Yes, but they seem to do one thing at the expense of another. I have zero numbness or pressure when on an ISM saddle, but they just murder my sit bones. All of the pressure is on those bones, and instead of having to take breaks to get bloodflow back into my junk, I have to take breaks because my undercarriage just can’t take any more.
Granted, my seat is several years old, so newer models may have designed this out. If you’re having pressure problems, and want to alleviate them for shorter indoor workouts, I would recommend it; I’m not sure if they’re going to be better, overall, when outside.
You can see my previous post where I share a dislike for my ISM saddle. However, my issues are more for longer efforts at lower wattage output. I don’t think that I would have any issues doing a crit on an ISM.
I use the PL 1.0 (previously the Breakaway) on all three of my bikes (with different setback and slightly different tilt) - road bike, TT Bike, track bike. I am very, very happy and comfortable doing this.
I’m really enjoying it Though the statement that there is a break-in period is definitely true. Took me a while to get the position just right. I was amazed how much lower the saddle needs to be compared to a standard saddle to get the position right.
Comfort wise, it is doing exactly what I was hoping it will do. Even though there aren’t any races I can actually test it at, short punchy workouts / rides are great. My standard max workout time during the week is up to 2h per ride — 2h in the drop bars no problem. No soft tissue numbness, pain etc. As I can stay in the drops for the entire ride with no problems, the avg speed has also gone up so a win - win I guess
One thing to note, @jpolchlopek mentioned this and I recently found this out too when doing a longer 2h ride on rough surface roads, yeah the sit bones can take a beating. Normal roads no problem, smooth roads (new tarmac etc.) the feel is sublime but… on potholes and old broken tarmac your sit bones, hip joints and the like will get a pounding.
ISM road saddles basically give you carte blanc to roll as far forward as your shoulder, neck, and eye muscles will allow you to.
It comes at the cost of needing to be set up just right and being choosy when it comes to chamois pads. A few MM to high will give you saddle soreness quickly, as will a few tenths of a degree of tilt.
I’m still not 100% sure about fore and aft… Any suggestions? Haha.
The lack of a nose does take a bit getting used to while riding quickly downhill.
Just be aware because of the design they are quite wide in the nose. Super comfortable rotating forward, to the point where I feel you could put a pillow on the stem and just relax that way while you pedal, but the width eventually gave me serious chafing issues on the thighs.
Narrow hips? Mine are quite wide, so chafed thighs is one of the few issues I haven’t had. Sure you aren’t sitting too far back or have the saddle too high?
I have also found that using cheaper bibs with a horizontal seam across the bottom of the chamois (you can feel seams through the pad with your hands) is a problem. This is because much more weight on is that spot compared to normal saddles, which have more weight on just the sit bones. You also need a relatively simple pad design without too much fancy topography, which is a crutch needed by badly designed saddles.
ISM saddles are most comfortable within a certain range of pelvic rotation that evenly distributes the weight across your four contact points (sit bones and pubic rami). They are less comfortable when sitting upright or completely bowled over. That said, they’re far more comfortable when tipped all the way over than traditional saddles.
ISM says that a horizontal or slightly pointed down saddle is best, but in some cases having it tipped ever so slightly up gives helps hold you in the saddle better, reducing pressure on the hands at the cost of increased pressure on your pubic rami. It’s a matter of fractions of a degree, though. It’s still more comfortable than a normal saddle in the same aggressive position.
If I was ISM I would make a version of the PN3.0 with a slightly softer, wider and more curved rear end to spread out the pressure more broadly. A slightly less slick material in the rear might also be helpful, since you can feel somewhat precarious in the saddle due to the lack of a nose.
How long did it take for you to get the chafings? I literally have no inner thigh clearance due to being a big dude with big legs, but never had even a hint of rubbing problems.
The noses on ISM saddles are known to bit a bit wide. One thing you can do is tighten a zip tie round the front of the two rails to bring them slightly closer to one another which will narrow the nose a bit. As others have mentioned, positioning of the saddle and your positioning on the saddle are also very important.
