Cobb Saddles (first ride)

Third time lucky, I finally made it to Velodrome at lunchtime today to test out the new Cobb Saddle. As you can see from the photos below, I have fitted the Plus model (Elaine now has the VFlow model on her bike).


Triathlon bikes are designed for aerodynamics and one of the ways they achieve this is a forward seating position that flattens out the back. An unfortunate consequence of this position is that you are no longer sitting on the nice cushy part of your bum. Instead you are now tilted forward and sitting on a slightly different and less comfortable part of the anatomy. Unlike Time Trials which are usually quite short (even in the Tour de France they are usually less than an hour), the bike leg in a long distance triathlon is a long time to sit in an uncomfortable position. As a result, companies like ISM and Cobb has taken a new approach to saddles for triathlon bikes. I believe John Cobb helped design the ISM saddles before making his own Cobb branded ones.

My new saddle has a large cutout and the sections either side of this cutout are relatively soft. There is a dip at the front designed to allow air flow through the gap and keep things fresh and the entire seat is quite narrow to avoid chafing and help release pressure on the hamstrings.

Being my lunch break, I didn't have a lot of time to play with. So I figured 30 minutes on the velodrome should be long enough to get an initial position that I can use for the upcoming Duathlon this Sunday.

The initial feel was better than my previous seat but not great. After 15 minutes I stopped, moved the seat a touch forward and tilted it down at the front. This instantly removed all discomfort, but it quickly became obvious that the tilt was too much. Despite it being comfortable, I was sliding off the front. The seat fastener is a little fiddly (on any bike) and it is difficult to make small adjustments outside on a windy day with no sections of level ground. I reduced the tilt as best I could and headed back out. I think I reduced the tilt a little too much, but I ran out of time for more adjustments and the current setting should be fine for this weekend's race.

At the moment it is not the perfect seat. It does feel like a definite improvement and with more adjustment time it may end up solving all my saddle sore issues. If not, Cobb Saddles have a 180 day guarrantee (return for a full refund) and there are several more saddles in the Cobb range to test.

Elaine's Cobb Saddle has been fitted to her road bike (she doesn't have a tri-bike). She rode to work this morning and the jury is still out upon whether it is better than her previous Specialized Body Geometry seat. By the time Elaine gets home from work, we should have a good idea where the problem areas are and will try to make adjustments accordingly.

The VFlow model Elaine has fitted is designed for less aggressive setups (level handlebars and seat) and for riders who do less mileage (less than 100km a week). It is narrow and has a cutout like the Plus model, but is softer and does not have the dip at the front.

In conclusion, the Cobb Saddles are still a work in progress. At the moment my seat looks more promising than Elaine's (she is naturally more difficult), but it is expected that the seats need a bit of dialing in. Stay tuned...