ColinL

TL;DR - look at the pics.

I had an hour to kill after work yesterday so I stopped by my trusty LBS and asked again if they had any Romin Evos. I could've ordered one, but since I tried and hated all of the Selle SMP saddles they have, as well as a normal Romin, Toupe and Phenom ... well, I didn't think there was much hope I'd like this saddle.

I love it. I had on my dress slacks and it still was pretty damn right. Put 20 miles on it today and didn't need to adjust anything. It's way firmer than my previous saddle, a Selle Italia Prolink gel flow, but I could immediately tell that my 3 best friends were having a much better time when riding in the drops. Also, it felt like I was sinking into the Prolink after an hour of riding, and so by the 2 hr mark I would start to hate it.


It's too late to make this a short post, but look at my saddle. Why doesn't it say 'Romin Evo Comp' on the nose, and 'gel' in the center like on Specialized's site?
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb...ominevocompgel


Did I buy a take-off or dealer sample? It looked and felt brand-new to me and I didn't pay retail ($90). Also, I like how the cut-out in the saddle allows me to mount my saddle bag higher and still be able to remove it with the clip.

PS- my cameraphone sucks, I know. The lens is seriously scratched up. That's what is causing the fuzzy images.

milkbaby

I would guess it's probably a new bike take-off? Maybe weigh it and see which one of the Romin Evo versions it weighs closest to, and that'll probably be the one.

ColinL

Oh, I forgot to mention that the rails to say 'hollow cr-mo' which is marked on the Romin Evo Comp Gel. The Evo Expert has titanium rails and the bridge between the cutout in the rear of the saddle is red. Mine is white, just like the Comp Gel.

Aha. Just found that the Venge comes with Romin Evo saddles, but that's too expensive for this shop's usual clientele so I bet it was a low-trim Shiv.

Damn, mystery solved. Now I have no platform to crow about how great my new saddle is.

Campag4life

Reviews have been very positive on the new Romin Evo. I may pick one up in fact. That said, I like my Toupe more than my reg. Romin...both have hollow Ti rails. Would also like to try the Toupe Plus which is said to be an improvement over the reg Toupe Ti.

NWS Alpine

I have the White Evo Pro and it's great. I tried a ton of saddle and this one was the best for me. It is great when riding normal or in the drops.

island rider

Solved? Wow, you are easily appeased

You say you tried the toupe and hated it. You find this one significantly different from that? Can you elaborate? I am currently on a Fizik Arione and an Arione CX and have recently been spending more time seated, with some numbing results. I tried a toupe in the past and didn't like it. Serious sit-bone pain, like holy carp I need to stand the next 20 miles, pain. I decided to try a Romin Evo Expert (ordered it from an LBS) to alleviate the arione numbness issue and I'm curious about what I am about to face.

-Feel free to continue to crow.

pdxtex

no joke, that is a very firm saddle. ive got two of them and im still getting them dialed in on their respective bicycle but so far so good. do you have your's set up perfectly level? ive got the nose of mine pointed slightly down and just past level...

RollCNY

YMMV, but I found that my Romin (granted not an EVO) took a fair amount of saddle to bar drop to be comfortable. I tried it first on bike with roughly 2-2.5" drop, and it was awful. Like 250+ miles of painful. Shelved it, and beat myself up for it. Later put it on a more aggressive bike, with closer to 4.5 -5" drop, and it is the most comfortable thing going. For me, it was all about weight distribution.

Tartar

I just picked up an Evo last week for my new bike. Unfortunately, the longest ride I have managed to squeeze in was 45 miles, but I really like it so far. The saddle feels really good in both the hoods and drops, my sitbones are very comfortable and the shape suits me fine. The only thing I might like to point out is the sizing, as I have read on other forums, it might be wise to consider going a little wider with the Evo over the toupe. I measured right between a 143 and 155, the 143 toupe fits me fine(I really like it btw, just wanted the new shape to make clearance for the drops), ordered the 155 Evo and am very happy for it.

NWS Alpine

I can't remember where I read it but Specialized might be revising the Evo sizing. They are bringing out a 160 something size and dropping the smallest size. So the 155 would be the middle size. This could be why everyone who was measured into the 143 and orders the 155 has a better fit.

Perp

I ride a Romin Evo (replaced my Toupe). For me, when riding in an aggressive position, I find the Romin more comfortable then the toupe. I like how it slopes up in the rear which keeps me planted when I'm hammering away.

I like both saddles - toupe for more relaxed/upright position. Romin in drops/aero

bobonker

I was excited about the Evo, but found that I was more comfortable on the regular Romin, so I've gone back to it. The regular Romin is much firmer than the Evo and this seems to agree with me. I do like the kicked up tail on both of them. After riding the Romin/Romin Evo for over a year, I find that my lower back hurts when I ride a flat saddle.

