Submitted by
Jules Wilkins
a Cross Country Rider
from North Vancouver
Date Reviewed: June 16, 2005
Strengths: Weight, cosmetics, probably the body geometry
Weaknesses: torture to sit on
Bottom Line:
I can only surmise that this saddle is built for the serious racer who is so focussed on winning that (s)he has no time or inclination to worry about minor distractions such as a butt that's on fire, private parts that have long since lost any feeling, or the medical problems one must be inviting from exposing onself to such torture. If I were such a person, I would at least train on a comfortable saddle and save this for the big race, assuming it is no longer than an hour or so.
Having paid so much for the bike, and being a rather typical guy who can "tough it out" until either the saddle or my butt eventually conforms to the other, I endured at first. I kept adjusting tilt to maximum comfort, or rather to minimum discomfort. Then I saddled up for a group bike trip. Ok, this is not a touring bike, but I could not keep up with friends of similar fitness levels on much inferior mtb equipment. The reason is that I kept going numb and had to dismount and massage areas in a way that one wouldn't normally do in public, but was absolutely necessary. For a week afterwards I had a field of massive pimples in areas I've never had them before and I walked vaguely ducklike.
I would gladly add a pound or two for a comfortable saddle and have no doubt that it would make me go much faster. I do not know whether the saddle is partly at fault or not, but the balls of my feet also go numb and my suspicion is that circulation to my legs in general is cut off significantly. Surely that would even be harder on the muscels that are used to power the bike.
Comfort, support, and minimally encumbered blood circulation combined must be more important that shaving a few ounces even for the most fervant weight weenie. This saddle, imo, is easily the weak link in the stock S-works setup. It gets one chilli for weight and looks, but a saddle that doesn't provide any comfort probably doesn't even deserve that much. Of course, I cannot give it less anyway.
Bike Setup: Specialized S-Works Epic, ie, generally a fantastic, light, well-designed machine.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Miquel Molina
a Weekend Warrior
from Alicante
Date Reviewed: July 21, 2003
Strengths: Beauty, lightness, design.
Weaknesses: Price, comfort
Bottom Line:
Bad seat. Very hard. Good for short period of riding 2 h. For long rides it becomes a hell, finally i have grains in the skin around my ass bones due to the hardness. Very uncomfortable, Selle italia is 1000 times better. Two much marketing for the Body geometry concept.
Believe me, I ride 15000 km per year(40000km on this kind of saddles) and i´ve tried all of this stuff for years, because i had problems in my prostatic region, this seat works as it promises about that, is better than any other except Selle Italia TransAm.
I´m using 03 Fokus Trans Am and Flite Trans Am, and there is no comparision, if u are a serious rider and u are thinking about spending a lot of money in a good saddle this is not a good idea.
Similar Products Used: 99 PRO BG. 00 PRO BG 01 PRO BG. Selle Italia Transam, Selle Italia Fokus. Coda cheap stuff.
Bike Setup: Cannondale Caad 03 SID XC Thomson seatpost. Crossride. FULL XT. Specialized Allez Pro Shimano 6000 wheels . Full 105
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
JC
a Cross Country Rider
from Vermont
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2002
Strengths: Body Geometry
Weaknesses: rails
Bottom Line:
This is not a good seat for the Mountain Biking. The rails are made of alloy and as a result break easily. I'm about 195, ride fairly aggressive x-country and the rail broke on a small log hit. Lame! My old bg lasted forever, just the leather wore out and I loved that seat.
On the upside, Specialized warrantied this, while the shop it was purchased from wouldn't. And they sent me a 2002 version which has no seams on the sit bone area like the 2001. And since it will used on my road bike,I could care less about the Kevlar sides no long being avaible.
Again, unlike the specialized site boasts, "Our top of line road and MTB seat..." Great for long road rides, bad for hardcore x-country or any aggressive mountain biking.
And it's a very expensive seat. Bad value, great function (road only) therefore only 3 flamers overall.
Beware the 2002 model! I had a 2000 or 2001 model that had the kevlar sides. Liked it so much I ordered another one from specialized but they have totally changed the design. It seems wider, heavier, has no kevlar and the leather panels that replace the kevlar didn't even come close to matching in terms of size. I'm sending it back and will try to find an old one in a shop somewhere. BIG disappointment.
