I was wondering if anyone else had experience with Selle SMP saddles. I own one, and used it for about 2 months at the end of last year and found it either luxurious or horrifying on rides. Seems VERY picky on rider position. (And I wasn't constantly changing saddle position).

I have the SMP Composit, and my other road saddle I go to is the Ritchey Streem. The polar opposite of horizontal shape.

It IS very picky on rider position. My Y-Foil came with one. I could never get it to be comfortable, because my Y-foil is on the large side for me, and I found myself sitting right on the bump toward the front of the saddle, whereas one needs to be behind the bump to make that saddle bearable. I swapped mine out for a Brooks Swift, and the bike was instantly vastly more comfortable.

BTW, if anyone wants a Selle SMP Extra for cheap, PM me. - Edit, it's gone, sold it on ebay.

They're picky on rider positioning and saddle angle.

I love mine and hope SMP never goes away. I got mine by fluke-PerformanceBike was clearancing the Composit for $100USD back years ago.

I have their Plus model, and really like it. Like others have said, you have to spend a little more time dialing in the angle/position, but once you find the sweet spot, you're golden. Most of my bikes are equipped with Selle Anatomica saddles, but the SMP Plus is one of the few plastic saddles that I find comfortable.

Do you mean like comfortable on the hoods/ uncomfortable in the drops? If the position of your pelvis changes depending on hand position, then it could be a fit issue.

I ride with one too, I found an angle which has the back almost level... I know... but it's been comfortable for century rides since adjusting it like that, and that's all I can ask for.

I know my bike fits. It's nothing to do with hand positions, but spandex "orthopedic" insert positioning, and how hard I'm motivated. (Being racier in a sprint makes you shift slightly on saddle). It's just my pelvic bone getting sore, not chafing.

The saddle height is right, as is the fore-aft placement. It's just the angle.

An un-padded saddle can take longer to 'toughen up to',

& switching back & forth between saddles (i.e. on different bikes) doesn't help.

Fine tuning tilt & fore/aft important, as others have noted- bring a wrench.




I've ridden five different SMPs, own four including the Composite, currently on full carbon on the main road bike.

There are a dozen different Selle SMP models. They are all subtly different. If the saddle doesn't feel _perfect_ you either have the wrong saddle or it is positioned wrong. You can break yourself in to tolerating the wrong model, but you should try every single one of them before you settle on one.

I've studied bike fitting and lead cliniques on it. I've ridden many SMP saddles as well, working in the industry and testing products. Trust me, I have the padless saddle buttocks too. I rode the saddle for two months last year and am now. Every ride I'm on has more than an allen wrench.

I'm asking other's opinions on their experience. Not if mine is right. I live in a very hilly area, and some rides are racier than others. Both factors on slight shifts of the rider, and these saddles have very narrow tolerances of what's a comfortable position.

I ride a Selle SMP Forma, which is a saddle with no padding just a microfiber cover over the plastic saddle body, on one of my bikes. I've ridden on a ride over 200 kilometers long on it without problem, but I'm not as big a fan if I'm riding it in just casual clothes like jeans. I actually thought I liked it so much that I bought another one to put on another bike but never have as I found Fizik Antares Versus to be generally more comfortable and have it on two other bikes instead of the SMP Forma.

Because there is little room to move fore and aft on the saddle due to its shape, it may be a lot more sensitive to which particular chamois pad you are riding in and the position of the pad as well as your positioning on the saddle. That might be why sometimes it's okay and others it's terrible.

As others mentioned, saddle tilt/angle is also important. I started out with the saddle level, meaning the kick up tail was level with the front bump. For me, tilted slightly nose down worked.

The first one that I tried- Dynamic, was a bit wide.
Second one- Stratos, good, now on Cx bike.
Third- Glider (two actually) From Craigslist at bargain price. OK, but not the best for me.
Traded one Glider for Composite (same shape as Stratos W/out padding)- good, took a few weeks to adjust to.
Carbon- same shape as Composite, slick surface- good, especially carbon rails, which flex. Folks are impressed with how hard it looks.
Max day's ride on this saddle so far= ~11 hrs.

Down side is very wet ass when riding in the rain because of the cut-out, but plastic 'ass saver' takes care of that.

I'm two happy years on a Dynamic, which went on without much futzing, at least no more than any other saddle. i did proceed from Steve Hogg's suggestion to level tail-to-nose, which may have reduced the need for many adjustments, perhaps because the uncommonly swoopy lines can be deceiving to the eye.

Also, the exceptionally long saddle rails can lead eyeball fitters astray, as they'll seek to center the clamp (or put it where it "usually" goes) as they would on the typical, shorter railed saddle.

I don't know what percentage of difficult fitments those things account for compared to people who have the wrong model or simply are hard to fit, but I do question the notion that the range of comfort positions for an SMP (in mm fore and aft) is shorter than on other saddles. I scoot around less because I'm essentially comfortable on the SMP, but I can "get on the rivet " just fine, too. Sliding up the back of the saddle is less practical though, but looking at the wear on my other saddles, I don't go there really anyway, perhaps only for a periodic stretch. The tail kick can be a reassuring element when powering hard in the saddle up climbs, I think.

I've been on the Evolution for quite some time, probably 4-5 years. I never had the opportunity to affordably try any of the others in the line, but after the initial discomfort, adjusting to level, and general 'toughening up' of required, I've been extremely happy with this saddle. I had been having circulation/nerve pressure issues with previous saddles and was looking for something with a center channel. I got this one off of ebay, used, and have put thousands of wonderfully comfortable miles on it. Rides ranging from recovery pace to 8 hr/ 115 mi./15k vertical feet of climbing. Very rarely do I use any kind of chamois cream. It can be tough if I've taken a break from riding for a while and then start up again, but I always know that after a few rides it'll be perfect again. I'm a huge fan of the saddle, and have a few friends who have had similar experiences with it as well. I truly hope they continue to succeed in the industry so that they'll be around for my future saddle needs.

-Jeremy

I went from a Selle Anatomica saddle to an SMP Plus. The Selle was the easiest on the sit bones but was causing numbness. The SMP felt like a rock at first but no numbness. The hard as a rock feeling on the SMP has gone away and now works great for me.

I had a Brooks Swift before the Selle Anatomica.

Review here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLCGsM4qRMc

I tip my Drakon down just enough to be comfortable while riding with bent arms in the drops. It stays comfortable while on the hoods/top of the bars.

Recently I flipped my stem down (wasn't a huge drop) and found the saddle numbed my private bits while in the drops. Tipping it down slightly (like half a turn on the Thomson seatpost clamp) got it back to comfortable.

I don't know if the range of comfort is any less on the SMP than others (I did have a Sella Anatomica on the bike before the SMP, and could never get comfortable in both the drops and on the hoods, which I attributed to the straight nose), but I only tip mine down far enough for it to be comfortable. Sitting bolt upright / no hands feels awkward on it, but I don't spend much time riding like that.

This may sound weird, but that's what I like best about them. I have a tendency to move about a little and dislike the vague, floaty feeling of flatter saddles. I've tried three in total have one on each of two bikes, and suspect I haven't found the best one yet. But I am happy with them.

I have an SMP Dynamic and its definitely very sensitive to position fore/aft and angle. Depending on your exact bike fit I can see it being problematic. Hoods, I'm sitting in the valley. When I shift to the drops, I need to shift back ~2mm to stay comfy.