Specialized Romin

Coach H

After securing a Spesh Romin saddle in the Classifieds to try (thanks keef_zip), by crikey its hard.

After 30 mins on the turbo I can safely say I am sitting on my sit bones and although the shape seems to fit really well, it feels like its made of iron.

Has anyone else experienced this and found the stiffenss eases after a breaking in period? I know its normally your ar$e that has to break in with non-leather saddles but mine wants to know there is light (comfort) at the end of the tunnel :shock:

I'm doing a 30 miler on Saturday on it but I'm considering using Ibuleve rather than chamois cream!!

Lord Jimmy 7th

i have had mine since christmas, and i havent had any problems with it actually feeling too solid

seanoconn

Play around with the tilt of the saddle, a couple of mm up or down from level makes a big difference. A couple of mm up, spread the weight around much more evenly for me.

The Romin is the most supportive saddle i've had.

on-yer-bike

I just swopped my year old white one for a new black one and its noticeably firmer I guess this is because its new. The friend who had my white Romin said it was more comfy than the test Romin he had been using. I find it works best if you level it front to back, this may seem high at the front but works best for me. Maybe a half a bubble down at the front from this position.

APIII

Have you definitely got the right size? I tried the wide version first, which nearly crucified me, but the regular version has been fine. You also need to be in a 'race' sort of position to spread your weight in order to get most comfort out of the Romin. Don't know about you, but I have a tendency to sit up quite a bit when I'm on the turbo, so my Spesh saddle can be more uncomfortable for indoor sessions.

RDB66

Been using a 143mm Romin SL for about 5 months now, not had any probs with it at all.

Great saddle it is and very comfy too.

Best saddle i've tried....Yet !!

what brakes

Mine was not great to start but then its been fine, my old saddle was horrendous on the turbo but was ok while out but rubbed me raw. the romin is better on the turbo

seanoconn

You've probably done this already but to get your starter level on the romin, you level the middle third of the saddle. Putting a level across from nose to back isn't much use as the backs higher.

bigpikle

feels hard when you touch it but as soon as you sit on then it strangely feels very comfortable - done about 500 miles on mine and just bought a 2nd for the new build!

Brommers76

Still not getting on with mine after a few hundred miles. Pressure on the sit bones seems excessive. My Arione is comy except on the drops when it is bordering on painful. Romin on the drops is much better but upright and the sit bones kill me.

peddlefever

I'm using a Romin comp and notice that when I ride on my trainer it does hurt a bit after about 20 minutes, but I just got back from an actual ride and it was great. I have only done a few rides on it, but whenever its a ride that isn't on a trainer it is great and I have no issues with it at all.

Also, I did find it uncomfortable all of the time, until I tip the nose up a bit. Looking at it you would think it would be horribly uncomfortable, but I have found it to take some pressure off of the sit bones while still not putting too much pressure on my soft tissue areas. Of course everyone is different, and it may not work for you, but it is worth a try.

Coach H

Well 2hrs in the saddle this morning and it felt pretty good.

| tipped it up slightly from level through the middle section and, although still quite hard, in terms of shape its the best I think I have ridden. First EVER ride over 30mins where I had not a trace of numb knob. The wide nose rubbed my thighs but not really sore.

The sit bone issues I had on the turbo really did not manifest themselves on the proper ride, thank goodness.

stratcat

I can ride for hours (5 hours last week, non stop) on my Romin yet an hour on the turbo or a 25 mile TT can cause some discomfort. I reckon its the lack of moving about on the bike to let some blood to circulate that causes the problem. I've got a brooks b17 on a tourer that, while comfy, is not as comfy as the romin.

Cleat Eastwood

the romin is feckin brilliant. why did you buy a saddle without even looking at it or checking out what size you need and checking it in the shops. Having the right can make a cack ride half decent its worth spending time to find one that suits you. most lbs's will have a trial saddle for you to try.

Coach H

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

the romin is feckin brilliant. why did you buy a saddle without even looking at it or checking out what size you need and checking it in the shops. Having the right can make a cack ride half decent its worth spending time to find one that suits you. most lbs's will have a trial saddle for you to try.

Thanks for these wonderfully supportive words of wisdom Cleat.

Just to clarify
I had seen the saddle before I bought it.
In the shop it didn't feel any harder than a toupe or any number of other saddles, however this is not actually a good indication of riding comfort. A friend of mine swears his carbon shell only SLR is supremly comfortable!
I had checked what size I need (and I currently run the same width Toupe on my winter bike)
Like may others I have spent a number of years, countless miles and numerous (6) previous saddles in my attempt to find the holy grail (Only one saddle, a Selle Italia Filante, was truly terrible for me but this came with what is now my winter bike)
My LBS has 3 trial saddles but they were all out and there were 2 people on the waiting list before me.
Buying the Cro-Mo version second hand (and hardly used) means I could test it at very little cost if I had to sell it on, but gave me the option to buy a carbon railed version and put this one on my winter bike if I liked it. I also got to try it at the start of the summer rather than a couple of months into it.

Thanks anyway but I think I will take more notice of the other contributers to the thread, the ones with something more positive to say.

alistaird

Just got one second hand as well for similar reasons. I have found that it is much better when you are less upright. Went out for an hours gentle ride with my wife and found the Romin less than comfortable. Carried after an hour and did 1/2 hours hard riding and all the discomfort and numbness went away. I think the saddle is built for quite a forward position and then it comes into its own in the comfort stakes.

on-yer-bike

seanoconn wrote:

You've probably done this already but to get your starter level on the romin, you level the middle third of the saddle. Putting a level across from nose to back isn't much use as the backs higher.

Yes one would think that but I have found it not to be the case. Also, the lower the nose the more one feels the width of the nose.

bigpikle

did my first 100 on it today and was impressed.

Felt like I'd ridden a long way at the end but much better than previous saddles I've ridden for that long. Looking forward to trying my ti railed version on the new book and see if it adds anything to comfort?

bobgfish

Had mine for 3 months and still trying to decide if I like it. The first 20 mins it always feels very hard and I can feel my sit bones a lot. After this I seem to forget it. Still trying to decide if it's the one.

nferrar

I really like my Romin, most saddles I find really comfy for 20-30 minutes then they go downhill from there whereas the Romin doesn't feel quite as comfy straight away as some saddles but doesn't get any worse (at least up to 3 hours I've used it). I'm glad I did a 30 miler as a test ride on the demo saddle and not a round the block thing.

bigpikle

glad all this positive posting about the Romin came just after I snagged a ti railed one at a good price on ebay! I bet prices will be up loads by now....

sagalout

Love my Romin saddle

Done 110 miler and lots of 50+ rides. By far the best saddle for me - tried all sorts including charge spoon. Tempted to buy another one as a spare in case they stop making them!

bobgfish

Love is not the right word. Done several 260Km's on mine and it hasn't killed me. Still thinking that something in the world would be be better though.

Nuggs

@OP - I'm having exactly the same experience. After my first ride, I felt like I had been repeatedly kicked up the @rse.

I'm going to try playing with the positioning of the saddle as suggested by other posters in the hope I can make it more comfortable.