Submitted by
Smargus
a Weekend Warrior
from Trenton, NJ
Date Reviewed: June 29, 2001
Strengths: Works as designed. Good for narrower hips.
Weaknesses: Expensive! Probably not good for people with wider spacing between their sit bones.
Bottom Line:
This seat is expensive! It's comfy for my size hips. It forces you to sit correctly on your sit bones. Very little break-in required. I instantly felt at home on it. Padding is good for my weight (165 lbs.). Riders with wider rears beware -- you may find your sit bones too far off the sides thereby putting more pressure on the perineal areas. Construction is reasonably good. Would be better with slimmer rails and extra proection around rear/side edges.
Submitted by
Chris Godfrey
a Weekend Warrior
from Laguna Niguel, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: May 18, 2001
Strengths: It's comfy if it fits you (it does me). The bridge across the BG channel at the rear helps with what was an annoying short snagging problem with older versions. It's colorful, if you like that sort of thing, and the cast rails look sharp.
Weaknesses: The cast rails aren't worth the extra cost. In fact, they just suck. The first reason is that they are very thick which limits seat adjustment if your bolts are topping out. Second is that they taper from rear to front so that the seat will gradually creep forward as you ride. Third is that they aren't well attached to the seat. I dropped the bike and the seat popped off the rails. I inspected it and found no damage. As the rails do not seat very deeply in their mounting holes, I was able to press it back on by hand. If you want to convert your snazzy saddle into a three pronged groin spear, just pull up on the tip of the nose...
Bottom Line:
This saddle is outrageously expensive, as have been its prior top end incarnations. Nevertheless, I'm willing to spend for quality. In this case, however, the quest for innovation has produced style over substance. I'm now using the cheaper standard rail version and am quite happy with it for the moment. I just hope the joint between the rails and seat is stronger.
Favorite Trail: Maybe the Slickrock Trail. Not sure.
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Price Paid:
$100.00
Similar Products Used: I've used and liked a variety of Body Geometry saddles since their inception. They definitely relieve the numbness and soreness that I had experienced with a standard saddle.
Bike Setup: This was on my Specialized FSRxc PRO, which I've upgraded to death. Now that seat is on my Surly single speed. Less time in the saddle. : )
Strengths: Looks really cool, this saddle is a real chick magnet.
Weaknesses: Most uncomfortable saddle I have ever ridden. I made it 22 miles before I took it off.
Bottom Line:
I rode 22 miles on this saddle and had about all I could take. I actually talked my riding partner into switching saddles so I could make it back to the car. At the start of the ride I was cussing, by the time we got back, he was cussing! In some respects (not all) it's not fair to rate a saddle just because it doesn't fit your particular body dimensions. Keep that in mind if you see this one on sale in eBay.
Simply the best. It is comfortable, very comfortable for racing use, very, very, very nice, very light, very strong. it is a racing saddle and the body geometry work very good. the price ....... don´t worry if you are a MTB warrior. i recomended this saddle very much
I bought this as I wanted a decent saddle for an xc bike. i spend between about 13 and 15 hours a week riding, so i have a recently 'tough butt', but this is the worst saddle i have ever ridden on, and have never had a sore butt before ever. it takes about a week of riding to get your butt over the soreness (which actually turns into numbness from the pain), but then it keeps coming back for no reason. do yourself a favour, and stay away from this seat, it's just too much money for something that is really crap.
Submitted by
Obi One
a Racer
from San Jose, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: April 3, 2001
Strengths: Lightweight, improved looks, quality construction. Ergo thing seems to work pretty well.
Weaknesses: Forged alloy rails are tall, making saddle difficult to use w/ some seatposts (e.g. Moots Ti).
Bottom Line:
Comparable weight and comfort to tried-n-true Flite, but snazzier looks and zero numbness. Also use similar saddle ("Pro") version on the road bike, with good results. Not the most plush, padded thing out there -- definitely a performance enthusiast / racer-type product.
If you're comfortable with a narrow, firm saddle and looking to try something new, give it a try.