I’ve used PL 1.0 30 most of last year for all types of riding - for me, I think the ISM saddles are too thick on the front of the saddle (both width and amount of material). I really didn’t realize it until I tried a PR 3.0, which is thicker than the PL 1.0, and really made me sore. The PL 1.0 wasn’t near as bad, but made me think I should probably try a thinner saddle.
So, I’m trying a couple of Selle Italia Boost saddles on road bike and gravel bike - short saddles, but much less material than the ISM saddles. Haven’t rode much yet, but I can tell they are more comfortable for me. YMMV.
I’d get chafing after an hour on the trainer. I tried 4 different ISM models (I REALLY wanted them to work!), but the problems didn’t go away until I switched to saddles with a narrower nose.
Yeah, I’m not saying it is impossible. I personally have them on 3 different bikes, but I keep an aggressive position on all of them. Some people make bigger positional changes and I think that explains why some have a problem with them. One of them was a present from someone who hated theirs.
Digging up an old thread but it’s a good one with people using an ISM on road bikes.
Has anyone found the ISM puts too much weight over the front of the bike? When I have the saddle set back where I am comfortable the handling of my bike gets very twitchy and uncomfortable, where as with a normal saddle with the set back set to where I am comfortable it seems to still handle well. I am not sure if somehow the ISM seat leads to more weight at the front or if it’s not in exactly the place but I am at a bit of a loss, I like the ISM but really dislike the handling (great for the turbo though! ) .
An ISM really needs 25mm of setback to be set up properly for road riding, IMO.
Is there a lot of weight on your hands? You might need to tilt the saddle up every so slightly from your current position.
Also, the further forward you sit on the saddle, the less stability it provides. I suspect this is your issue, not weight balance. Especially while going downhill. You might want to sit a little further back on the saddle.
On another note, make sure you don’t have the saddle too high. Just a few MM can make a big difference in terms of saddle sores, because of how wide the saddle’s nose is.
Yup….All snub-nosed saddles need to be set up 2-3cm behind where the nose of the previous “standard” saddle. The point if those designs is to remove the section where your “dangling down” parts are getting compressed. With a snub-nosed saddle, you need to be far enough forward so the dangly-down parts are actually dangling down…if you see what I am saying.
Since posting above a couple of years ago I’ve switched away from ISM on my outdoor road bikes, on the advice of a bike fitter. Have found I’m more stable on a traditional saddle with a cutout. Noticeable improvement in little things like riding no hands, getting a gilet on or off while riding, fuelling in the middle of a race, putting a hand on a team-mates shoulder or hip to let them know I’m there, etc. Could do all those things previously, they’re just easier now.
Think the issue with the ISM is that it really only worked well for me in one position, which was perched on the nose with my sit bones on the prongs. It was great in that position, and made it very comfortable putting out power in the drops or aero hoods position, but I never really sat that saddle in any other way, as scooting further back on it was uncomfortable due to the nose width. That one position wasn’t particularly stable, partly because my weight was forward in an aero position, and partly because those prongs don’t offer much stability. Whereas on a traditional shaped saddle I can still get forward and aero when I need to (though it’s a bit less comfortable), but I can also shift back on the saddle comfortably which has 2 benefits in terms of stability - less weight on the front end, and also the saddle cups my sit bones in that position so I have much more contact area with the saddle with which to control the bike. Think the ISM is a great saddle for TTing or tri where you want to be forwards and aero all the time, and also a good indoor option where it’s very comfortable and you don’t need to worry about stability (unless you’re on rollers!). Don’t think I would use one again for all round road racing and riding though.
But for crits I think that it would be perfect, you are in a much more aggressive postion and there is no need to refuel or take a gillet off.
Long road race is a different story.
Track riders use it a lot because you can get that agressive position and put great power out.
If you use the bike for long rides and crits then it probably wouldn’t be wise to use. But if it’s a crit only bike then why not.
Though the statement that there is a break-in period is definitely true. Took me a while to get the position just right. I was amazed how much lower the saddle needs to be compared to a standard saddle to get the position right.
but… on potholes and old broken tarmac your sit bones, hip joints and the like will get a pounding.
) .