ISM is a local company and I have a friend that works there so I get some of the lowdown scoops. The Cobb saddles and the ISM saddles are almost the same since John Cobb was the architect of that design when he worked at ISM, years ago. One important difference is that the Cobb saddle has the two nose prongs connected from the bottom side of the saddle. One of the issues with the ISM saddles is that if you don't ride square on the saddle, one of the prongs tends to drop below the other prong when the saddle is mounted on seat posts with the clamp bolts on the side. Trek seat posts are a good example. If you tend to ride more to one side over the other, the prong on the side you tend to lean toward will be the one that drops down. The Cobb saddles eliminate this by having the prongs connected. ISM states that to avoid the dropping of one of the prongs, tighten the clamp bolts to the correct torque so they don't loosen up from leaning to that side. My clamp bolts are on the bottom of the clamp, so I have never had that problem.