Selle SMP

Dynamic Saddle

So far, so good...

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

It took a few ride to dial in the fit of the saddle. I had to replace my old seat post as it didn't allow for the saddle to be moved back far enough. But, the saddle itself has been great. Love the curve of the saddle, and now that it is the correct position it fits quite well. Did a 50 mile ride yesterday, over 3 hours, 0 issues with the saddle.

Get Your Fit

I've put a few thousand miles on this saddle over the past year or so. I was actually able to take it to a bike fitting and talk about usable width vs measured width, and even though I do have pretty narrow measured sit bones (90mm I think but it's SO subjective), I am definitely still more comfortable on the Dynamic than the Evolution (the narrower minimal padding sibling to the Dynamic). The design philosophy with SMP is proven at the World Tour level as well as being a favorite of bike fitters, with shaping that works well with human pelvises. I love the long rails to adjust setback, and have used this thing on gravel and road bikes with absolutely zero complaints.

Well Worth Trying

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

This saddle is fantastic, among the best I've used and what I put on my bike for long rides. It's on the firmer side as far as padding but has a decent amount of compliance in the shell so I find it comfortable even on gravel. On rougher terrain (atv trails and singletrack) or riding without a chamois the Blaster with more padding is a better choice. The nose looks a little goofy but does its job getting out of the way, and the cutout carrying through the nose is part of what makes this saddle great. It does fix you in one position so if you're the type of rider who likes to shift your weight forward and back over the course of a ride, look for something different with a flatter profile. It did take a fair bit of time to dial in the angle - just a few millimeters nose up or down can drastically affect comfort. The rails are quite long so it's easy to adjust for saddle setback. The downsides: 1. It's heavy. 2. There's a bridge between the rails at the rear that makes some seat packs not fit well. 3. It looks a little goofy. 4. It's expensive.

It disappears!

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

I don't think about this saddle at all while I am riding - which is what one wants! For me, it offers a great balance of a compliant base, enough padding to noticeably damp road vibrations without adding too much weight, an extremely comfortable Selle SMP shape, and a reasonable weight (290g). It's also superbly made and durable. A few years ago I switched to Selle SMP when I went for a fitting and the fitting fixture had a Selle SMP Carbon Lite installed on it. Its shape looked scary, but it was astonishingly comfortable. I decided to change to that saddle. The Carbon Lite's unpadded carbon fiber worked great for me for several years, until I developed a small but persistent cyst Down There. Grateful to find a dermatologist who got rid of it without resorting to surgery. Unclear if the hardness of the Carbon Lite caused the cyst, but changing to a more compliant saddle seemed wise. Discovered that Selle makes a series of saddles in that same shape (plus a different series shaped for people with narrower pelvises): Carbon Lite (bare carbon fiber), Forma (a base made of nylon 12 containing bits of carbon fiber for reinforcement, covered, no padding), Dynamic (same as Forma but with 5mm of firm padding), Drakon (same as Forma with 10mm padding), Lite 209 (same as Forma with 10mm padding in nose, 14-16mm further back). Aware that people need to try these saddles to understand the shape, Selle SMP produces test saddles of each model in an ugly red/yellow combination (so people won't simply keep the test saddles!). For a refundable $260 hold on one's credit card, the US importer Albabici will ship out test saddles of any three models for one to ride on for a few weeks and then ship back. I tested Forma, Dynamic, and Drakon and decided on Dynamics for my road bikes and a Drakon for my trainer. Have been using them for over a year (6000mi on the Dynamics) and they work great. The shape of these saddles makes comfort extremely sensitive to fore-aft angle. I suspect that negative reviews may come from people who didn't get this angle set optimally for them. Typical range is 2-5 degrees nose down, measured from top of the nose to top of the rear of the saddle. If the saddle is too nose-down, one tends to slide forward onto the narrow nose and/or get arm pain from combatting that. Too nose-up can cause pain in tender bits as one tries to lean forward. So one sets an angle, rides the bike, and adjusts the angle as necessary. Easiest way to measure this angle is to use a digital level atop a (straight!) piece of wood laid on top of the saddle (the bike must be leveled out axle-to-axle first). This saddle has round stainless steel rails. Most Selle SMP models are also available with carbon rails, which save 50-60g at an additional cost of just under $200. Up to you whether that's worth it.