3D saddle - marketing or improvement?
 

It’s been a while since I’ve been in the market for a saddle. I think $400 for a saddle is straight ridiculous but curious how much improvement, if any, the new 3D variants represent?

Specialized power arc / mimic are what I’m using today on road/gravel and mtb.

Not $400. I'd pick up one of the $50 Ali saddles, which by multiple reports are 90% of the benefit for less that 50% of the cost. It'll at least give you a good idea.
I have one, and its nice...not game changing but nice.

Aren't all saddles 3-D?

I have been using MELD saddles for a few years and nothing works as well for me. They send you a chunk of foam to get in impression of your butt and then make the saddle to that shape. They are reasonably light weight and less expensive than some of the 3D saddles. I have a specialized Phenom on one bike but every time I ride I wish I was on the MELD saddle instead.

I’ve now wasted over $1000 on 3d printed saddles and said enough is enough.

I think they are all terrible. They stick to the shorts and aren’t comfortable for long rides for me.

My biggest issue is will they fall apart in a few years? I’m pretty sure the UV and environment will start attacking the foam and plastic.

Which ones were in your 'test' ?

thanks for this! The elastic range of seat looks really interesting.

Fizik Antares, Argo and specialized power.

Antares 00 is my go to saddle and I have used it since it first came out. It simply disappears and no matter the ride length is never uncomfortable. But it’s expensive and not durable and we shall see how long it lasts as I transition completely to riding on trails with a full suspension bike.

Having really enjoyed the fizik anatares vs I have ridden, I sprung for the 00 adaptive version, in the same width. I am not liking it at all, I think it is likely due to the carbon shell being tooo still and not flexing.

The 3d padding seems OK, but if I were to do it again, which I likely will, I'll go regular saddle with just carbon rails.

Specialized have a 30 day return if not satisfied - I returned a power mirror previouly as we didn’t get along (too short) and no issues with return. Now have the Romin evo mirror and closer to what I’m used to in length, and feels good.

I tested the elastic version and did not like it as much. It was the first version and they offered it at a discount and now they have a new version.
It was also quite heavy.
I use the Alps version. YMMV

Moving to the Power Mirror was a game changer for me. I’d been mostly riding Selle Italian SLR saddles and had plenty of saddle sore issues since.

I bought two non mirror Power saddles to see if how much of the improvement was due to the shape vs material and found them much less comfortable for me.

I have just ordered the newest Power Mirror expert level that has much less 3D printing as I’m curious if it’s benefits - it is less than half the msrp of the sworks model


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I have the Specialized S-Power Mirror, Specialized Romin Evo Pro Mirror and the Fizik Antares Versus EVO R1. Of them, I slightly prefer the Roman but I like them all better than most other saddles I've used.

For the last two years I have only ridden the above 3D saddles, but did recently get a Cadex AMP which I used for the Dogma build (just completed last week). I've now done three 4-6+ hour rides and like the saddle a lot.

Will be interesting when I ride the R5 again how I find the Romin to compare.

E

So I take back the "not gamechanging" comment-for a 2+ hour training ride, a 3d saddle is the bomb. Tried a cheap ali one on a trainer bike for the first time today, and huge improvement. Saddle shapes before and after were identical.