The next visit to see Chris was scheduled (I’ve lost count)…in the meantime…

I received the mail order custom orthotics molding kit.  It was not the typical foam impression kits.  It had a heat moldable “form” and a specially designed pillow you stepped on, to mold your foot.  The guy that makes these orthotics does these for a living and his technique to get molds is a proprietary thing.  He creates orthotics for ski boots, cycling and whatever else you might need an insert for.  The nice thing is that he deals with tight fitting footwear and he understands how an orthotic is to be made to fit in such footwear.  These aren’t super expensive either.  So we’ll see if these will help my little tootsies while I’m biking.

I sourced the Koobi 232T saddle and my initial reaction…good gravy this this is hard as a rock!  The design and concept I really liked:  The large cutout, the not too narrow, not to wide downward swooping nose…all things I really liked, but I had a feeling the relationship ended before it started once I felt how darn firm the saddle was.  It was reminiscent of the Cobb Gen2 saddle, just shorter and firmer.  The “prongs” of this saddle were narrow which reminded me of some of the other saddles I tried with cut outs. I wasn’t too sure about how my anatomy was going to receive this saddle.  It made the Cobb Fifty Five feel like a tempur pedic pillow.  I said as much to Chris.  I was hesitant to put this on the bike until I saw him.  The Cobb Fifty Five, at least, was tolerable for a couple of hours.  I wasn’t sure if the Fifty Five was going to be a long term love affair.  Anything beyond 2+ hours was just torture on the trainer.  My next meeting with Chris couldn’t come soon enough. 

More saddles.  Starting with the Koobi, we both really liked the design but not the firmness compared to the other saddles.  As I suspected, the firmness stood out the most.  The width was good but not too sure about the actual contact patch downstairs.  It was reminiscent of how the other Cobb saddles (the V-flow series), and how the Selle SMP contacted me. There was something about the shape and feel of those saddles that just didn’t disperse the pressure enough.  Below is my artistic attempt to illustrate these saddle shapes as viewed from the front looking down the nose.  

Frontal profile of the nose of the Cobb Fifty Five (Left) and some of the others (the right: SMP, Cobb VFlow series, Koobi): Notice the Fifty Five’s broader, flatter surface (plateaus) which helps to disperse weight more evenly.  The mountainous peaks of the other saddles have more localized points that push into you as you compress the peaks to gradually disperse the pressure.  You still have that “point” of highest pressure with the mountain profile.

A few days later, as expected, the traffic to get to the shop from my office took longer than driving from my house and I was 15 miles CLOSER!  Welcome to DC/MD/VA traffic! 

Before we started, I showed Chris the newly fabricated custom foot beds I just received.  He liked them a lot.  Light, minimal, and well made.  I had yet to ride with them, so the evening session was the maiden voyage. 

Foot Dynamics Custom Footbeds: Minimalist, light weight.  The metatarsal buttons were added to further help minimalize possible “hot foot” or neuropathy to the feet.

Our evening session focused on the correct Fizik saddle and try the Cobb Max saddle.  I tried the Max saddle before (a long time ago) and it didn’t work then, but what the hell?  Try it.  Rule it in or out. 

First ride at home on the trainer…odd, it’s not as comfy as when I was in CT or at the shop (bang head here…).  ARGH!  Time to tinker.  Hmmm, why do I keep spinning my wheels with these saddles?  Two trainer rides with small tweaks and no improvement in comfort, in fact, it seemed to worsen with each passing ride.

It’s a totally different type of discomfort than the Cobb Fifty Five.  To be slightly graphic, the Cobb was like sitting on a 2×4 after 2 hours with what felt like bone bruising to my pubic bone while the Fizik had a lot more soft tissue discomfort (abrading), glass shards sensation causing inflammation.  What would you rather deal with given the options?  Personally, neither sounds appealing.

In the meantime, I sent the Koobi 232T back as it was too firm.  The owner of Koobi, Phil, recommended one of the two “softer” versions of the same saddle.  I asked to try the middle one, he ended up sending both to me to see if one of them might work.  Can you say awesome customer service?   I mentioned to Chris I was getting these saddles and sourced yet another saddle, the Profile Design Vertex 80 Tri saddle. 

Earlier in the day, I emailed Chris giving him a rundown of my initial thoughts on the new Koobi saddles and my time with the Fizik just to save a bit of time that evening.  I didn’t want to forget any details due to any late evening brain farts on my end.

-ISM PR 2.0-soft pillowy, slightly wide.  Chris didn’t like how I sat on any of the ISM saddles.  Not just where I physically sat but, as Chris put it, how I “addressed” my bike.

-Terry FLX- same issues prior to the whole saddle soap opera.  I would prefer to find something less offensive.

