer and easier in the drops. Only down side for me at the moment is I’ve returned to padded shorts simply because in my new position it’s easy to detect any garment edge.
You can get trial smp saddles from here http://www.dillglove.co.uk/

Edit: I see you made your mind up while I wrote that

[kwackers]

I got to wondering why after all these years suddenly comfy saddles were no more? <snip>

Saddles have always been a source of annoyance for me. I think it's the tilted pelvis.
My current saddle I've had for 6 or 7 years and it's been OK (OK rather than brilliant). In October I started doing high mileage and it was fine but in the last month it's been going downhill. I've tightened it up, adjusted it and everything I can think of but nothing helps.

In my case I think it's because my sit bones have been digging bigger holes in the saddle dropping my bottom deeper into it which conversely lifts the nose further up into the soft bits.

I must admit the more I look at 'bents the more I like the look. Need to find someone with one and have a go.

[bikepacker]

I tried an ISM Adamo but couldn’t get on with it, the balance never felt right mainly due to lack of a nose. The was a company in Malvern that was agents for them and I had one on a month trial. I now use a Selle Italia Man Gel Flow for touring.

[DevonDamo]

I've been using an ISM Sport on my main bike for several years, including touring. It's extremely comfortable and, obviously, no need to worry about pressure on your squashy bits. The only issue I found was that in order to avoid the front of the saddle jabbing me in the back of the thighs I needed to angle it nose-down further than my seat-post would allow. I solved this by lengthening the slot in the seat-post with a metal file.

I've got two other bikes fitted with good quality, well-adjusted, traditional saddles, and it's miserable whenever I use them. I keep meaning to replace the saddles on all of them, but all that's happened is I've all but stopped using those bikes, so don't feel any urgency about swapping out the saddles.

You may read reports that noseless saddles give you less control over the bike - total myth.

[BigFoz]

I wanted to try them out on my TT bike. Took a few budgeted punts on eBay, and got one for £30. Lovely for the Tri position, not as keen when sat up. Does relieve pressure massively though.

[fossala]

I tried one maybe 3 years ago and got down to Penzance (45miles away) before having to bail out on a train due to pain.

[hodge]

The Rido rlt saddle claims to avoid pressure on the perineum and suit a forward rotated pelvis:

Rido say: 'The curvature of the saddle is designed not only to always give you the necessary lift and variation in rider-saddle contact spots as you ride but to also provide superb location enabling more power delivery to the pedals: a boon to any serious cyclist, especially up those inclines.'

Saddle fit is a very personal thing but all I can say is that for me it works just as described. It felt on the firm side at first but not at all uncomfortable and strangely the ability to move back and forth easily to optimise position did seem to 'enable more power delivery to the pedals', that did surprise me. I found this most apparent when moving back on the saddle, for whatever reason, it seems to work. I only adopted this more stretched out position when a bit more heft was useful, such as getting stuck into a steep ramp on a bend. First ride was about 50 miles (no discomfort at all, despite feeling firm initially) but as the shorter winter days soon arrived I've done nothing over 65 on it so far.
That bike's been off the road for a couple of months and I've been using the toupe ti 143 which the Rido replaced (and I also get on with ok) on another bike. They're different shapes (the toupe is flatter) but both seem to suit a forward pelvic rotation and work for me but I think I may prefer the Rido; I find it's necessary to get the tilt of the toupe dialed in just so, for best comfort; it works well then. The Rido isnt' so critical as the shape allows me to move around slightly as suits the moment, while still remaining comfortable.

Got it on a whim secondhand off this forum as it was going cheap enough to try out (thanks mgronow).

http://www.rido-cyclesaddles.com/new-ri ... 00130.html

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/saddles/whi ... ils-white/

That was a longer post than I intended and I think the OP is already sorted out too! Ah well

[kwackers]

That was a longer post than I intended and I think the OP is already sorted out too! Ah well

I've tried the PR2 now for a couple of journeys and I'm not feeling the love. It removes the pressure but I think it's too narrow. Looking at the links you've provided I'm going to hazard a guess they might be too narrow for me too.

The search continues (although I'll give the PR2 a bit more time once the weather picks up).

