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Cobb Cycling Saddle Review | Speed And Comfort | 2018

Tom Crandall — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 06:47:41 +0000

We caught up to Cobb Cycling and their saddle line at last year’s 2017 Interbike. To be honest I didn’t know much about Cobb other than name recognition, which was probably from my triathlon days. Somewhere in 2018 Cobb Cycling ran into some type of legal battle and as a result lost their website Cobbcycling.com URL. I had to do a bit of searching, but found the Cobb Cycling name has changed to Speed And Comfort (https://speedandcomfort.com/). I am sure this was sort of a letdown considering how much time was spent building up the Cobb Cycling brand.

Cobb product lineup consists of saddles, short cranks, apparel and some accessories. Their bread and butter though is saddles.

Cobb’s Mission Statement | Speed And Comfort

Cobb’s mission is simple – to increase the comfort and performance for bicycle riders of all levels.

Their goal is to design better saddles, along with innovative products, such as different length cranks and technical performance clothing.

Cobb Cycling Saddles Arrive

After Interbike 2017 we reached out to Cobb Cycling to get a few of their saddles for review. Cobb sent us 3 of their new 2017/2018 line including the One Fifty One, San Remo and Tenace.

Cobb Cycling One Fifty One Saddle Review

For those who love Carbon everything, you will absolutely love the One Fifty One. The first time out on the saddle and I was like “Wow what have I been missing”. The One Fifty One is pure enjoyment from start to finish. I am not sure if it’s the carbon rails or the wider cutout or the overall design, but whatever it is, the One Fifty One is my new favorite piece of cycling equipment.

When you think about it, people spend thousands of dollars on bikes, groupos, watt meters, indoor trainers but often skimp out on saddles. Many times people just go with whatever saddle happens to be on the bike they purchase.

For many, bike saddles are often a love hate relationship, where you tell yourself it’s going to take a few hundred miles to brake in a good saddle. Well I am here to tell you the One Fifty One required zero break-in period and felt great from the start.

The One Fifty One is cushioned with 3mm of padding, which for me is just about perfect. It’s not too stiff and not too mushy.

Are there any negatives?

If you’re a big fan of Italian style and colors, the One Fifty One is rather plain in appearance. It’s definitely not a bad looking saddle, but it isn’t anything that really pops. Our saddle came in classic black without any color accents, so it sort of blends into our black Felt AR1. There is another color choice, black/silver, so if plain black isn’t your thing, you do have options.

Price point will be another issue for some. The One Fifty One retails for $329.95, which many riders may have a hard time swallowing. When you think about it though, how much is it worth being comfortable on the bike. Considering high end road shoes like the Vittoria IKON or Fi’zi:k R1 cost $300 – $500 dollars, the saddle’s price tag is much easier to justify.

Cobb One Fifty One Specs

The Cobb One Fifty-One is built with the same carbon fiber shell and rails and the same shape as the Cobb Carbon One, yet this one has a lightweight 3mm memory foam padding. The saddle is designed for high mileage road riders who demand comfort as well as top-level performance.

The anatomic shape includes a long narrow nose to eliminate chafing on your inner thighs and a long cutout for pressure relief on your soft tissue. The cutout bridge adds strength and stability for consistent comfort.

Weight: 180 Grams
Seat Rail: Carbon
Rail Length: 80mm
Retail: $329.95

Cobb Cycling San Remo Saddle Review

A Little Race History

The Cobb Cycling San Remo saddle was named after the longest World Tour road race, the 298 km (~185.2 miles) Milan-San Remo. Other names for the race include “The Spring classic” and “La Classicissima“. The cycling race goes from Milan to San Remo, in Northwest Italy. The race was first held back in 1907 and continues to this day.

Milan–San Remo is considered a sprinters classic because of its mainly flat course, whereas the other Italian Monument race, the Giro di Lombardia, held in autumn, is considered a climbers classic.

John Cobb had mentioned that the saddle was designed to give a little Italian flare and I think he achieved that with the cool white racing stripes.

The San Remo dimensions are the same as the One Fifty One, but a few things have been swapped out for less expensive parts. Instead of using carbon rails, the San Remo uses hollow chromoly rails. The carbon construction has been replaced with a composite based material that flexes a bit more than the One Fifty One. The padding has also been increased to provide some extra cushioning.

Using both saddles, my preference is to use the One Fifty One for road riding and the San Remo for mountain biking, although this is purely subjective.

I really dig the color pallet of the San Remo, being a big fan of tastefully done colors that aren’t over the top.

Are there any negatives?

For those that are weight weenies, the San Remo (240 grams) is 60 grams heavier than the One Fifty One (180 grams) and 120 grams heavier than the ultra light Carbon One (120 grams).

If you are looking for a firm seat, you might want to opt for the One Fifty One instead with it’s firmer 3mm padding.

Cobb San Remo Specs

The San Remo saddle features a long narrow nose to eliminate chafing on your inner thighs and a long cutout for soft tissue pressure relief.

Where the more expensive Carbon One and One Fifty-One use full carbon construction, the San Remo employs a Cobb composite base tuned with a bit of flex for comfort and hollow chromoly rails. The shape is the same and it gets the same memory foam padding. The cutout bridge adds strength and stability for consistent comfort.

Weight: 240 Grams
Seat Rail: Hollow Chromoly
Rail Length: 80mm
Retail: $199.95

Cobb Cycling Tenace Saddle Review

The Tenace saddle pronounced “Ten A Che” is Cobb Cycling’s answer to high mileage rides. Tenace, Italian for tenacious, is a different direction in saddle design for Cobb. Rather than a traditional long nose saddle, the Tenace design goes shorter and wider at the front and more rounded at the back.