-Koobi 232K- soft top on a firm foam on a firm base (per Koobi), great width, shape.  The lycra/neoprene top covering was something I was not 100% sold on.  It added a different type of “softness” to the saddle.  It was almost “squishy” or “spongy”.  Our concerns were long term wear especially with a wet backside after a swim during a race.  The saddle rails were also really short.

We started the evening with the 232 Sprint saddle.  It was mounted to the bike all ready since I was “playing” with it at home.  We spent maybe 10 minutes or so trying this one.  As noted above, we both had our reservations.  Chris jotted the numbers down in case I ended up switching to it later.

Revisiting an old friend?

A quarter after eight or so in the evening, with the shop closed and the staff gone for the day, it was eerie.  I was used to the foot traffic and the people watching coming and going.  It was just us and the shop music playing.  Chris has me spinning away and dripping in sweat as I have done in previous sessions.   We chatted, he watched and he filmed.  He commented on how much he loved my position and postured on my bike on this saddle.   Chris’ subtle way of admiring his work, as he should, especially if this rockets me to a few podium finishes this season and beyond. 

After 20 minutes, I was ready to call it a night because I didn’t want to keep him late, but Chris just said “I want you to keep riding.”   Um, okie dokie.  At his request, I kept riding and we chatted some more.  At one point, I said “you know, I can keep going as long as you need me to if you just feed and water me.”  He kinda laughed.  After a good while, I peeked at my watch and noticed the time.  Damn, I’ve been on here for over an hour.  I looked over at him as he briefly wandered about the shop doing random end of day stuff and asked, “So, are you bored yet?”  Chris responds, “No, I’m good.”  Again, he wanted this right and taking the time to get it right.  As I was riding all this time, he asked how it felt.  I told him “if the saddle felt like this in 5 hours, then I’d be fine.”  However, past history pointed to the two hour limit before the bruised 2×4 feeling, leaving me sore. 

By the end of the week I received the next saddle:

-Profile Design Vertex 80 Tri – initial reviews per Triathlete Magazine indicated very soft, but may bottom out.  55mm nose, a rubbery type outer, super soft.  There was a shallow relief channel at the nose that transitions to a deep cut out towards the rear of the saddle.  Rails are on the short side.  The edges of the channel are rounded so no hard edges to dig into you.  My body has not gotten along well with relief channels.  I compress the padding and then contact the bottom of the relief channel which subsequently defeats the purpose of said relief channel.  Later, I showed Chris the saddle and he was surprised to see how “fat” the nose of the saddle looked.  It was my initial impression as well.  The Vertex saddle reminds me a lot of the Cobb Randee saddle except the Cobb has a longer cut out and a deeper relief channel towards the leaner nose.  Suffice it to say, the Vertex saddle never made it to my bike.

After the first couple of weeks, my long rides turned into a shear test of how long can I tolerate the soreness down there after the two hour mark.  The wet cool spring has not allowed me to emerge from the depths of the pain cave to play outside.  I decided to tilt the saddle a touch more, a whole whopping degree, to ascertain if that just might relieve the post 2 hour soreness I continued to experience on the Cobb.  Knowing the other three saddles I had in my possession were not good matches, I shipped them back.  I was putting all my eggs in one basket with the Cobb, so I’ll either end up with scrambled eggs or cute little fuzzy chicks by race day.  Chris and I were in a holding pattern.

A month with the Cobb Fifty Five (2 weeks out from race day), the weather finally broke from the 20 some odd days of rain streak and below normal temperatures.  I spent a week off the bike to let some saddle sores go away (I said, I hated these little buggers.  Soaking wet shorts from the last 4 hour basement ride, despite a change in shorts, left me with gifts you care not to receive without a return receipt). 

Finally, the first outdoor ride of the year, 90 degrees and sunny.  It was glorious!  The new position on the road felt a bit weird as I regained my road feel.  The jury was still out on the saddle, however.  I realized I move around a great deal when I’m riding outdoors.  Part of that was from the rolling/hilly terrain, safety, and slowing a little as my training partner reeled himself back up to me.  The saddle discomfort onset a bit later, but I’m not sure how exactly I’m sitting on the saddle on the road.  Peeking down at myself to see where I am on the saddle with all the potential road hazards is a recipe for disaster.  No distracted riding!  The width seemed to be the one thing that stood out to me.  Again, I wasn’t sure if I’m more hyperaware since I still had some signs of resolving hotspots.  Position-wise, I felt fast.  There were short sections where I know I was faster than I was last year.  Just imagine if I had my race gear on.  Another positive from the first outdoor ride: no foot numbness!  With all the climbing on the bike, my feet were fine.   The new set up outside felt great other than the saddle.

A week later, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and made one last tweak prior to race day.  The thought, “What if this is the one thing that makes the whole fit feel that much better?”  The second outdoor ride provided a nice test and it made a big difference in my all around comfort despite nursing a resolving hotspot.  My feet remained happy since the inserts were finally broken in.  Perhaps, things were finally falling into place.  Now, I’m ready to see what race day brings.