[hodge]

@ kwackers

I'm not familiar with the ISM PR2.0 but looking at the Wiggle ad for it tells me it's 130mm wide which their definition of saddle widths -
'Saddle widths vary across the ranges from narrow (up to 130mm), medium (up to 138mm) to wide (up to 146mm)'
puts it in the narrow category for saddles.

The Rido rlt I have is listed as being 138mm but it doesn't feel any narrower to me than the toupe 143 which supposedly measures 143mm (I think they do a 130 too). I had my sitbone width measured by sitting on something and noting the impression on a scale when I was in Evans once and they showed as being on the wide end of medium.
It might be worth getting your bones measured for width.
One other thing that occurs to me is that you say your pelvis is naturally rotated forward but don't mention your position on the bike.
Both the toupe and Rido rlt are designed for a more forward (aero) position on the bike which tends to cause rotation of the pelvis but also the upper body is lower and weight distribution different to a more upright position where most of the weight is on the saddle.

Saddle fit is very personal, I only mention the Rido rlt as it doesn't seem to be that well known (I'd never heard of or seen one before) and because for me it does everything they claim it should. It may or may not work for you, I can't say. Good luck in your search for comfort.

[kwackers]

I'm not familiar with the ISM PR2.0 but looking at the Wiggle ad for it tells me it's 130mm wide which their definition of saddle widths -
'Saddle widths vary across the ranges from narrow (up to 130mm), medium (up to 138mm) to wide (up to 146mm)'
puts it in the narrow category for saddles.

I think I missed that bit...

The Rido rlt I have is listed as being 138mm but it doesn't feel any narrower to me than the toupe 143 which supposedly measures 143mm (I think they do a 130 too). I had my sitbone width measured by sitting on something and noting the impression on a scale when I was in Evans once and they showed as being on the wide end of medium.

That's not a bad idea.

My bike's a tourer and I ride with my hands on the top of the drops. Things feel better if I force myself upright but that position is uncomfy for other reasons - plus there's the wind.

I'll dig out the tape measure and do a bit more research, cheers.

[martin biggs]

I have a complete love affair with the Selle smp lite 209 , i was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate a few years ago and did some internet searching and i could see that selle smp had done a fair bit of research into it , so i borrowed one from Dilgove to try and have not looked backwards since

[kwackers]

I have a complete love affair with the Selle smp lite 209 , i was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate a few years ago and did some internet searching and i could see that selle smp had done a fair bit of research into it , so i borrowed one from Dilgove to try and have not looked backwards since

Wow - not a cheap saddle...

The ISM I bought has grown on me a bit. No pressure on the important bits, just not quite the armchair I imagine a good saddle could be.
I'll give it more time for my botty to mould and think again.

I'm off the bike for the next couple of weeks anyway.
Went for some prostrate checks and the consultant wants a PSA test and doesn't want me to ride a bike for at least 10 days before giving blood...
He seemed pretty horrified at the idea of riding a bike, I think he probably has too much empathy with prostrates...

[martin biggs]

I have a complete love affair with the Selle smp lite 209 , i was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate a few years ago and did some internet searching and i could see that selle smp had done a fair bit of research into it , so i borrowed one from Dilgove to try and have not looked backwards since

Wow - not a cheap saddle...

The ISM I bought has grown on me a bit. No pressure on the important bits, just not quite the armchair I imagine a good saddle could be.
I'll give it more time for my botty to mould and think again.

I'm off the bike for the next couple of weeks anyway.
Went for some prostrate checks and the consultant wants a PSA test and doesn't want me to ride a bike for at least 10 days before giving blood...
He seemed pretty horrified at the idea of riding a bike, I think he probably has too much empathy with prostrates...

Dont go there re saddle cost , i was determined not to give up cycling and they came heavily recommended , after doing the bum measurements it was the nearest one to the right size without it looking like an armchair . i have tried a couple of the lower end models like trk and another one who's name escapes me and they are ok for short rides but i can feel the extra width and padding on longer rides .

My doc was ok about it but did ask me not to ride for a couple of days beforehand , hope all goes ok

Oh and i ended up buying 2 of the saddles and they are fitted on my regular rides ie bikes that cost a lot less than the saddles