Don’t read on directly to the next article. Click here, you won’t regret it. I know, saddle reviews normally suck, because the conclusions are always “everybody has his own bottom”. Well, that’s generally true, but imagine a saddle with a special shape, totally different than anything you’ve seen before. About 3 cm shorter and slightly wider than the average saddle, and you have the brand new Specialized Power saddle.
The idea was originally born to reduce the pressure on the body when riding in an aerodynamic position on a road bike. On a mountain bike, at a first glance, this product could seem interesting only to cross country riders who have a big height difference between the saddle and the handle bar. Once I tried it, I completely changed my mind.
First, the set up should be the same as a normal saddle, in order to keep your position on the bike copacetic.
Next, I tried to find a steep climb as quickly as possible, because I wanted to be sure the saddle was long enough to guarantee enough room to move my body forward when I needed to keep the front wheel glued to the ground. I have to admit I was very skeptical. Well, I was proved wrong. Even on a technical uphill section, with approximately a 25% grade, I had no problems shifting forward on the saddle, while my upper body was fighting gravity leaning towards the handle bar. For examples sake, I shot these photos to show the my body’s position relative to the saddle on a steep climb.
As you can see, there is enough room to move fore and aft. Once I had discovered that, I continued on to find this to be one of the most comfortable saddles I’ve ever used. It’s not my first time using a Specialized Body Geometry saddle (I’ve been using a Toupe for the last 12 months), but the Power is really on another level, though its width is the same as the Toupe’s: 143mm. Without the “big nose” the pressure up front part is highly reduced, and it’s not necessary to ride in an aerodynamic position to notice it. Depending on how low your handlebar is relative to your saddle, you will benefit of the shorter nose and you will ask yourself why nobody had thought of this solution before.
I won’t go into deeper detail regarding structural stiffness or any further technical details, because the test sample is a pre-production saddle that you won’t find in the shops, and neither is the colorway. In the photos below you can see the different colors available for sale, as well as the complete line up that has its top model in the S-Works model. The Power will be available in two widths, 143 and 155mm, with two different paddings: a thinner (in test) and a thicker one.
Prices tbd.