Bob

ColinL

the manager at my LBS where I bought it was on a toupe, but had the same problems I had on my selle italia prolink-- no good in the drops, and not as comfortable at all after an hour or two due to feeling like you're "in" the saddle. I think these two complaints are very common for flexible saddles. he switched first to a romin expert and liked it, but had some sitbone pain after multiple days in the saddle in a row. switched to the romin comp gel and he's 100% happy.

the original romin doesn't agree with me at all. (I realize someone else asked/commented, but I'm too lazy to multi-quote. ) I knew within a minute, literally, that it was an ass-hatchet that I would never like no matter the angle.

speaking of the angle, the LBS guy set it up for me to match his romin evo, the best he could with his eyeballs. I haven't had to move it yet, which is shocking. no doubt equal measures of skill and dumb luck! I put a level on it and it's very slightly below level, when I put a small level on the midsection of the saddle and ignore the kicked-up tail.

I don't have any complaints about the width so far, but to be fair I ride 143s and as narrow as 130 depending on what bike and what riding position.

ColinL

oh, missed this one in my last reply.

my bike has about 4.5" of saddle-to-bar drop and I ride in the hooks or drops 25-50% of the time depending on how windy it is a given day. so it's a pretty big deal that the prolink didn't work great for me in the drops, and high praise that I did 2 hours on the romin evo comp today with no problems at all.

island rider

This is good to know. I've got a big drop and I when I sit upright my arione is fine, forward on the hoods, or in the drops, and I lose all sensation.

Biscayne05

Spent 3 hours on mine last Sunday. Not a single sore on my tush.

skinewmexico

Spent 5 hours in mine on Saturday, never lost feeling with the boys. Can't say that about any of my other saddles. I think the Evo is a little narrower than my Romin, which I like.

TrojanHorse

I just got done testing 4 or 5 different saddles... arione, toupe, romin, different romin... and I ended up picking up a 155 Romin Evo Expert Ti and that one worked best. My bones ended up sizing between the 143 and 155 but the 143 Toupe was so awful I went straight to 155.

My LBS guy says the Romin suits people who ride more flat backed with their butt stuck back in the saddle. I don't know that I ride exactly like that but it does seem to be more comfortable when I'm jamming. Slow cruising... not so much.

I thought the evo was firm until I tried the regular romin. Doh!

bobonker

The regular Romin is a sit bone crusher, but if you can get past that, it's a great saddle.

I've had a few people ride my bike and say "How the *&(* can you ride on that saddle??"

Bob

island rider

This is me. It's starting to sound like I am on the right track here. But I'm not sure about something, what is this "slow cruising" of which you speak?

The anecdotal evidence gets better and better. Thanks for speaking up Colin.

ColinL

I did about 10 miles this morning, fast, on the brick roads in my neighborhood. the firmness of the saddle is apparent on rough road, but it still didn't give me any lasting pain or discomfort at all. this one is a keeper.

btw I had been bidding (and losing! ) on ebay auctions for a fizik antares versus. that looks like a similar saddle but there are no local shops who carry fizik, so I would have to choose between a web retailer with a solid return policy (such as Competitive Cyclist) or taking my chances on ebay and reselling it if I hated it.

the antares versus looks like it has a wider nose (maybe flatter, too?), possibly a wider rear section, and definitely less kick-up on the tail. I have no idea how the firmness compares...

motorthings

FWIW - The romin does not flex like the toupe does, and allows the rider to move fore/aft less (locks them into horizontal location more) than the toupe. In my experience, it does allow a greater drop with more comfort on the taint, but is much harder on the sitbones.

I have ridden a toupe for years, and tried the romin evo pro. I loved the shape and feel overall, but after a couple of weeks I noticed my sitbones were sore off the bike, but not on it. It grew more uncomfortable to sit in my office chair, and I finally realized that the saddle was actually the problem. Went back to the toupe, and all soreness has gone away.

NWS Alpine

I demoed all the Fizik saddles the shop had. I really wanted to like the anterez so I could get the matching liquigas version for my cannondale. I could not fit any of the fizik saddles as well as the Evo. The Aliante was the better or the models for me which lead me to SMP/Romin Evo saddles. The versus has slightly more padding than the regular models but the fizik shapes didn't fit me that well. After 20 miles I was getting some discomfort and numbness. I adjusted them a few times and still the same thing.

Werkin

Here's the "rub" with the EVO, yes it is narrower at the nose than the regular Romin, but not for much more than the first inch. Where the saddle begins its widening toward the rear begins too early also. The lower edge could benefit from a tucked under radius, instead of a vertical edge. Combine this with a grippy covering, and it becomes a recipe for accelerated shorts wear. The EVO Expert saddle nose wore holes in the chamois of one pair of my shorts, and caused pilling on two others. I'm currently using shorts with a chamois that has stitching only around the outside edge of the pad, the Lycra shell on the crouch/inside leg moves independently of the pad, which appears to be holding up better for the moment. The saddle shape tends to encourage riding further forward on the nose to keep friction low. A smooth cover and tucked edge would fix most of the rubbing issues.

There's a lot to like about the lack of pressure on my boys with this saddle, and the padding on the Expert model is just about right.