Incredible Comfort at Last!

We've recently begun testing and demo'ing John Cobb's very popular saddle line, and the results have led to more customer satisfaction than any previous saddle.  There are four saddles from the man best known for his work in bicycle aerodynamics and for fitting Lance Armstrong.  They include: the V-Flow, V-Flow Plus, V-Flow Max, and the all-new HC-170.  All are said to be performance oriented and offer different set-up options at reasonable prices, at least considering what many saddles are going for these days.  We'll take a short look at each saddle, with longer reviews to come.

A couple of things to keep in mind that we found to be true of all three.  First, they really allow your legs to pedal freely without hinderence.  Meaning, your thighs don't rub the sides of this saddle like many others, yet they're still not so narrow that they don't support you.  On the contrary, we've found these saddles very supportive.  Second, they're kind of ugly (the HC-170 is good - nice and "racey" looking).  Get over it, it's about performance, not looks.  You're sitting on it, and no one sees it while you're riding.

The Original V-Flow

Mr. Cobb originally designed this saddle, or at least one very similar to it, for ISM - it is primarily a high performance road saddle, and it's pretty much geared for men.  While designing his new saddles, John used a pressure sensor to detect exactly where the contact points between the saddle and rider where, especially while riding for performance.  He discovered that more serious riders and racers place a different amount of pressure on their saddles, and in different areas, as well.  The V-Flow is designed to work best for this type of rider - it's job is to provide not only comfort, but support.

Our initial impression of the V-Flow is very good.  Proper pelvic rotation places more pressure towards the front of the perenial area, and the V-Flow works well to support the rider while also relieveing such pressure.  It's also shaped to provide airflow from underneath - the goal being to keep the chamois of your shorts dry for less chafing.

Edit Nov. '09: In the six weeks or so that we've had the VFlow and loaned it out to customers, we can honestly say we've never had a saddle so universally praised.  Yes, people would like it to look sexier, but then they ride it for 2, 3, 5 hours or more and have zero complaints!

Price is a very reasonable $129.00.

V-Flow Plus

There are a couple of ways to describe the V-Flow Plus.  This is a saddle suitable for both men and women, and it truly is a "plus" version of the V-Flow, with additional padding up front.  The padding isn't simply for comfort, it's for assisting it's rider with proper positioning.  The V-Flow Plus can be used for road or multi-sport.

This is a good saddle for the big guy simply because it provides more relief and support in the perenial area for the, uhem, "weighty" among us.  That description shouldn't have women shying away from the Plus, because using it certainly doesn't imply your're overweight - it's just an added support structure for your more sensetive areas.  Really, we mean that.

This saddle can be set-up in different ways, but one, in paticular, has really got our attention.  John Cobb says that setting the V-Flow Plus with the nose slightly up actually relieves hand pressure on the bars without creating additional pressure in the "no-no zone."  We were pretty skeptical at first, but it actually works!  Slight changes in this saddle's set-up can make for big differences.  We like it.

Price: $149.00

V-Flow Max

Not to over-simplify things, but as much as the V-Flow Plus is a V-Flow with additional padding, the V-Flow Max adds even more padding into the mix, and provides for a wider nose.  This saddle is directled squarely at the time trial and multi-sport crowd, though road use is possible as well.  Like the Plus, you can set this saddle slightly nose up on a road bike and, sure enough, it relieves pressure off your hands without creating more perenial pressure.  On a TT or Tri bike, you set it up just a bit nose down, and the support of the saddle takes over from there to provide a comfortable position while in the aero bars.

For many, this saddle may feel too wide, though we believe getting over the initial impression of the width is necessary to fully understand how well this saddle works.  The open-minded will gain from this saddle, while those who eschew it for it's width may simply miss out.

Price: $179.00

We have all three ready to demo.  Give us a call and we'll set you up.

HC-170

The newest saddle in the Cobb Cycling line, the HC-170 (HC- "Hard Core" & 170 - 170 grams) breaks away from the VFlow design quite a bit, but continues to get very positive reviews for comfort, which is odd considering it's small and narrow size.  We'll chalk that up to Mr. Cobb's ever-growing knowledge of saddle design, and once we put some more mileson this bad-boy, we'll post a longer review. If we like it, we'll keep a demo around for everyone.

Price: $179.00