Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

BurtO
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Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby BurtO » Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:54 pm

Looking for a sub $100 saddle for my road bike that's gonna take care of my one remaining jewel !
I am thinking that years of enduring hard bike seats that have put pressure on my undercarriage area has led to me losing half of my family jewels to cancer late last year. So I'm back on the bike and am really noticing the pressure on my pelvic floor and getting pins and needles in my feet after only 30km ( I remember this was happening before ) , so Ive been looking into Selle SMP seats , but on a budget, theres three types available at Cell bikes under $100 the TRK , Hybrid and Extra. I cant find much info besides the standard company guff , so does anyone have info on these three saddles and which one would suit a road rider more ??

NeillS
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby NeillS » Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:18 pm

I agree that your health and wellbeing, including reproductive capability, is worth $100 at most and fully endorse your decision to seek a saddle that is worth less than this amount.

Nobody
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby Nobody » Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:28 pm

http://www.sydneycyclist.com/profiles/b ... d-practice" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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ldrcycles
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby ldrcycles » Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:46 pm

I have 2 of the Extra model. It is the most comfortable saddle I have yet used by a long shot, as I much prefer pressure towards the middle than right on my cheek bones (which is what I have found with saddles that have a flat profile). That said, the shape is not quite ideal, as so far I have not found the sweet spot to have it comfortable when riding upright on the hoods, AND when pushing hard in the drops. The closest compromise I've achieved has me comfortable when more upright, but developing numbness after a while hunched over in the drops. Still good enough for me to do up to 260k at a time though.

Given you say your pain is from the 'gentleman's area', rather than your backside, I would suggest maybe a flatter saddle would be the way to go? While the SMP does have a huge cutout in the middle, it still tends to put more pressure through the middle (though not as badly as, for example, a Selle Royal Turbo, that almost crippled me).
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trek52
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby trek52 » Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:36 am

I have had recent issues down there, tried SMP didnt work for me. Went to Adamo, best I have felt on a bike for years. THe SMP put me in the wrong position and put more pressure on my nuts than my old rolls.

brawlo
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby brawlo » Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:31 am

The trick with the SMP apparently is to have your pelvis tilted up so to speak. It's apparently the way you're supposed to ride anyway (disclaimer - or so my physio told me). I started off with an extra to see if I liked the shape. I did, but the massive amount of padding made the seat uncomfortable for me over longer rides. I now have a composit and am very happy with it.

I have my old track frame that I'm putting back together as a street fixed gear/SS and I have thoughts of using it for TT events. I'm going to search out an Adamo for that one to give them a try. They have many rave reviews and suit the TT position much better.

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Howzat
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby Howzat » Mon Apr 15, 2013 12:00 pm

trek52 wrote:THe SMP put me in the wrong position
A misadjustment of a few degrees of angle, or fore/aft position will do this. The SMPs have a curved top so it's not always obvious from looking where the ideal level position is. I found I have to do the fine adjustments by sitting on it for the feel, not looking at it.

+1 to the Selle SMP TRK. I never finish a ride feeling numb - unlike on my old saddle which felt like it was mainly designed to cut off blood flow from the legs in case of snakebite.

The more expensive Selle SMP models in the same width have the same shape, but are made of leather/titanium/carbon, etc. So it's well worth the <$100 price level to try them out.

BurtO
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby BurtO » Mon Apr 15, 2013 3:50 pm

Thanks for your input guys , I will try out a SMP saddle to see how it feels , $80 is all I'd want to pay to find out if the shape suits.
Cheers

reefer
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby reefer » Mon Apr 15, 2013 5:00 pm

Why not get one for a trial. I recently had one sent up from melbourne, to Townsville, just paid for the post.

Port Melbourne cycles were very helpful.

We now own 2 SMP saddles because of PMC service.

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find_bruce
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby find_bruce » Mon Apr 15, 2013 5:34 pm

BurtO, I have also been considering the sub $100 selle smp saddles, there seem to be 4 or 5 different types. It is hard to tell as the quoted dimensions etc seem to vary
  • TRK - the most heavily advertised. 272 mm x 177 mm, weight 395 g. To me it looks too wide for what I find comfortable. YMMV
  • Extra - 275 mm x 144 mm, weight 352 g.
  • Hybrid - 275 mm x 140 mm, weight 320 g. May be the same saddle as the extra
  • Mtb 285mm x 138mm, but with a very different shape & does not have the centre cut out
  • Martin fitness/indoor. 256mm x 263mm, weight 630 g - one look should be enough.

Hergest
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby Hergest » Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:51 pm

I had my right one removed due to testicular cancer in early 2001. If you lost one of yours late last year then there isn't a huge amount you can do apart from still take things a bit gently as i found it took more than 6 months before i could manage more than an hour or two without setting off some discomfort. After 12 months i could manage a 3 or 4 hour without any problems at all. I tend to think that a lot of my early discomfort was due to how i sat on the saddle as i'd lost the sense of balance that i'd had on a bike since i was a child and it took me a couple of years too be able to ride no handed without leaning strongly to the left to counterbalance what had been chopped off in the way that people who suffer sudden hearing loss in one ear lose their sense of balance.

Take things carefully, let what was quite a traumatic injury heal properly and given time the only discomfort you are likely to have is when your brian sets off a pain receptor for no reason and you are trying to scratch an itch or pain in something that is no longer there.
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Nobody
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby Nobody » Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:43 pm

find_bruce wrote:BurtO, I have also been considering the sub $100 selle smp saddles, there seem to be 4 or 5 different types. It is hard to tell as the quoted dimensions etc seem to vary

TRK - the most heavily advertised. 272 mm x 177 mm, weight 395 g. To me it looks too wide for what I find comfortable. YMMV
Other places say it's 160. One poster in a thread below says they taper off so quickly that he couldn't tell the difference between one model and another.
http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index ... 05881.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also Velogear has the TRK for $70 with free shipping this week. Tempting, but I might try a WTB Pure V on the MTB first as the Brooks saddles are serving me well so far on the other bikes.

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find_bruce
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby find_bruce » Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:46 pm

Nobody wrote:
find_bruce wrote:BurtO, I have also been considering the sub $100 selle smp saddles, there seem to be 4 or 5 different types. It is hard to tell as the quoted dimensions etc seem to vary

TRK - the most heavily advertised. 272 mm x 177 mm, weight 395 g. To me it looks too wide for what I find comfortable. YMMV
Other places say it's 160. One poster in a thread below says they taper off so quickly that he couldn't tell the difference between one model and another.
http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index ... 05881.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also Velogear has the TRK for $70 with free shipping this week. Tempting, but I might try a WTB Pure V on the MTB first as the Brooks saddles are serving me well so far on the other bikes.
I was browsing a LBS waiting to collect my bike from a warranty repair. The TRK is definetly as wide as the horrible that originally came with that bike & it was fat the whole length. The extra looked a much more likely candidate. I have no idea what the difference between the extra & the hybrid is, apart from $10. Curiously both Cell & velogear have them $10 different, but swap the order

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ldrcycles
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Re: Sub $100 Selle SMP ?

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Apr 16, 2013 4:13 pm

I think the hybrid has a more pronounced up and down when viewed from the side, but not sure.


260k on my Extra today, no major issues (other than the sort of tenderness you might expect :lol: ).
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