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WTB Speed V Saddle (Review)

05.13.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

It’s been a familiar pattern: Ride, get sore bottom. Ride, get sore bottom. What to do about it?

I’ve fiddled with different saddles.

Three years ago, there was a Trek gel saddle of some kind, that I appropriated from my wife’s bike when she got a new saddle for herself (an Avocet gel — too bad Avocet is no more). I knew the Forte Classic from Performance would be a big improvement. Nope. Then, the Specialized Alias that came with my new bike seemed to hold some promise. Until I did some really long rides on it, and started looking for an alternative. The Selle San Marco Ponza was the answer to my prayers — for about an hour.

Most of these saddles had one thing in common: Little padding. So when I decided to spring for a new saddle, I looked for something with a little more cush. A couple of lines in particular offer saddles with more padding than I’ve been used to: Serfas and WTB. I liked the looks of the WTB Speed V, so a couple of weeks ago, I paid a visit to the local Performance store, and bought one. The fact that it was on sale for $25 helped in the decision-making process, too.

The Speed V is wider across the back than the Ponza, which I figured I must need. I liked the feel of the Ponza’s narrow seat, but maybe a slightly wider platform would offer better support. The Speed V also has the distinctive WTB “Love Channel” (how could you not like that name?) — not a complete cutout, but not flat, like the Ponza.

It’s a comfy saddle, no doubt about it. I immediately liked the feel of the seat on my butt. The wide part of the seat has padding that gives, without being overly soft. The nose of the saddle is also padded more than I’ve been used to, which was welcome when climbing.

The first couple of rides were great. I actually went 16 and 18 miles without thinking about the saddle. But I knew the acid test would come on a long ride — something well over one hour.

That came last weekend at the Armadillo Hill Country Classic. I rode the 50-mile route, and was on the bike for over three hours, with only two short breaks. And I’ll admit it — there was some discomfort. However, I’m coming to the conclusion that the problem is not so much with the saddle as it is with my riding position.

The part that gets sore is my taint — that area between the boys and the uh, exit. On the Armadillo, I found myself standing on the pedals while coasting, just to take some weight off the taint. And it occurred to me that I shouldn’t be putting weight there anyway. After all, when getting fitted for a saddle by companies that use an ass-o-meter, or whatever it’s called, the key measurement is the distance between the sit bones — not where your taint hits the saddle.

I started deliberately putting more pressure on my sit bones, and sinking them into the Speed V’s padding. It helped. Ah ha! so this is the pelvic tilt I’ve heard about from time to time. Pressing down on the sit bones causes the pelvis to tilt forward, and relieve pressure on the taint.

Problem is, I’ve been riding the other way so long, it’s going to take some effort on my part to get the tilt down to where it’s second nature.

I figured I’d help it by adjusting the tilt of the saddle. I’ve always been meticulous about keeping the saddle level. After the Armadillo, I dropped the nose about half a bubble on the carpenter’s level. No definite conclusions yet.

For the time being, I’ll keep the Speed V. One of the reasons I bought it at Performance was their no questions asked return policy, so I do have other saddle options if the Speed V isn’t the answer to my saddle woes.

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Categories // Equipment, Review Tags // Review, saddles, WTB Speed V

Selle Italia Gel Flow SLR Saddle (Review)

05.11.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

Don Blount gave us a rundown of his upgrades in the last post. Now, he reviews one of his recent equipment upgrades: his saddle.

If you want to get a conversation about biking equipment going, just bring up saddles. When Bikenoob tweeted recently that he had gotten a new one, I quickly asked: which one? I saw that @mainevelophile also asked that question. I would guess that we were not the only ones.

Click to enlarge.

Well, I got a new saddle too just a few months ago. I retired the Forte Pro SLX saddle that came with my bike and went with a Selle Italia Gel Flow SLR saddle. The new saddle works for me and I love it. But it may not work for you as saddles are such an individual piece of equipment. A clerk at my LBS said he used the saddle I bought and it hated him. He switched to something else.

