Long Term Equipment Update - Part 2

Tune Speedneedle Marathon Saddle

My original blog Speedneedle entry goes into more detail on the saddle and I had a previous Long Term Update on the saddle. The saddle is comfy for what it is but you better have some padded bike shorts to make up for the lack of deep cushioning.

After using the saddle for about 6+ months are started to notice some numbness and discomfort in one leg. I attributed it to it being my leg with a bed knee (ACL replacement from skiing). Sometimes just standing for any period of time could be a bit painful. I tried stretching before a ride, massage, rest, chiropractic care and even some Yoga, but it did not seem to get better. I tried changing back to a chair at work instead of my ball, still not any better. Finally I switched back to my old, comfy and fairly heavy Specialized saddle. It was much nicer to ride on with all the padding and I liked not having the sharp edges that the Speedneedle saddle has. I had no issues moving around on the saddle in technical sections of the trails, with the Speedneedle it can hurt and chafe sometimes due to the sharp edges. At first I still had the same pain and numbness, then the pain started to get much better and over a months time the numbness went away. Wow, an amazing difference.

So I am in search of a lighter saddle that won't give me the pain and numbness issues that the Speedneedle gave me over time. I am currently looking at the Selle Italia Flite TT.

So I guess for a race its a great saddle or if your butt perhaps can deal with it over time or if you don't have the body biomechanics that I might have? Between my bad knee and the saddle there was some sort of bad synergy that caused some nerve damage. It appears that it was only temporary, lets hope it was not permanent. Its bad enough all the crashes that I take and land on my head. Who knows how many mini mild concussions I get?

So my current recommendation is that its a questionable long term saddle very dependent on your body and your body biomechanics on the bike.