When I poll the question, 68 percent of Slowtwitchers report that they are unsatisfied with their tri bike saddles. Adjectives describing readers's tri saddles vary from "liveable" to "horrible."
This needs fixing, so I contemplated how this weak link in bike riding might best be fixed. I imagined a 20-minute protocol that could eliminate a lot of saddle comfort problems.
This has been my personal pet project over the Summer weeks and months, exciting to me because of what it is, and what it portends for the future when imagining what other tactile problems might be addressed.
It's love or hate at first sight — or sit, as it were — when it comes to saddles. It does not take me long to know whether a saddle's going to work for me: 3 minutes or maybe 5 if it's good, 15 seconds if it's bad. Best would be if tooling and fixtures existed that would allow for saddles to be placed underneath me, quickly adjusted fore/aft, the tilt of the saddle nose quickly and precisely positioned. If I could stop riding one saddle, and commence riding another, in my tri position, at my target power, shrinking the time between one saddle trial and the next, that would be ideal. I would imagine that sounds great to you in theory, but who has experienced this in practice?
It seemed to me a saddle demo of that sort could happen if I could arrange all the moving parts in one place. These moving parts consisted of: a conforming fit bike and by that I mean an Exit Cycling, Retul Muve, Guru Experience, or Purely Custom; outfitted with a gizmo called a SwitchIt, which is a fixture mounted on a fit bike that allows for quick saddle changes and adjustments; a deep and wide inventory of the saddles triathletes tend to like the most; a protocol for efficiently and quickly testing saddles in a race simulation; and fitters who knew what they were doing.
Then I needed to reproduce this paradigm in every major metro area in the United States.
Today I'm announcing the Slowtwitch Saddle Tour: 39 retailers in 22 metro areas across the country, all of which meet the imperatives and challenges outlined above. Participation in the Saddle Tour is at no charge to end users, unless of course you choose to buy a saddle at the end of your Tour demo — which I hope you'll do if you find a saddle that solves your comfort issues, or is at least a distinct improvement on what you're riding now.
The list of cities is below. Most Tour stops begin in a city on a Wednesday or Thursday and end on a Saturday or Sunday. There are from 1 to 3 participating shops in every city. In some cases, the Tour may last thru Sunday, but not in every shop, as some shops are closed on Sundays.
Most of these shops will not accept you as a walk-in, because you won't be the only one availing yourself of the Slowtwitch Saddle Tour and a shop's fit bike, pressed into special service for the Saddle Tour, must also perform it's normal job as fit fixture. So, best if you make an appointment, or at least see in advance if you need an appointment.
You'll see very promotions on Slowtwitch, either global promotions or very targeted ones based on where you live, if you live in a metro area where the Saddle Tour takes place. There is a separate page devoted to the Slowtwitch Saddle Tour that will be updated, from time to time, with the latest news, contact info, what you'll want to bring to your Saddle Tour demo and so forth.
The Slowtwitch Saddle Tour is brought to you by Selle Italia and its SLR TriGel, Profile Design and its TriStryke, and Cobb Cycling and its VFlow, Plus, Max and other fine saddles. You'll these and other favorite tri saddles during the Saddle Tour.
Atlanta, GA • Aug 15 - 17 • Thur thru Sat
Boston, MA • Aug 15 - 17 • Thur thru Sat
Denver, CO • Aug 15 - 17 • Thur thru Sat
Boulder, CO • Aug 15 - 17 • Thur thru Sat
Washington DC • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Baltimore, MD • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Los Angeles, CA • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Detroit, MI • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Tampa, FL • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Orlando, FL • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
