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Specialized’s new Body Geometry Elaston saddles akin to sitting on a "cloud of 1,000 pillows"specialized elaston saddles2

Specialized’s new Body Geometry Elaston saddles akin to sitting on a "cloud of 1,000 pillows"

Ride a 1,000 clouds with Specialized's new Elaston saddle foam technology
by David Arthur @davearthur
Wed, Sep 26, 2018 15:28
13

Here’s something we’ve not seen before, Specialized’s new Body Geometry Elaston saddles, claimed as they are to let you “ride a cloud of 1,000 pillows” which sounds amazing if you’ve ever suffered saddle discomfort.

- 19 of the best saddles — the seats that improve cycling comfort for men and women

Specialized hasn’t quite managed to condense that many pillows into a saddle. What it has actually done is used a new padding technology that expands thousands of small beads into foam, which it reckons gives the effect of sitting on a cloud of pillows. But how do they know how that feels? Have they built a rig?

specialized elaston saddles3

"We've replaced the traditional PU padding for an Elaston foam construction that's made up of small beads that are expanded into the foam. The result? The feeling off sitting on 1,000 miniature pillows rather than one piece of foam," explains Specialized.

The new padding replaces the usual polyurethane and is found in the company’s stubby nosed Power saddle, the Power Pro Elaston to give it its full name. Aside from this fancy new padding, you’re looking at a lightweight carbon fibre shell with a central channel and hollow titanium rails. Two widths, 143 and 155mm, are available, with the narrowest weighing a claimed 231g.

- 6 of the best short saddles - because short is the new long

The road.cc tech team have always found Body Geometry saddles to generally be very comfortable, with a good range of shapes to choose from. The short-nosed Power is part of a growing trend of performance focused saddles intended for very aggressive rider fits, helping to reduce pressure on soft tissue when in the aero position. We look forward to seeing what impact this new padding has on saddle comfort. 

specialized elaston saddles1

These new saddles don't come cheap mind, coming in at £190 compared to £175 for a regular Power Pro saddle. More at www.specialized.com

Specialized
Body Geometry
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David Arthur @davearthur

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes. 

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13 comments

Avatar
Wasupwitdat1 | 6 years ago
0 likes

I purchased this saddle recently and have used it about two months. I used to be a dedicated Fizik saddle guy but the last couple of years after trying a couple of Fizik's newer saddles I realized Fizik wasn't going to work for me anymore. I installed the Elaston on my Titanium Van Nicholas Skeiron road bike and away I went. This is a great saddle. I now have comfort back in my ride and not fidgeting around after the miles start to pile up. Honestly the best comfort I've had in all my years of road bike riding and I think well worth the hefty price and little extra weight. The saddle looks great on my titanium frame too because it looks almost like a bronze and gives a sense of elegance. I would recommend this saddle a 5 out of 5 stars.

Avatar
The _Kaner | 6 years ago
3 likes

I tried one of those bubble filled Aero sadles once, after about 2 minutes people started running away from me, something to do with the brown stain on my shorts from the melted chocolate...

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macrophotofly | 6 years ago
0 likes

 I wonder if I can achieve the same thing by taking a few poly balls out of my bean bag and glueing them to the top of my seat?

Avatar
jollygoodvelo | 6 years ago
1 like

A pile of 1000 pillows sounds like it would be unstable, unresponsive and generally disconcerting.

However that saddle just looks like they've cut up a couple of Adidas Boost trainers.

Avatar
mike the bike | 6 years ago
0 likes

 

Dunno about a thousand pillows but I often feel I'm sitting on a bunch of grapes.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to mike the bike | 6 years ago
2 likes

mike the bike wrote:

 

Dunno about a thousand pillows but I often feel I'm sitting on a bunch of grapes.

You can get ointment for that.

Avatar
henryb | 6 years ago
4 likes

What's their quality control like? What if, for example, under the pile of 1000 pillows there was a single pea?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to henryb | 6 years ago
4 likes

henryb wrote:

What's their quality control like? What if, for example, under the pile of 1000 pillows there was a single pea?

Depends on the type of pea. A standard green garden pea will still be felt by a suitable member of a royal family, but something like a mange tout or snow pea would only need a cloud of 200 pillows to be undetectable.

Avatar
henryb replied to hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
4 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

henryb wrote:

What's their quality control like? What if, for example, under the pile of 1000 pillows there was a single pea?

Depends on the type of pea. A standard green garden pea will still be felt by a suitable member of a royal family, but something like a mange tout or snow pea would only need a cloud of 200 pillows to be undetectable.

Dammit! Why isn't there an ISO pea?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to henryb | 6 years ago
2 likes

henryb wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

henryb wrote:

What's their quality control like? What if, for example, under the pile of 1000 pillows there was a single pea?

Depends on the type of pea. A standard green garden pea will still be felt by a suitable member of a royal family, but something like a mange tout or snow pea would only need a cloud of 200 pillows to be undetectable.

Dammit! Why isn't there an ISO pea?

I think they were on the verge of publishing it, but they got all embarrassed when they saw the chick pea.

 

Avatar
iso2000 | 6 years ago
1 like

I don’t understand why short nose saddles are intended for people who ride in an aero position (as stated in the article). When I ride in an upright position I am sitting at the back of the saddle and this is normal as far as I can see. I don’t actually use the nose of my Sella Italia SLR saddle even when riding on the drops. Guess I’m just saying that maybe these types of saddles could be used by anyone.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to iso2000 | 6 years ago
2 likes

iso2000 wrote:

I don’t understand why short nose saddles are intended for people who ride in an aero position (as stated in the article). When I ride in an upright position I am sitting at the back of the saddle and this is normal as far as I can see. I don’t actually use the nose of my Sella Italia SLR saddle even when riding on the drops. Guess I’m just saying that maybe these types of saddles could be used by anyone.

Riding in an upright position means that you'll only need up to 500 cloud pillows rating, so the rest will be wasted. It's only the aero riders that will be needing the full 1000.

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
4 likes

Finally a saddle worth using and here I am sat on a saddle that only feels like a cloud of 900 pillows.

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