Road saddles are always something that’s highly-personal. Having ridden a plethora of saddles with no relief, I tried the ISM Adamo Road saddle and immediately fell in love with this odd-looking saddle. You might too.
ISM Adamo Road Saddle Features
- Designed for riding in or out of aero bars
- Gel and foam padding
- Cr-mo rails
- 245mm long and 135mm wide
- Colors: Black, Blue, Red, White, Grey
- MSRP: $169.95
ISM Adamo Road Saddle Review
Yes it may look a little strange compared to the saddles you are used to but this crazy looking prong saddle is impressive. Two years ago I took my 20 years of mountain biking and decided to finally add a road bike to the quiver and shortly thereafter was talked into riding Lotoja the following year with a couple of friends.
The training stepped up my mileage significantly and needless to say I started having major saddle issues that took all the fun out of riding. Anything over 30 miles and I was in pain down where it counts. I went through four different saddles trying to find one that worked for me.
Saddle number three was so painful that I was getting desperate and a buddy that had been riding his Adamo for years traded me bikes halfway through a 50 miler, for the rest of the ride I thought I was in heaven. I went home and ordered up my Adamo online that day and then proceeded to move forward with the cardinal sin, I threw it on my bike 3 days before a century I was about to ride. I was able to get one prep ride on the saddle prior to the century, anything felt better than the saddle I had been riding.
The century went great and I finished without having anywhere near the pain down low I had been dealing with previously. So there it was, the Adamo passed the test and I have been riding it ever since and am happy to take the comments from other riders about my funny looking seat! It may not be a fit for everyone but for me this saddle made road biking enjoyable again and has kept the possibility of a 5th kiddo in the future still an option! Lastly, Lotoja went great and I had zero saddle soreness during or after the 206 mile ride.
The Good
- Eliminated saddle soreness completely for me
- Hop on and go
- Makes long rides a dream
- Keeps the man area happy
The Bad
- May not be at your local bike shop
- A bit odd looking
Bottom Line: ISM Adamo Road Saddle
It didn’t take me long to absolutely love this saddle. It seems funky on the surface, but believe me, you will love the comfort and your man area will thank you.
4 Comments
So, did you notice that it took some time to get used to not having the nose of your saddle between your legs when leaning into corners and such? That’s the one thing that immediately comes to mind with these saddles — moreso on a mountain bike, I suppose. Are you still able to use your inner thigh to leverage the saddle?
Good question. It did a feel a little different the first couple of rides, but you absolutely still have leverage with the nose of the saddle that is there, it is shorter but it is also a little wider and there is plenty of surface area there to keep contact between your legs and use for leverage on the turns. I suppose it may be more noticeable on a mountain bike but it has been a non-issue for me with this saddle on my road bike.
i ride a specialized transition and looking at the adamo after reading triathlete magazine and some of the long term impacts of riding on my man bits. i ride right on the nose of my saddle now and wonder how and an adamo would fit and feel. I like my specialized saddle and there isnothing wrong with it, just proactively want to protect my bits and pieces.
Chris, I share the same concern and that is why I really like this saddle. With the design of this saddle your bits and pieces virtually have no pressure on them. This design is very unique in that manner, you can ride right on the nose of your saddle and won’t have any pressure where it counts. I really notice the difference when I am on long rides.