Old 04-04-24, 12:35 AM
  #49  
elcruxio
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Turku, Finland, Europe
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Bikes: 2011 Specialized crux comp, 2013 Specialized Rockhopper Pro

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Originally Posted by Yan
You mean the ibis bird. I'm curious to know, what's the function of the down hooked nose? Does it do anything or is it a branding style thing. And which model do you ride?
If you look at an SMP from a purely anatomical perspective, it's essentially a noseless saddle and falls into the same category as Spesh Power, ISM, etc.. The nose doesn't do anything when you're sitting on the bike as it's tilted down out of the way. You could technically cut the nose off and the basic functionality of the saddle wouldn't really change all that much. Then it'd just be pure noseless.

The "problem" with noseless saddles however is that they don't have a nose. It's not an issue for some but others prefer a saddle to have a nose since it can be used to stabilize the bike during descents and can be useful in other situations as well. If you want to ride on the 'rivet', It's hard to do with a noseless saddle since the 'rivet' position doesn't exist. The SMP allows for that to an extent but it's not a great experience (then again, when is riding on the rivet a great experience?).

Personally I like the nose of the SMP's. I've tried other noseless saddles and I really notice when the nose is not there. It's not a deal breaker but the bike just feels sorta off especially in more challenging handling situations.

These days I use SMP Pros and have them on all my bikes. They're good enough that I can almost use them without chamois. And by that I mean I only need chamois for longer rides.
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