****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is my fourth Selle SMP seat. Love these saddles. I have wide sit bones and wanted to try something a little different from my beloved Avant, which was unfortunately attached to my road bike that was swiped out of my garage. DEATH TO BICYCLE THIEVES! Sorry, I digress. This seat is billed as being for people with wide sit bones like me so I rolled the dice on it. Some guys spend lavishly on cars, women, etc. For me its bike seats.This seat is different from the other "wide sitbone" SMPs, Avant and Plus, in that its sides ("wings") slope down dramatically. This leaves a narrower area that your butt is resting on above the rails. Took a little bit of getting used to because I was more accustomed to the flatter butt platform of the Avant. My impression of this seat is that it really shines when you are in the drops or have your bars set very low and are really aerodynamic when you are riding. Feels really sleek and doesn't restrict movement in the thigh area when you're really gunning it. Very comfortable in that position. If I'm more upright the Avant is the more comfortable saddle, although I'm up to fifty mile rides on this thing with no real discomfort. I can feel the pressure concentrated in much thinner areas and its *slightly* annoying if I'm riding upright, taking it easy on my back and neck. Seems to be getting more comfortable with every ride, though, I will say that. The chasm in the middle is pretty damn big, as you expect from an SMP.Obviously most guys riding a lot in drops or are hunched way down low are weight weenies (not to mention they typically don't have wide sitbones) and are not going to be using this saddle. SMPs are not the lightest, with the possible exception of their really expensive carbon models. But if you have wide sit bones and really ride aerodynamically, give the Pro some consideration. I'm using it on my commuter and if I ever get a crit bike this is going on it.UPDATE Dec. 2015: Maybe because I use this seat every week day on my commuter, this has become my favorite saddle. It even feels comfortable without cycling shorts for rides of ten miles or so. When I get on my road bike on the weekends that has a SMP Plus on it, the Plus feels a bit wide and restrictive with movement to a certain degree where the seat meets your thigh. I tried the Pro on a 120 mile ride and there was a bit of discomfort but nothing out of the ordinary for big rides like that. I will be trying it on a double century in 2016. Just wish these things were cheaper.
