Non-Traditonal Saddles to Eliminate Numbness, Maximize Circulation
 

I haven't had a great experience with my Brooks B17 Imperial, even with a professional fitting (extensive lasting numbness), so I'm looking at non-traditional bike saddles especially meant for relieving perineal pressure (noseless etc.). Any experiences with these or similar? Not the classiest looking things, but if they're comfortable on century rides, I'm ok with it.

Spongy Wonder

Spiderflex

ISM Adamo Typhoon

Selle SMP TRK

spongy wonder and spiderflex are pretty much like mine the pro hub x2. If your problem isn't medical it should eliminate most perineal pressure though pressure is not just about perineum.
Main downside is that most pressure go somewhere else your arms and wrists. Other noticeable things:
-lack of control
-can't really move forward or rearward when climbing or going downhill
-constantly slide forward so you have to constantly adjust your sitting position or if you find a way to have better grip so that you don't slide this should solve most problems here
-better when riding in upward position so not on a road bike with an aero riding position
-must rise the handlebar to ride more upward so you may eventually lose a few miles/hr

Looks bad but it isn't really. My butt was so happy :)

Those saddles are a good choice when you suffer from numbness so much that it has become the main aspect in your search for the perfect saddle or if you're a urban rider (though i've done occasional long distance rides with mine)

Regarding the ISM and selle SMP TRK those usually have good reviews. The main downside is that you can't adjust the cutout width so your sitbone width and riding position must match. Hopefully, ISM offers numerous saddles.

I didn't switch to a recumbent because of saddle issues, but I certainly noticed it was a lot more comfortable. When I ride a DF bike, oh, how I miss my recumbent.

I'm not saying the ride saddle won't make a big difference. But keep 'bents in mind if you can't find the relief you're looking for.

Good luck with the saddle.

Periodically stand for about 30-60 secs to allow circulation to return. Also make sure that the sit bones are on the saddle sweet spot in the most common riding position.

I switched to a bent a couple of years ago due to saddle and arm/shoulder discomfort. After losing some weight and working out a bit, I'm back on the DF for local rides. Bent for touring.

I own both the Selle SMP Lite 209 and ISM Adamo Road saddles. I find both to be very comfortable, with the ISM Adamo having a slight edge over the Selle SMP saddle. The Adamo saddles do a terrific job of concentrating all of your weight on your sit bones. If you're not used to this you will find them uncomfortable initially. You may also find that you need an Adamo with slightly more padding than you might normally consider optimal. I've never had problems with numbness, perhaps because I stand several times an hour like Cyclebum suggests, so I can't comment on whether the ISM Adamo will help with that. FWIW, it's the only saddle I've found where I'm just as comfortable when riding in an aggressive aerodynamic tuck as when sitting bolt upright. I haven't noticed any problems controlling the bike while using the noseless Adamo saddle. It does have fewer seating positions than a normal saddle, due to the shorter length, but for me that hasn't been an issue.

For twice the price, the Selle SMP Lite 209 is very close to the Adamo, though just a bit less comfortable in an aggressive tuck. One advantage of the SMP is it's shaped more like a normal saddle, so there's less of an adjustment period than there is with the Adamo. For normal riding around, both saddles work well for me. If I were going to participate in long-distance time trials or triathlons I'd chose the Adamo over the SMP. If you want a saddle with a nose or something that looks slightly more normal than an Adamo, Selle SMP is a good choice. The biggest problem with SMP is the cost. Their cheapest saddles, the TRK and Extra, have tons of padding which generally doesn't work well for long-distance rides. I started with the Selle SMP Extra (available a Performance Bike), which has slightly less padding than the TRK I believe. It wasn't bad, but the huge amount of padding means you're not getting the full benefit of the large cutout or saddle design. If you're having problems with numbness, I'd be concerned that the TRK or Extra might not help much. The Lite 209 was a big improvement for me on longer (2+ hour) rides; I waited about a year to upgrade and in retrospect I wish I'd purchased the Lite 209 sooner.

Pootling Pace, and getting off the bike often, is my touring style ..
so I havent had the Issues you all seem to have..



no wider nose Saddles [to make room for the hole in between] ..

Regular Brooks Pro [ Turbo, Rolls, Etc.]

