ISM, Thanks for all the help over the years. Here are photos of my bikes – A current Ridley Helium, ’72 Raleigh Pro, late 90’s Klein Attitude, mid 90’s Strong Cycles FOCO, and late 90’s NAC (Steve Calvert) Team Issue. I built them all up myself. The wheels are also my builds, various relatively traditional designs, mostly Campy/DT/Stans NoTubes. I’ve been working seriously on bikes since 1970, under my first boss, the late great Sheldon Brown. I raced some NCAA and club races throughout the 70’s. I ride 6-7,000 joyous, hard miles per year.
For the past 8 years or so I have only ridden ISM Adamo saddles, because they are perfect… Compared to dozens I tried over the decades: Firm, great control, and comfortable. Easy subtle shifts of position give different kinds of movement through sharp turns and fast descents. Shifting forward for aggressive moves is quick and certain on ISM. And I can put in many hours with zero pain. For the first few years I used the Racing 1. I have the current Racing 2 on my TT bikes and my commute. I find the angle and fore-aft fairly simple to tweak for a given bike’s position. I am currently experimenting with the Peak on my MTB, and the Podium/Breakaway on my road bike. I’m also experimenting with a flat-bar 10 speed, to see what all the fuss is about, and may use the Racing or a Breakaway for that (or maybe it’s silly and I’ll convert the Strong back into a more typical modern steel road bike). Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – I have looked the imitations and am unimpressed. Most are a crude approximation of your product, or are not true split nose. I don’t mean to criticize, when saddle choice is so personal, but ISM has something revolutionary here, and the beauty of these saddles should not be lost in the imitations. Point is, I know what I’m doing with bike building, geometry, riding and the torment of searching for a saddle—ISM Adamo saddles saved my butt, and provided a powerful tool for potent rides.