Saddle experience: Selle Italia SLC or Selle SMP Strike? - Page 2

I have the SLC on my Kuota and it is a very good saddle, but I am considering the Strike Carbon because the giblets do go numb after only 30 minutes on my TruTrainer rollers, because I am not comfortable enough on them to stand up, so I have to stop and let things come back to life - very annoying. Other than that, the saddle is incredibly comfortable and the flex in it seems to make up for any lack of padding. Does anyone know if the Strikes also flex due to their thiness? I suspect that they may not because of the "bridge" across the gap, connecting the 2 sides near the back of the saddle. If the SLC had the sloped nose it would probably be perfect for me. By the way, Bikemania.biz has all models of the Strike available, including the complete Carbon which goes for almost $600. The carbon is $385 and the rest are $220. If anyone gets the Strike, please report your results. Thanks.

Really, they have one at my LBS, the guy over the counter is a racer-friend of mine, I saw the saddle at $329.

"Wow, who buys these?"
"Idiots"
"oh."

Saddles cost about $12 to make. This design is heavy on bullsh*t. It does not do anything fundamentally different than other saddles that perch you on your sitbones (i.e. Brooks, Aspide, SLR) and allow perineal blow flow.
The journal article about the efficacy of these saddles is published by Caruso,the same guy who designed the saddles and who works for SMP. The same is true for the Specialized Toupe -lots of 'scientifical' data, yet no pro on even on Gerolsteiner will use one for anything longer than a TT. I went through all this and spent hundreds on useless lightweight saddles (thank god for Ebay).

You want real saddle advice? Pros often refuse to accept endorsements for saddles because they know how important a good saddle is. A Road racer will spend 6 hours a stage on a saddle for a month. Look through what they use, the commonality is the old, heavy, Selle Italia Flite, even on teams sponsored by other saddles. Recently it's the Fizik Airione, San Marco Aspide and the Italia SLR. None of these have cutouts.
Armstrong refused to ride anything other than a San Marco Concor -no cutouts, no gel, no BS. Boonen rides San Marco Regal -same thing.

Read these papers, from an independent source:

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Feb;35(2):327-32.

Int J Impot Res. 2002 Dec;14(6):513-7.

And others conclude that saddles don't matter as much as seating position. Riders who ride sitting up with high bars are putting too much weight on their butts. Riders with higher cadence and more time spent climbing off the saddles or in the drops have no problems with comfort or blood flow. Too much padding is not good, it chokes of blood vessels, and overall saddle spring is important, as well as ability to move in the saddle (i.e, airione, Flite, Aspide or SLR). Most studies published to date are only looking at sedentary riders, i.e. policemen and weekend riders. If you are stuck in one position, sitting upright, the SMP may help, but this is not good riding technique. At full cadence, you should straddle the saddle, no sit on it. It's a saddle, not a seat. Adjust your style, not your saddle. Saddle problems at my club always come from guys who ride their bars too high.

Well, I appreciate some of the information, but spare me the attitude about, who would pay $300 for a saddle - it is the main interface with the bike. Certainly the same could be said for spending $4,000+ for a bike... The bottom line is that I go numb on the rollers and the saddle is the problem (my position on the rollers also contributes) and I am looking for ways to fix the problem. By the way, on the road, the SLC is the most comforatble saddle I have ever ridden, and I also have the S I Flite. I am willing to pay whatever it takes to make the boys comfortable on the rollers, so feedback about the Strike is welcome.

sigh. You think the saddle is the problem. Don't forget the chamois-cheap shorts suck.
Tip: make a 1/4" saddle cushion from $50 bills, makes about as much sense as a $220-$600 SMP saddle.
More likely it may just be width or shape, or you need a professional bike fitting, which is what worked for me.

I suggest trying a San Marco Aspide SKN. Light, and springy, $25-30.
If it doesn't work, ebay for $15.
Or wait, SMPs are new, in a matter of months, many will appear on ebay barely used. If not, at least try the SMP TRK, it's $65.

Nay, 'tis not the shorts - I use Pearl Microsensors, Pearl Ultrasensors and Hincapie's top of the line. Same no matter what I wear on the rollers. Additionally, I did have not just a static professional bike fitting, but a dynamic 2-hour fitting with dynamic angle measurements using freeze-frame photography. Side note - THAT was some of the best money I have ever spent - I bought my bike based on those measurements and it fits like a glove. That being said, I know that my riding position on my rollers is less than optimal, but it is what it is and that is the main problem that I am trying to solve, knowing that if it solves it there it will be better than good on the road. While I do believe that stewardship is important, I am not overly worried about the $200 - $400 cost, so don't be overly focused on the it - that is a secondary consideration for me. Any SMP Strike users out there with feedback on the saddle? If not, I will be in the next week or so - trying to figure out how much padding (which model) to go with.