You just have to ride them. I always get saddles from somewhere with a return policy. It's very personal. I can never tell if a good-feeling saddle will really work until after the 3rd hour. Really, riding a century as a trial is best. I also can't ride traditional saddles, same reason. Just getting out of the saddle doesn't cut it. You should be able to sit for a couple hours without going numb.

I ride Performance Bike Forte Classic saddles on all my bikes. Affordable, comfortable for me, and very durable.

Velo Bio:Logic works for me. Similar to the Bike Forte Classic.

You say you have had a fitting, I would still look at that as part of the issue.

Another thing is whether you wear padded shorts/pants. I wear some I made myself that have two layers of fleece in them (first layer I put in was not extensive enough, so I made a wider layer. Found I liked the design, so that is what I use. On one tour I had the original ones, and the second pair, made only with the single wider layer. I could tell the fit difference on that thickness of materials alone.

Here's another novel saddle I saw during a century ride. The guy riding it sweared by it.
moonsaddle.com

I always found that a harder saddle was better than a soft one. The soft one would mash down everywhere your hard parts are and increase the pressure to the soft parts. Properly adjusting whatever saddle you have generally takes care of any pressure issues. I won't mention what type of saddle I have. I love my saddle though and in this I will brook no debate. :innocent:

When I got older, heavier and recovering from a vasectomy I could no longer enjoy my traditional racing saddle. A Concor Selle Italia. When I got a Specialized Avatar a size wider than their butt-o-meter recommended it was perfect. Traditional leather saddles never worked for me and are recommended too much IMHO.

I've had 2 noseless seats. The first was called The SEAT, from thecomfortseat.com. I liked this seat a lot, and I used it on a utility bike for riding around on errands, etc. It was great for that use, and less fatiguing in the area of concern.

I am now onto my second noseless saddle, the Spiderflex, which I got for another bike. After short period of experimentation setting it up, I really like it. It has a small of amount of spring and it's really comfortable overall, more so than The Seat. It's not terribly light, as you probably know.

I'm not a speed demon, so I'm not worried about needing the saddle nose for control. At moderate speeds there is no problem.

except the Concor is made by San Marco , a different Selle(saddle) maker in Italy, (Italia)

so you were speaking of a model name from a different company. Ala Mustang Dodge.

Just ordered a Spiderflex, it seems to be the noseless saddle with the most reports of tourers using it. After I get it I'll be making another appointment with Bill Ron.

Does cycling ever change, I mean, really? :)

excerpt from Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome, 1914

I said: “Then there are saddles,” I went on—I wished to get this lesson home to him. “Can you think of any saddle ever advertised that you have not tried?”
He said: “It has been an idea of mine that the right saddle is to be found.”
I said: “You give up that idea; this is an imperfect world of joy and sorrow mingled. There may be a better land where bicycle saddles are made out of rainbow, stuffed with cloud; in this world the simplest thing is to get used to something hard. There was that saddle you bought in Birmingham; it was divided in the middle, and looked like a pair of kidneys.”
He said: “You mean that one constructed on anatomical principles.”
“Very likely,” I replied. “The box you bought it in had a picture on the cover, representing a sitting skeleton—or rather that part of a skeleton which does sit.”
He said: “It was quite correct; it showed you the true position of the—”
I said: “We will not go into details; the picture always seemed to me indelicate.”
He said: “Medically speaking, it was right.”
“Possibly,” I said, “for a man who rode in nothing but his bones. I only know that I tried it myself, and that to a man who wore flesh it was agony. Every time you went over a stone or a rut it nipped you; it was like riding on an irritable lobster. You rode that for a month.”
“I thought it only right to give it a fair trial,” he answered.
I said: “You gave your family a fair trial also; if you will allow me the use of slang. Your wife told me that never in the whole course of your married life had she known you so bad tempered, so un-Christian like, as you were that month. Then you remember that other saddle, the one with the spring under it.”
He said: “You mean ‘the Spiral.’”
I said: “I mean the one that jerked you up and down like a Jack-in-the-box; sometimes you came down again in the right place, and sometimes you didn’t. I am not referring to these matters merely to recall painful memories, but I want to impress you with the folly of trying experiments...”

That one

The late Sheldon Brown wrote a wonderful parody on saddle marketing:

Saddles for REAL MEN!

Excerpt:

Be patient and don't be afraid to experiment pretty widely with the fore and aft position on the rails. My seat is a bit farther back than I remember with other saddles. It took a few rides before the light bulb went on.