San Francisco, CA • Aug 23 - 24 • Fri thru Sat
Raleigh, NC • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
State of Connecticut • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
Minneapolis, MN • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
San Diego, CA • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
Houston, TX • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
Seattle, WA • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
New York, NY • Sep 11 - 14 • Wed thru Sat
Sacramento, CA • Sep 12 - 14 • Thur thru Sat
Philadelphia, PA • Sep 25 - 28 • Wed thru Sat
Chicago, IL • Sep 25 - 28 • Wed thru Sat
Atlanta, GA • Aug 15 - 17 • Thur thru Sat
All3Sports
Brent Pease
8601 Dunwoody Pl #420
Atlanta, GA
770-587-9994
• • • • • •
Boston, MA • Aug 15 - 17 • Thur thru Sat
Fast Splits
Brian Hughes
612 Washington St
Newton, MA 02458
617-630-8500
Fit Werx
67 Foster St.
Peabody, MA 01960
978-532-7348
• • • • • •
Denver, CO • Aug 15 - 17 • Thur thru Sat
Treads Bicycle Outfitters Aurora
16701 E Iliff Ave
Aurora, CO 80013
303-750-1671
Treads Bicycle Outfitters Lakewood
3234 S Wadsworth Blvd
Lakewood, CO 80227
Treads Bicycle Outfitters Parker
10831 S Crossroads Dr
Parker, CO 80134
303-690-2900
• • • • • •
Boulder, CO • Aug 15 - 17 • Thur thru Sat
Colorado Multisport
2480 Canyon Blvd
Boulder, CO 80302
303-865-4604
• • • • •
Washington DC • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Sportfit Lab
Doug Baumgarten
1041 Sterling Rd #103
Herndon, VA 20170
703-435-5537
• • • • •
Baltimore, MD • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Bike Doctor
Steve Ruck
953 Ritchie Hwy
Arnold, MD 21012
410-544-3532
• • • • •
Los Angeles, CA • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Triathlon Lab
3328 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA
310-581-6100
Hypercat Racing
4160 Market St #3
Ventura, CA 93003
805-477-0353
• • • •
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Knobbies and Slicks
8300 Precinct Line Rd #110
Colleyville, TX
817-281-4957
Tri Shop
6101 Windhaven Parkway #100
Plano, TX 75093
972-378-5476
• • • • • •
Detroit, MI • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Fraser Bicycle
34501 Utica Road
Fraser, MI 48026
586-294-4070
• • • • • • •
Tampa, FL • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Outspokin
3300 S. Dale Mabry Hwy
Tampa, FL
813-831-1414
• • • • • •
Orlando, FL • Aug 21 - 24 • Wed thru Sat
Evolve Bicycles
13 Blake Blvd.
Celebration, FL 34747
321-939-2453
Out-Spoke-N
1061 South Sun Drive #1073
Lake Mary, FL 32746
407-688-1959
• • • • •
San Francisco, CA • Aug 23 - 24 • Fri thru Sat
Sports Basement Presidio
610-Old Mason St.
San Francisco, CA
415-437-0100
Sports Basement Walnut Creek
1881 Ygnacio Valley Rd.
Walnut Creek, CA
925-941-6100
Sports Basement Sunnyvale
1177 Kern Ave
Sunnyvale, CA
408-732-0300
• • • • • •
Raleigh, NC • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
Inside Out Sports
Brennan Station
Shopping Center
8111-124 Creedmoor Rd
Raleigh, NC 27613
919.861.9903
• • • •
State of Connecticut • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
Bethel Cycle
5 Depot Pl
Bethel, CT 06801
203-504-8960
Greenwich Bicycles
35 Amogerone Crossway
Greenwich, CT 06830
203-869-4141
Pacific Swim Bike Run
575 Pacific St.
Stamford, CT 06902
203-504-8960
• • • • • •
Minneapolis, MN • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
Now Bikes & Fitness
1201 County Road East, #100
Arden Hills, MN 55112
651-490-7709
Now Bikes & Fitness
75 N Snelling Ave
St. Paul, MN 55104
651-644-2354
• • • • • •
San Diego, CA • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
Nytro Multisport
940 S. Coast Hwy 101
Encinitas, CA
760-632-0006
Moment Cycle Sports
2816 Historic Decatur Rd #135
San Diego, CA 92106
619-523-2453
• • • • • •
Houston, TX • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
Bicycle World
14536 Memorial Dr.
Houston, TX
281-556-0923
• • • • • •
Seattle, WA • Aug 28 - 31 • Wed thru Sat
Northwest Tri and Bike
15423 SE 272nd St.,
Kent, WA 98042
253-638-2453
• • • • • •
New York, NY • Sep 11 - 14 • Wed thru Sat
ACME Bicycle Co.
Jonathan Blyer
597 Degraw Street, Suite 2F
Brooklyn, NY 11217
917-355-3397
Cycle Craft
Brendan Poh
99 U.S. Hwy 46 East
Parsippany, NJ
973-227-4462
• • • • • •
Sacramento, CA • Sept 12 - 14 • Thurs thru Sat
Davis Wheelworks
247 F St.,
Davis, CA 95616
530-753-3186
Rocklin Endurance Sports
2161 Sunset Blvd., #200
Rocklin, CA 95765
916-259-2820
• • • • • •
Philadelphia, PA • Sep 25 - 28 • Wed thru Sat
Bell's Bike Shop
Steve Palladinetti
1320 E. Passyunk Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-543-6000
• • • • • •
Chicago, IL • Sep 25 - 28 • Wed thru Sat
EndureIt!
504 W Fifth Ave
Naperville, IL 60563
630-305-6771
Running Away Multisport
2219 N. Clybourn Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
773-395-2929
Running Away Multisport
800 Waukegan Rd.
Deerfield, IL 60015
847-945-2929
