Booty Sweat

Every serious road cyclist out there knows that there's no better feeling on your bike than to have your saddle dialed in properly.

Oh, you can have a professional fitting where measurements are taken, angles and positions are set, and money leaves your wallet, but true satisfaction only comes after a nightmarish, OCD obsession, manifesting itself in hundreds of micro-adjustments over an infinite period of time. Until finally...it's perfect!

Mongo affectionately calls this..."A little slice of Heaven." No matter what else is going on with your riding that day, ass problems won't be a factor.

Mongo's been rocking a Specialized Alias saddle for a couple of years. Once it got dialed in, I never had a problem with it. It was the perfect combination of a light race saddle with just enough padding. Then I crashed a couple of times, broke the saddle, repaired the saddle with electrical tape and Macgyver know-how, and eventually lost my "little slice of Heaven."

I've known for a while that I need a new saddle, but I haven't really wanted to drop a hundy on on a new Alias...with times being tough and all. So what did I do?

Mongo, as always, found himself a deal. Being a Masters cyclist, my prostate and my package are always a priority when choosing a saddle. For that reason, I am a lifetime Specialized user. Unfortunately, I am not made of money, so economics always play a factor in my cycling purchases.

I got myself a Specialized Phenom saddle.(Pictured above) It is based on the Toupe, but is marketed as a racing MTB saddle. It is lighter that the Alias, but with cro-mo rails versus the ti rails found on the Alias. The only way to make up for the weight is to remove practically all the padding. This sucker is hard as a rock. My butt hasn't been this uncomfortable since someone slipped me a mickey at Backstreets in '97.

Oh well. As a famous French philosopher once said..."If you ain't sufferin', you ain't cyclin'."