I ride a Bontrager Hilo comp. Nothing fancy but, comfy for me. Most importantly it allows me to elongate for what ever reason which is an important part of reducing frontal area.
I have had similar issues. I currently use a cobb plus2 but also have an adamo attack which i think is their PN1 now. I get saddle sores with the adamo and some numbness with the cobb. I haven’t found a place that has a good selection of saddles that will also let me try them out. I have thought about a Dash but that’s pricey for something i don’t know will work.
I too have trouble sitting on the trainer for very long. I’m on my third ISM saddle and think I’ve finally found one that works for me. I have purchased them one at a time, placed it on my bike and did a TR workout. If it’s too uncomfortable, I simply return them and have had no trouble with that process while looking for the one that works for me.
I have the Cobb JOF 55 saddle and am quite happy with it. I found a place locally that had a saddle demo program. I took my bike there and we hooked it up on the trainer and ruled out several right away just by a quick demo. When I found one I wanted to test further, I would ride with it for a week or two with a few longer rides. For me, the Cobb 55 was the clear favorite.
I use the ISM Prologue as well on my Tri bike (Felt B14), but the stock saddle on my road bike (Specialized Secteur) that lives on my trainer most of the time - - I tend to just put my Felt on the trainer closer to race season, but still mainly stick to outdoor rides with it once the weather gets nice again in the Spring. On the road bike while in the drops, on the hoods or on my clip-on aerobars I tend to follow a tip I read awhile back to ride “offset” on the saddle which alleviates a lot of issues down below. I’ve also read that a lot of people can’t get comfortable riding aero on the trainer while they have no issue on the road with the exact same setup so you could be in that same boat (I think most people could ride more comfortably outdoors either way though).
I’ve gone back and forth between the Adamo ISM PN 1.1 and the Cobb JOF 55. Both are similar in design. I like them both because they are a narrower design and provide more high clearance, but also narrower in front to prevent any sort of rubbing in the sensitive areas. The Cobb JOF 55 is slightly firmer. This may be a comfort issue for some, but I find that softer saddles are harder on my butt than firmer saddles because the firmer saddles allow mainly my sit bones to do most of the support, whereas the softer saddles sort of mold to your butt, disperse the pressure and consequently put more pressure on muscles that don’t have sit bones underneath them…sorry, it’s hard to explain and it seems counter-intuitive that a soft saddle would be more painful, but that’s generally how it works with me. the front of the Cobb is just a tab bit narrower (4.5cm) than the PN 1.1. (5cm), which is even better for me. The Cobb is bit wider in back, which is irrelevant for me because I don’t touch that section. Interestingly, as a track cyclist, I’ve seen a few PN 1.1s on the track on mass start bikes, not just TTs for pursuit and TT.
My main issue with all the ISM PN saddles is that the split fronts are not stable…oftentimes one of the split sections (prongs of the fork) will be higher or lower than the other. I think this is a design flaw with the ISM saddles. The Cobb doesn’t have this problem because the two split front prongs are attached by a piece of plastic or material that keeps them level with each other. In addition, given that the the PN 1.1 is not as narrow as I’d prefer in the front, I use a sturdy zip tie to cinch it even tighter and more narrow. As I write this, I am switching the saddles out and returning to the Cobb
Another saddle you might consider, which I just put on my track bike is the Shimano Pro Stealth.
It’s an interesting little saddle, almost a cross between a TT and road saddle.
Thank you all for these replies. There are some great ideas and tips there.
It does seem that TT saddles are a bit hit and miss until you find one that is just right. That’s a pity as they are usually pricey. (Road bike saddles too but perhaps to a lesser extent).
I think the comfort factor of saddles is something the bike sellers etc could do more on. I know there have been various efforts made to help one get the right saddle from some companies, but I feel it is something that could be dramatically improved on.
There is a little business there waiting for someone to exploit.
