Here is a detailed review of the Cobb V-Flow PLUS saddle. In all my research I found almost 90% (or so) of the reviews were positive. I only remember 3 people stating that they returned it because they didn't like it. I couldn't find any good pictures of this saddle to see the different shape that this offered.

I had been researching saddles for a good month now and came accross the Cobb saddles from John Cobb. (Cobbcycling.com) The reason I was in search of a new saddle was because the Selle italia max flite that I had once liked became my worst enemy. I am not a heavy guy, 5'10" 180lbs. I ride aggressive but am not a pro by any means, I use chamois creme with good shorts. The Selle itlalia gave me sores (LITERALLY) in the crease of my crotch and thigh and hurt my sit bones like you wouldnt believe.

Let me start off by saying...I KNOW WHAT WORKS FOR ME MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU. I KNOW EVERYONE IS SHAPED DIFFERENTLY AND ONE SADDLE CANNOT BE THE ANSWER FOR EVERYONE. I just wanted to clarify that as I get tired of reading that in every post towards saddles.

"In high performance road bikes or triathlon bikes, there is a large difference in the seating positions compared to a more recreational type of bicycle. In the case of a triathlon bike, the rider is rotated much more forward, riding on a completely different part of the Pelvis area." "-John cobb"

The cobb v flow saddles come in 3 different shapes.
-V Flow
: Has least amount of padding out of the 3 and is 40mm at the nose and 130mm at the tail and 275mm long weighing in at 296 grams $129.99 (free shipping) best fit for the rider who doesn't like much padding with a flat top to support the sit bones.
-V Flow Plus
:Has the most anount of padding but is the lightest weighing in at 275 grams with a 38mm nose and the same 130mm tail and 280mm long. 149.99 (free shipping). This saddle would be more fit for the road cyclist looking for distance and comfort with the performance still in mind.
-V Flow Max
:is the widest saddle with a 55mm nose still using the same 130mm tail and 260mm long weighing in at 296 grams. $169.99 (free shipping) This is very similar to the adamo which John cobb helped design. This saddle would be more fit for the Time Trial rider.

Before buying I had some questions, so I called the office and see what they had to say. after asking my questions she put me on hold......Mr. John Cobb himself picks up the phone and spent 10+ minutes tlaking to me about my goals and problems. His only request was that if I chose to return the saddle that I keep the tools, meassuring tape and dvd to help me set up the saddles I found to fit me better in the future. THATS GOOD BUSINEES in my book! An owner who's thoughts arent to turn a buck but to see people really enjoy cycling whether using his product or not.

I purchased the V Flow PLUS because I was looking for a saddle that would give me good support along with some padding that would help give my bum that luxurious comfort. Lets face it, the more comfortable you are the longer you can ride. As you can see in the pictures below, this saddle definitely has it's own shape. In fact if you are like me, you may not like the way it looks at all. I care VERY much about what my bike along with what I look like when I'm on the road, call me vein I dont care. After riding for 8 months in pain I will gladly trade in looks for comfort now.

When you buy the saddle this is what you have to look forward to:
-6 MONTH COMFORT GUARANTEE!!!! this means you can ride this saddle for 6 months and if you are not happy with it up after 180 days, return it for a FULL refund. what do you have to lose right?!
-Tool kit for those who may not have the proper tools
-Measuring tape to tape proper measurments and get you to a first step in setting up your saddle.
-A dvd which shows you step by step how to do it if you dont like to look over directions.

I installed my saddle and checked my measurments in 10 minutes. toop it out for a spin and right away felt I neded to make some changes. I set it up flat at first (parallel to my top bar) as a stepping stone to see where to adjust it next. I felt some pain in my crotch so I tilted the nose up a couple Millameters and took it back out. felt much better and relieved some pressure on my hands. I then felt like I was up to close so I slid the saddle back 3mm. Back out again and still felt like the nose was up enough so I came back in. after adjusting it I looked at it and thought, "THERES NO WAY that can be right!" but it just 1mm up from where I had it last so I figured I would give it a shot. BOOM pure comfort!!!!! Took some getting used to with the nose up that high but it felt good. I was concerned about going from a 143mm tail width to a 130mm but it felt fine as my sit bones sat right where they needed to. The saddle felt firm but the specail memory foan used in the padding felt very luxurious. almost like sitting in a honda civic and then going and driving your parents BMW M5.
I went for a mild 50 miles on a new saddle which can usually be a death wish with a new saddle but came back home with no numbness, no sores or irritation and my butt didnt feel like I had been sitting on a seat for any amount of time at all. Not bad for a new saddle that isn't broken in yet. Hopefully it will get even more comfortable but if it doesn't so what, I have 6 MONTHS!!!

Again, in my reseach priopr to buying this I couldn't find any descent pictures so I wanted to help others of you out there who may consider this saddle by giving you several different views before pulling out your credit card.


Flat tail which doesnt seem like it would give much support, but like in on of the pictures below, it craddles your body in the center which allows your sit bones to sit right where they need to.



The nose is almost all padding yet stiff which allows you to get in a more aerodynamic position whithout putting to much pressure on your man parts












You can see in this photo how the center of the saddle almost dips to craddle your body

good review,

how long are your typical rides? and how long have you been riding?

typically those who complain of sore it bones and stuff like that just arent used to being on a bike for that long, and think that more padding is the answer, which generally isnt the case for being in the saddle for a long time. the compression of the padding works against you after a while.

i'm not saying that's your case by any means, just curious.

Shame they are all so narrow. If I could even stand to ride it any distance, I'd have to pry it out of my butt when done

I really don't get sore anymore. Maybe after a three or four hour ride but it's still just a little bit. For me it was making sure things weren't rubbing down there and just getting use to riding. Also making sure your sitting on the saddle right.

