Gear Review :: ISM Adamo Tri Saddle

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I know, I know. This saddle looks more like a pair of grill tongs than a supportive bike seat. For those who can get past the seat’s admittedly goofy look, the ISM Adamo may be the answer to years of tri saddle discomfort.

Road saddles are designed to contact the sit bones when a rider is in a road position. As many triathletes know, riding in the aero bars is seriously different on the undersides than riding in a road position. Without going into the graphic details, a typical tri position forces the rider’s weight off the sit bones and onto the soft undersides that we all so dearly want to protect. That’s where the Adamo comes in. It is pretty much a tri saddle with a cutout, but without a nose. Cutouts relieve pressure from the perennial nerve, but the padded nose can jump up and apply pressure at the wrong spot. This unique design allows uninterrupted internal flow.

The Adamo comes in two models: the Road for $120 and the Race for $160. The Road is 40 grams heavier and slightly more padded. Both versions are available in a wide range of colors, but none of them look great.

Like every other saddle, the Adamo isn't for everyone. The two-pronged front end is very wide and can cause inner leg chafage. And some people simply don’t find this design all that comfortable on the soft bits. But you already knew there is no perfect saddle. This saddle may take away from your bike’s cool factor, but some things are more important than looking cool, if you know what I mean.

Aaron Hersh is the Technical Liaison at Colorado Multisport in Boulder, Colorado. He has been competing in endurance sports for the last seven years. Hersh has a B.A. in Integrative Physiology from the University of Colorado, focusing on biomechanics

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