If you ride a lot then investing in the contact points between man and machine makes sense. Sure it will never be as comfortable as sitting on the couch, but you can go a long way to making sure that you really enjoy sitting on the saddle.

The new Selle SMP range does, imo, exactly what the manufacturer claims and they seem to have heeded customers comments about prices by introducing the Extra at about GBP60 to bridge the gap between the TRK and the Pro / Plus

I was a scpetic about the claims until I tried the Pro (see my earlier posts), now I have a member of the Selle SMP Strike range on every bike I own.

My own take on the best measure of value / price is that the Pro is probably optimum.

That groove in front looks scary. My, how the world's changed since the 70s and 80s when your choice was between Cinelli Unicanitor, Sella Italia Turbo, Sella San Marco Concor, or a Brooks Pro. They all cost less than 40 bucks and if one didn't work for you, chances are that the others wouldn't either--the problem would be your butt or your position.

In 40 years of riding I've enjoyed thousands of miles on all of these saddles--they were all good. The Turbo was my favorite because I could find the most positions on it, but after 25 years the shell broke down and they don't make it anymore. The current Concor with titanium rails (like Lance used) is a decent second choice, and it costs only $65 at Excel Sports.

I just got in 2 of the SMP Strikes - a Pro and an Evolution. We will see how they treat the boys tonight one is going on the Kuota on the rollers and one on the P3 on the trainer. Here goes numb-thing!

Eager to hear our it went.
I have two friends that tried the SMP Strike, one has given up on it after a month. The other has stayed with it a little longer and stated that since he's raised the tip of the saddle, it has actually become a bit more comfortable. Though the final verdict is still out. Both mentioned that the padding seemed very stiff, and hasn't softened up much in a month of riding.
I think the poster who stated it isn't going to be quite as comfortable as the couch said it best......and especially if you want something lightweight.

I wore Pearl Ultrasensors and after 30 minutes on the Pro on the road bike / rollers - I was absolutely fine. I could tell in the first 30 seconds that it was significantly different. The padding is stiff, but compared to what I am used to (the Selle SLC) it was just fine. Knew this one is a winner, its not overly light, but hey no free lunches. I'll crank a few extra watts climbing to save the lads. Definitely a keeper.

I then jumped on the TT bike on the trainer. The Evolution has far less padding, and I could definitely feel a difference between the 2 saddles (Evolution noticeably harder) but no numbness there either and I went with that saddle on the TT bike, because an hour at a time is all I want on that bike anyway. (I suspect that the composite, carbon and full carbon are as hard as a rock.)

I am 6'4" and weigh 185 and I was concerned before I got them that the Strike saddles may have been designed for smaller body type cyclists and may not fit me, but getting them and trying has eliminated that concern. These 2 are keepers for me!

Good luck!

I just bought a SMP Strike Composit from an LBS who allowed me to swap it for a different Strike model if I didn't like it. The Composit was incredibly hard (zero padding). You'd have to have one tough a** to be able to tolerate that for very long. I did two hours on it and felt like I had bruises down there. (I usually ride a San Marco Concor).

Today I swapped it out for the Stratos (which has a bit more padding) and seems better. I remain to be convinced about the huge cutout. Sure, you don't get any numbness but you must be concentrating the same weight on those little rails each side of the cutout. I'll report on what I think of it when I've ridden it a couple of times.

I have the Strike and have put about 1000mi on it. I loved it and never had a problem even right out of the box. The tilted nose reduces pressure on the boys, and i do long rides so this is mandatory. I recently changed saddles after a professional fitting, PK Racing in Bay Area, and found that with the new fit the saddle wasn't right for me. I have mine and am willing to sell it for a decent price. I'd rather it go to someone on this board than some random person from ebay.

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"The people who can drive themselves further once the effort gets difficult are the ones who will win." Shifting gears helps.
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2007 Specialized Transition Tri-Bike, Shimano 105 compact crank, Dura-ace shifters
2005 Giant Comp OCR 2 (upgraded to full Ultegra), FSA Carbon Crank, FSA K-Wing
2000 Giant Warp DS mtn bike

I have the Strike and have put about 1000mi on it. I loved it and never had a problem even right out of the box.

Which model do you have - I may have a riding buddy that would take it - how much would you be asking for it?

i have the strike on my TT bike. used it for a year and would say it is a excellent saddle. only cavat might be it puts a lot of pressure on your rear end and i've had some sore bones after rough courses. not sure if a fatter ass would help.....?

The range does vary from about £18 to about £200 as you can see here