But when I started clipping in again this summer, I had a bit of a problem with it. I needed to make this little weight shift with regularity as I pedaled. A little adaptation that made my surgically remodeled feet work with the clips. When I did it, I kept slipping a tiny bit on the slick saddle and hitting a hard edge. Ouch! I practiced the move for almost 150 miles of riding. I just could not make that little weight shift without getting bit by that hard edge.
The covid19 pandemic makes this a particularly bad time to try out a bunch of saddles at a bike shop. As luck would have it though, I just put a new saddle on the bike I use for my Running Away From Home on a Bicycle trips. It's a great saddle, but it sure doesn't have the style of the elegant little carbon fiber saddle. It took me a week to decide to screw style and just put a Selle Anatomica R2 on my road bike.
The Selle Anatomica is a clone of the Brooks saddle which is famously comfortable. The Brooks is an adjustable leather saddle made in the UK. The Selle Anatomica is made in San Diego. A friend of mine in California loves hers and wanted me to get one. I'm not a fan of high maintenance leather saddles. But then the company came out with the R2, the same saddle but made with vulcanized rubber instead of leather. Just what you need in Miami where rainy rides are pretty common June-November.
It didn't take much time to order and get the saddle. I popped it on the road bike as soon as it was delivered. It is amazingly comfortable on the road bike. And I could do that little weight shift without an ouch!
There was another surprise, too. The saddle acts a bit like a suspension saddle, providing protection from bumps and road chatter.
Function and comfort beat out style. (Cheers to that!)
