So far for me the adjustment to the ISM involves just the same type of discomfort on the bones as the previous saddle did at first, just in a different place. Yesterday was better than Thursday, though it was only a short hour's climbing.
But I'm very lucky in that the guy who restored my 42-year old frame has kind of adopted me and happens to be a frame builder, bike mechanic and trainer of various Aussie, Commonwealth, World and Olympic competitors, so he knows how to set up a bike. A few tweaks on the saddle yesterday and I didn't really feel it at all. But we'll see when I ride longer.
And Vince, I'm no expert at all. The reasons I got a PN rather than a PR was some on-line comments on the latter from guys who complained about it being uncomfortably wide between the legs. That, and ISM's own suggestion that the PN line is favoured by climbers, and that it has least padding of the range. (I find that padding is pretty much a squirming distraction unless you're sitting back no your glutes on a beach cruiser or some such.)
Plus, it was on special at WIggle ...
Not that I'm a climber: at 3 inches shorter and 20 lb heavier than you, going up hills is something that I force myself to do so that I can build up a bit of strength for the flats!
And bearing in mind that the whole ISM philosophy is that you're doing without the usual saddle nose, it may well be that the guys complaining about the PR width are sitting too far back on it. I think there's 2 cm difference across the widest part - 110 v 130 mm - which isn't where you're supposed to be carrying your weight on them, anyway. If it's any help, the nose of the PN is about 6 cm at the front opening, widening to 8 cm where the 2 forks join the saddle body.
But it sounds like you're already at racing greyhound dimensions and just need a few miles to sharpen up with, eh?
Meanwhile, it's back to the heavy training regimen for me:
- drinking-beer-tour-de-france.jpg (105.17 KiB) Viewed 3213 times
(Note the BULGE...)