The SLR is a leather grain-covered racing-style saddle, weighing in at about 215 grams. The saddle has a slight curve at the rear (no pun intended) that is supposed to help relieve back pain. It also has “strategic gel inserts” that, at least for me, provide plenty of padding in the right places.

The saddle comes in black, blue, red, white and yellow. I bought mine, in black, on eBay for $98 – I’ve seen it for as much as $179 at other retailers. Mine cost less because it has a slight barely noticeable cosmetic imperfection that, fortunately, does not affect performance.

Still, a saddle is such an individual choice. Keep in mind that your seat, hands and feet are the three places where you as a rider come in contact with your bike. If you are not comfortable in one of those areas, it can make for a miserable ride.

When selecting a saddle you have to consider your riding style. Do you settle in one spot on the saddle and stay there? Do you move around? Do you ride on the front or back of the saddle?

I move around on the saddle, that’s just how I am. The SLR allows me to sit in a number of spots comfortably.

I also prefer a cutout in the middle, so as to physically, and psychologically, have nothing pressing on that tender area down there.

A few days ago while stopped at a traffic light a pedestrian gave my saddle a funny look and asked if it was comfortable. I said, “Yes it is…”

I have plenty of hours and hundreds of miles on this, including a metric century and I plan on getting in many more.

I recommend the SLR but with the caveat that what is right for me, may not be right for you.

The Bike Noob reviews his new saddle in the next post.

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Categories // Equipment, Review Tags // Review, saddle, Selle Italia Gel Flow SLR

Upgrading the Bike

05.09.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

Guest poster Don Blount has been making improvements.

I am really enjoying my new bike. At the same time I am not missing my old bike. That’s because my new bike is my old bike but improved. I did the next best thing to getting a new bike, I upgraded components on my old bike.

After about 18 months of riding I just wanted my bike, a Scattante CFR Comp, to perform better.

I don’t know if I could say that I outperformed the bike but it seemed that I was putting too much work into keeping the bike moving (if that makes sense) and wanting it to be more comfortable as the saddle began to become unbearingly uncomfortable. Also riding in the hills, which are not forgiving, and a difficult metric century I have targeted for late June motivated me to want to have the bike running at its optimum.

This evaluation came on the heels of replacing a chain and cassette, which is not included in the cost below since that was routine maintenance. Once I started with the saddle, everything else followed.

The bike has a carbon frame and seatpost and a combination Shimano Ultegra and 105 drivetrain. Those parts along with the cable covers, stem and brake levers are the only original parts remaining.

I did a lot of comparison shopping, buying everything online and on sale from various retailers.

Here is a list of the original part, the new part and the cost in order of replacement, including tax and shipping:

Original Part New Part Cost
Forte Saddle Selle Italia SLR Gel Flow Saddle

$99

Xero Element Wheelset Williams 30X Wheelset

$529

Tektro Brakes Ultegra Dual Pivot 6600 Brakeset

$100

Truvative Rouleur Crankset Ultegra 6650 Crankset

$190

Transit Saddlebag  (110 cu in) Fizik Saddle pack (30 cu in)

$11.50

Forte Precision Alloy Handlebars Ritchey Pro Carbon Matrix Handlebars

$117

Total $1046.50

I spent a few hundred dollars less on the upgrades than I spent on the bike brand new. Why not just get a new bike? Because I didn’t want to spend three or four times this amount. The wheelset was the big ticket item but also had the biggest impact in terms of performance. I would advise anyone considering upgrading parts on their bike to do that first.


Some of Don’s upgrades. Click on each picture for a larger view.

I learned a lot by this as well. For example, despite a professional bike fitting, I was never comfortable riding in the drops. I learned that my handlebars were too long and the drops too deep. The new ones are not as long, the drop shallower and a much better fit for me.

All the new parts are lighter and so is the bike by a pound or two. Overall, it is a better ride.

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Categories // Components, Equipment Tags // Blount, components, Equipment, guest post, upgrades, wheels

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