June member join date

3 posts All identical

Sounds like a spam buy me post to me

+1

That was my first thought.

It could be the answer to sore butt...But It DEFINITELY is the answer to destroying the look of a bike!

I've got a V-flow Max on my TT/Tri bike, wouldn't recommend it for a normal road bike position myself though. And looking at those pictures I'm glad I got a black one.

I'm not spam, I have been following several threads regarding the Cobb saddle and now that I have personal experience I thought I would add my thoughts as well as show some pictures that might help some people out that may be thinking about purchasing the cobb saddle.

Also like said, I'm not fond of the look of it but I will take comfort over appearance.

I have been riding for about a year now. I have 2 centuries under me and am gonna start to race cad 5. most of my rides are about 50 miles. I try to ride twice a week but having 2 kids, a wife and a full time job it can become difficult to find theater available time to do so without being selfish with my time.
I have just over 1000 miles since I have started last year so I definitely have room to learn and grow as a cyclist.

Like I mentioned, its not my favorite looking saddle but so far its comfortable and I will take a happy bum over a painful ride anyday. I didn't go with the black saddle because I don't like how a black saddle looks on my bike. the max would he a bit wide for a normal road cycling bike. the max is definitely a TT style saddle.

Yeah yeah yeah, thanks for dropping your advertisement disguised as a real post. The only reference I have about you and your products, Mr. Cobb, is that your first communication with me was a dishonest one. I really don't need to know anything else, do i?

OK now, bye bye then.

John Cobb is a well respected innovator in cycling. The name is synonymous with breakthroughs in bicycle design.

My friend rides this saddle when it was made under a different company name-Blackwell. He uses it on his road bike and really likes it a lot.
I have to say the padding has held up well which is more than I can say for the Selle Italia saddles.

After many years with the Flite Ti, SLR, SLR max; I think there are some great alternatives out there that don't have the ad budget of Selle Italia or other major brands.

I have been using the Vflow plus for a year now 5000 miles or so, Much better than the POS forte that was on my scattante. have done 2 centurys with it and really helps. I also now have a cervelo S2 and it came with a rather flat seat with no groove and I miss the center relief of the V-flow, I will be getting another seat for the Cervelo, possibly the vflow with LESS padding as my bum is used to riding now and I think TOO MUCH padding can cause sores, Still I give the Vflow a thumbs up

Oh, yeah I may get a more cool looking seat for the Cervelo , guts to be stylin with that puppy

Thanks for the warm welcome spreggy. my name is nick so if you got a problem with john cobb I'm sure you can find his phone number to tell him yourself buddy. You think that looks like a garage of a millionare? better yet, do you think he would use an $1500 bike as his add picture?? deflate your chest a bit bro

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/ro...rono-6412.html

Um, yeah...see that writing on the rear triangle that says "John Cobb Design"? Yeah...I'm pretty sure that guy doesn't need to go on BF to spam his products under a fake username.

"Who is John Cobb? He's arguably spent more time in a wind tunnel than anyone in North America over the last decade. When Lance Armstrong first started chasing Tour de France titles, Cobb was his undisputed aero advisor. He's credited with conceiving Giro's design for the Advantage helmet (at the 1999 Interbike, Giro showed off Cobb's back-of-the-napkin drawings & cardboard mockups of the design), with both Trek & Litespeed's aero bike designs, and with Oval Concepts' (now Ridley's) Jetstream fork technology. He consulted with teams like Rabobank then Lampre, which resulted in the Cobb-Wilier collaboration."

OK, I stand corrected. My apologies.

Cheers nick and welcome to Bike Forums.

If you post the same review in a couple of forums here AND to cyclingforums.com; if you use copy & paste as font changes and identical wording suggest; if these are your first posts here; if you choose to use TV infomercial phrases like "what do you have to lose right?"

THEN it will simply read as a shill. We get a lot of those. One line would go a long way, you could state categorically right on top of your review that you are just a satisfied customer and have no other business relationship with the manufacturer.

You mention you were happy with the Selle Italia until it became your "worst enemy". What happened there, did you change your riding position?

--Juha, a Forum Mod

I have this saddle on my TT bike and like it a lot.

I still think this is a shill thread though.

I think the selle was good to me at first because I was just starting out and I didnt do anything more than 40 miles for the first 4 or 5 months. After I started doing 60+ mile rides it just started to be painful. Did I change my body position? I think I did, for the better as I became better. after getting some descent rides in the selle italia reminded me of back being back in High school sitting on the bleachers for assembly's and my sit boes would start to hurt from the hard wood. oh well hopefully this will serve me better and if it doesnt it's going right back and I will try the specialized phenom.

looks like an SMP with a lot more padding.

the shape is way different.

Why do you have the tilt so nose high? Have you tried it mounted flat?

Yes, I mentioned that in my review. I tried it flat as a starting point and adjusted it from there. the directions say that a slight tilt is how it should be for the plus. this just seems to be the position that feels best for me as of now. I'm sure I will be doing some more adjusting as I get time to play with it.

It is a similar shape to the SMP. The cut out seems to be much softer on the inner edge of the whole which is good for me. I was looking into the SMP before I purchased my seller Italia but felt the SMP was to hard for me. BUT this is also before my bum got accustomed to riding in the saddle and maybe u tested the wrong shape SMP considering they have like 12 different models to choose from.

Juha thanks for the welcome and heads up. I assure you all this is no shill post. I copied this write out from the other forum I am on cyclingforums so that I wouldn't have to write it all out twice. I apologize if I did something wrong here. boy you guys really know how to make a new member want to not come back!

yep we do. it's all part of the secret society