Ass-Simulation

I decided sometime back to get a new saddle.  I'd been happy with the Specialized Phenom for the past two or three years, so I went to order a new one... but the design had changed.  I bought it anyways.

In short order, some fancy aesthetic bullshit started peeling off (I blame baggies), and I was disappoint.  There were other issues.  Single speeder problems.

Oh well.  Time to find a saddle from a different manufacturer.

The Ergon SMR3 Pro looked sweet as far as profile and weight goes, but white was no longer available through any distributor that my LBS deals with normally.  A possible Face Friend brah hookup (on white) is no bueno.  Blech only.  I turned to the devil that is mail order.  I ordered a ti railed saddle which is more expensive than the crabon railed one... because I was confused by Thomson's carbon specific clamps... and alternative news.

Then I found better information that wasn't on the Thomson site, liked the saddle enough to order another one with crabon rails so more saddles on more bikes and then a very kind individual at my LBS surrendered a SME3 MTB Enduro™ Series saddle to me and now I have this:

I have been fully Ergon Ass-Similated.

The shape and size looked right.  Once mounted on my drooper post part, it felt right.  A few rides in, and all I could think was that this saddle is downright... innocuous.

I don't know how else to describe it.  It just became a nothing that my butt part did rest upon.

The nose doesn't snag my baggies and my sit bones are in a good place.  The nose is plenty comfortable for scooching up on when hitting steep climbs.

My coworkers don't understand why I weigh bike parts.  I don't understand why they don't understand.  I should just be allowed to liberate this unused, dusty hunk of office machinery and give it a good life full of purpose.

My old Phenom "weighted" around 270 grams (weighed at home with slightly less accurate scale), so that's a sweet chunk of pork gone without even trying.

Also, for me, this is a buneo:

The underside of the nose is pleasantly free of any harsh edges that dig into my shoulder when I go into full scramble hike-a-bike mode with the saddle resting on my shoulder.  I tend to do this when things get steep enough that I want a hand free to grab stuff or when it's too tight to roll the bike next to me.

More single speeder problems, I know.

Still, this saddle only gets my Seal of Semi-Approval.

Something tells me that the blowout prices on the white carbon (and the lack of a stocking distributor) means that they aren't gonna bother making them anymore.  And I like white saddles.  Because... burrito.  I like this saddle enough that I ordered another one yesterday.  So, hooray for making a saddle I love and boo for making a saddle that looks like it won't be made anymore.

BTW:  I gotta a lot of these Phenoms in a pile...

So if you want one cheap, holler at me.  Two old school, one newer school, looking for a good home.  Ti rails, all of them.  White, natch. Will trade for toy instruments and toy instrument lessons.