So I tried modifying my Brooks Flyer Imperial and Ergon SMC4.

I cut the slot on the Brooks until the bridge was almost level with the sit zone. I cut all the way to the metal plate under the nose. This solved 90% of the discomfort that I had with my perineum. With loose pants, my testicles bump on the hard nose of the saddle, but with tight padded shorts there is no contact with the nose unless I go on bumpy roads. I drilled an upper row of holes and laced it so that the top surface doesn't bulge outwards.

One problem I couldn't solve is that the rails are too short and the Brooks saddle is 2cm too far forward for me when I've pushed it all the way back as far as possible. It's strange because all the other saddles I've tested can go another 3-4cm rearward compared to the Brooks.


Closeup of the cut



side


side. top surface is almost leveled. added another row of lacing holes.



I cut all the way to the metal plate under the nose. I also shaved the top surface around the rear of the slot, because when I sit down, this area tends to push upwards.



Left side before cutting, right side after cutting. I ended up cutting much more than initially, 2 more times, after test riding each time to see which areas were still popping up over the level of the sit zone.



Before modifying the Brooks, I tested 5 Ergon saddles. The ST Core, ST, and SFC3 were too soft and I was sinking into them.

The SMC4 seemed ok, soft but not too soft, somewhat flat, but later I found out that it was too curved towards the sides and this put most of the pressure on the inner side of my sit bones. It became uncomfortable after 1 hour. Before I realized this problem, I noticed first that I had some perineum pressure, so I peeled open the vynl cover, trimmed and sanded the foam on the bridge, and spray glued the cover again. This solved about 50% of the perineum problem, but the previously mentioned curvature also adds some perineum pressure towards the rear end. I could not trim the top surface of the sit zone to make it flatter, because I had the gel version. If you get the non-gel version, it might be possible to flatten the top surface by sanding down the center line. It took a lot of effort to trim the bridge, so I was sad that it didn't work. =(

If you want to try trimming the SMC4, the gel version has gel inset into depressions in the foam. The gel rips and splits if you try to peel the cover past the gel, so you should only peel back at most 1cm past where you want to cut. The gel is probably silicone and does not stick to most spray adhesives. It made air bubbles around the gel after the first time I tried gluing the cover, so I had to open it again and try automotive spray adhesive, which did a better job. I also had to sand down the silicone adhesive that was on the underside of the vynl cover for it to adhere better. I would recommend modifying the cheaper non-gel version of the SMC4, which is probably solid and continuous foam.

The SM Men seemed flatter, but I don't know if it's just because the foam is thinner and harder. So it had much less perineum pressure. It initially feels good, but after 30 minutes it becomes uncomfortable on the sit bones because it's too hard, and the plastic base is too stiff. It does not flex, unlike the SMC4. Padded shorts makes it ok for the first hour.