What makes the Tenace really cool is it’s longer than normal rail (105mm vs 80mm) that most saddles have. That means you have an extra 25mm of travel to adjust the saddle fore and aft.

For me the saddle just didn’t feel right. The front of the saddle felt too wide and I felt it rubbed my thighs too much. That said, most saddles boil down to user preference and what I might like, others may have issue with, so it really comes down to getting on the saddle and going for a ride.

Cobb Tenace Specs

The Tenace has a cutout for soft tissue pressure relief. It’s a great choice for riders who employ a slightly more upright road position and for those requiring greater ischial support. A durable, lightweight, forgiving Cobb composite base and hollow chromoly rails keep the weight to a minimum so your comfort need not mean a costly sacrifice in weight.

Weight: 265 Grams
Seat Rail: Hollow Chromoly
Rail Length: 105mm
Retail: $199.95

Cobb Saddles Final Results

Out of the 3 saddles tested, the One Fifty One is definitely my top choice for road cycling and is in fact my favorite saddle right now. It’s so good I felt a shot of it with a dragster was more than appropriate.

The San Remo is another great choice with a price drop of $120 over the One Fifty One. At roughly $200 retail, the San Remo is another fantastic option.

While I didn’t find the Cobb Tenace to my liking, the fact that it has a 105mm rail means those who do find it comfortable are going to have a ton of adjustability over most saddles.

Be sure to check out Cobb Cycling | Speed and Comfort (https://speedandcomfort.com/) for saddle and other gear.

Update: 8/16/2018

I have been riding the One Fifty One now for over 8 months and have been extremely satisfied with the build quality and how long the saddle has lasted. Many of my previous saddles would develop wear spots along the edges and thus far I haven’t seen any wear at all. The saddle looks like it is brand new, which to me is amazing. It’s is definitely the best saddle I have ever owned for both comfort and quality.

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Selle SMP Cycling Saddles Review | Part 1 | 2018

Tom Crandall — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 23:18:18 +0000

Do you love everything Italian, well then we have a treat for you. Albabici (http://www.albabici.com/) sent us 2 very cool Selle SMP Cycling Saddles to test out.

In this review we are going to showcase Selle SMP Cycling Saddle’s “Test Me” program.

Selle SMP History

Selle SMP was founded by Martino Padova in 1947 in the northern town of Padua, Italy. In 1979 the company moved it’s operation to Casalserugo, Italy and by 1995 production reached 5 million saddles. Quite an accomplishment.

In 2006, Martino passed and his sons Franco and Maurizio continue his his place. In 2007 Selle SMP launched their first all carbon saddle.

Unlike many saddle manufactures that get their products from Asia, Salle SMP are fully manufactured and made in Italy.

Selle SMP Cycling Saddles Review

One thing that sets Selle SMP apart from many saddle manufacturers is their “Test Me” program where you can test ride the Selle SMP saddles prior to purchase without any obligations. They recommend 4-5 rides to get the feel of the saddle and to make the proper adjustments. To me this is a fantastic opportunity to test out really good saddles and see if they agree with you, something most people probably don’t even know about. I certainly didn’t.

Albabici sent us 2 “Test Me” saddles called the Blaster and Dynamic. The only real difference between the 2 saddles is the width. The Blaster is 131mm wide and the Dynamic is 138mm wide. According to Selle SMP’s saddle sizing chart, the Blaster would be for a man whose waist is 30 – 35 inches or women whose waist is 26 – 33 inches and the Dynamic would be for a man whose waist is 32-37 inches or women whose waist is 30 – 35 inches. Since I have a 30ish inch waist, the Blaster would probably be the better fit. Basically if you have a bigger bum/butt/buttocks, you would go with the wider saddle and in this case it would be the Dynamic.

Both the Blaster and Dynamic fall into Selle’s minimal padding line of saddles. Selle saddles consist of 5 categories including

Carbon Fiber
No Padding
Minimal Padding
Standard Padding
Padding High

They also have 3 categories of saddles

Professional
Triathlon/Time Trial
Tourism/Recreational

For people who are serious cyclists, most would opt for the Professional Carbon Fiber – Minimum Padding saddles. More recreational cyclists might opt for Standard Padding or Padding High.

Obviously weight weenies would look for the lightest saddles which would be the Carbon Fiber ones. At 130 grams , the Selle SMP Full Carbon and Full Carbon Lite are sick light and look stunning.

Another neat feature of the Selle SMP saddle line is the wide range of color selection. Most saddles have at least 3 colors to choose from with many saddles having 10 or more.

Setting up the saddle for me was pretty straight forward, but for those that have questions, Albabici website has a great writeup on Selle SMP Saddle Selection and Saddle Adjustment.

Bottom Line | Selle SMP Cycling Saddles | Test Me Program

Let’s face it, saddles can make or break an enjoyable ride. Having a great saddle that fits and is comfortable makes you forget about it, which is what you want.

The Selle SMP “Test Me” program is pretty much a no brainer. Test the saddles out, if you like them, buy them and if you don’t, move on, but I have a feeling many people will really enjoy the ride.

Check out Selle SMP saddles on their website (http://www.sellesmp.com/) or from Albabici (http://www.albabici.com/).

Also stay tuned for Part II of our Selle SMP Review, when we return the test saddles and get a chance to ride what we have chosen.

Cobb Cycling Saddle Review | 2017 2018

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