Just curious, am testing an SMP Drakon courtesy of dillglove.co.uk

One ride in and so far I’m pretty convinced, more or less instantly comfortable and definitely feels like it’s easier on the lower back whilst allowing more power (or so it feels, I only have dubious Strava average speeds and leaderboard results to back up the ‘feeling’ of more power).

I’ve got another two weeks on loan, and if it continues to be this good I’ll probably buy one, but at £160-£200, 315g and, well, those looks, it’s a bit of a commitment. Not to mention I’d want to have one on several bikes (although this could be resolved with some careful seatpost choice and fitting).

I have a Specialized Power Arc that I bought new to compare shapes, I’ll probably try it although don’t want to take the P as I might return it.

So, curvy, thin, cut out, no elmo’s beak at the front, what is there?

Ta

Fantastic saddles, nothing I’ve tried even comes close.
I don’t understand how you can even see the beak once your crack has been parked on top of it.

Yeah, I know what you mean, after a really good ride this morning I was able to look at the saddle in a bit of a different light, it started looking ‘fast’ instead of ‘droopy’… 😂

I guess it’s also the cost, I can overlook the weight as I already think the position gives me access to more power which makes up for 150g extra weight in the saddle, but with potentially 3 or 4 bikes to fit the saddle to it could get spendy…

oh p.s. @bedmaker do you have any issues with the stitching on the side of the saddle? I saw some comments suggesting it might damage shorts?

I uaed the lite 209 on all.my bikes now, have been changing the saddles when funds / ebay finds allow. I’ve been riding since the 80’s and sat on many perches and these are in a different league (for my ar$e) FWIW, did a.200 miles loop on Sunday night and no issues with my butt.

I don’t look at how much power increase a saddle can offer just how fitted it is. Shame they are on the heavy side though… good luck with it

Never noticed any issues with shorts being damaged. I also use one on my rurbo trainer bike over the winter, which gets pummelled more than a real bike, with no problems.

I should add, I also find the SMP comfier without a pad, which is handy as it saves a bit of cost.

Thanks.

Interested to hear about padding, I could be tempted by the Dynamic instead of the Drakon, I have different thickness shorts depending on how long a day it’s going to be anyway!

Actually, just since the experts are here, what’s it like to move from an SMP to a ‘normal’ saddle, and back again?

I can see myself swapping the SMP between road bikes as they are both the same geometry so it should be a simple case of swapping the seatpost back and forth.

I *could* get a second SMP for the gravel bike but since I’m now swapping between my gravel bike and my 29er MTB for off-road duties that could get messy, so I’m tempted to stick to using a Fabric Line on the drop bar gravel bike, and a Scoop on the MTB. Do you get used to the SMPs or will normal saddles still feel OK if they were ‘OK’ before?