June 8, 2008 ITU Elite World Championships  Vancouver, Canada

Sarah Haskins earns Silver Medal!! Quickly after exiting the swim, Sarah and a group of 5 others formed a lead pack.  Late in the first lap, Sarah jumped the group with Helen Tucker in tow.  The two girls would continue to gain time on the chase group and eventually arrive in T2 two minutes ahead!!  Haskins and Tucker would run neck and neck for the entire 10k, but Haskins would be out-sprinted by a mere 4 seconds!  “Getting to the podium was definitely a goal.  I couldn’t ask for anything more”.  Sarah proudly races on her Blue ISM Adamo Racing Saddle.
 

June 8, 2008  Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon  San Francisco, CA

Becky Lavelle finishes 2^nd in one of the Nation’s premier events! It was a wonderful day of racing in the Bay Area.  Becky tackled the day’s event and would finish just 15 seconds down for 2^nd place.  Way to go, Becky!  That’s one tough course.  Becky chose to use her Black ISM Adamo Racing Saddle for the race.

April 27, 2008 St. Anthony’s Triathlon St. Petersburg, FL

Sarah Haskin Wins!! It was a beautiful day of racing. Olympic hopeful Sarah Haskins was first out of the water and quickly settled into the bike leg of the 25th year anniversary St. Anthony’s Triathlon. She would go on to set the fastest run time and win convincingly in 1:59:24. You’re on a roll girl!! Also noteworthy was new ISM recruit, Becky Lavelle finished 5th in the event. But let’s not forget ISM co-owner, Laura Toll. This owner “walks the talk”. Way to go, ladies!!

April 23,2008 Legendary Triathlon and Cycling Coach, Joe Friel, shares his opinion of the ISM Adamo saddle

John Cobb has done it again. He’s always coming up with stuff that helps me ride faster, but now he’s making me more comfortable, too.

I’m getting back into time trialing this year. I used to do these quite often. One of the biggest obstacles to racing well, I found, was that my butt got so sore in the aero position that I had to wear two pair of cycling shorts for the extra padding. As the hips roll forward into an aero position body weight shifts toward the soft tissues. The more aggressive the position, the more discomfort I experienced. For a man to be even moderately comfortable (which means significantly uncomfortable) he must adjust his equipment to one side or the other of the nose of the saddle. There is simply no way to eliminate the discomfort of that damned saddle nose sticking out between the thighs. That is until I came a cross the Adamo saddle that John helped to design.

But getting back to my training… I found I wasn’t looking forward to my once or twice weekly aero-position rides on my Cervelo P3c because of the discomfort. So I decided to shop around for something that would feel better. I had recently seen John’s Adamo saddle at the Blackwell Research booth at the SICI conference in Denver. So I decided to give it a try.

The Adamo certainly looks different. It doesn’t have the long, sleek look of my Specialized Toupe. It’s a little goofy looking with a short length and a pair of stubby rails sticking out in front (see picture). It is about one to two inches shorter than a traditional saddle. The UCI rule is that saddles have to be 240mm long. The Adamo is 245mm. My Toupe saddle is 270mm. What this means to the rider is that there is nothing sticking out between the legs. You are sitting on the “nose” of the saddle, if you can call it that. As the hips rotate forward they roll onto the gel-padded rails and there is no pressure in the perineal area which is where the discomfort usually is experienced.

It took a while to get it adjusted. You don’t set it up the same as a traditional road saddle. The first ride I carried allen wrenches with me and kept stopping to make adjustments. After a half dozen or so I finally got it pretty close. I’ll be going into to see Chris Pulleyen, my bike fit specialist, soon to have him dial everything back in. (For instructions on how to set it up go to http://www.ismseat.com/pdf/adamo_setup.pdf.) Once I got it adjusted, riding on the Adamo was very comfortable. No more gauging, numbness or shifting around looking for a spot that wasn’t already achy. What a difference! I should have done this a long time ago. I now stay centered on the saddle rather than moving from side to side as I did before. The name “Adamo” is appropriate; it is Latin for “pleasure.” Riding the TT bike has, indeed, become a pleasure. I now look forward to these TT workouts.

Triathletes also might also like the Adamo because of the built in “tri-hook” at the rear of the saddle for hanging the bike on a rack in transition. For the roadie, however, this is just additional weight to carry around.

Speaking of weight, the first thing I noticed about the Adamo saddle, besides its strange shape, is the heft factor. It is definitely heavier than what I’m used to. The Racing saddle (pictured) weighs 270g, and the Road saddle is 320g. On the other hand, my Specialized Toupe saddle weighs in at 150g. Using the Adamo Racing saddle means about a fourth of a pound more to carry up a hill. What does that translate to in terms of power? Assuming I climb at 2 watts per pound, the 120g difference requires using approximately one extra half watt to climb a hill at the same speed as with Toupe. The trade off to be comfortable for 40km is well worth this miniscule cost, in my opinion, especially considering that time trial courses are seldom hilly. The hillier the course, the more likely I would be to use a road bike anyway. So that’s how I justify giving up a bit of speed to have a crotch that isn’t in agony.

The company says that the saddle works as well for women as for men. As they explain, this is because the as the hips rotate forward into an aero position the support portions of the sit bones are more closely spaced with the difference between a man’s and a woman’s in this position not significantly different. I’d be interested in hearing from women on this matter.

April 19, 2008 U.S. Triathlon Olympic Trials Tuscaloosa, AL

Sarah Haskins 2nd!! This weekend marked the second Olympic qualifier for the Beijing Olympics. The race began with a one loop wetsuit swim in an Alabama river (watch those gators). Sarah would exit with the lead pack and quickly work together with 3 other gals to a solid one minute lead into T2. The race would come down to the run where Sarah would finish an impressive 2nd, just 29 seconds down from the winner. “Although it was my goal to clinch the automatic Olympic spot, I am in great position for the final Olympic spot heading into the last race in June”, commented Haskins. We are proud of you, Sarah and look forward to having you in our town next week for St. Anthony’s.
 

April 13, 2008  Ironman South Africa  Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Bella Comerford wins!!  The UK National was having a stellar bike leg, but would be stopped cold by a puncture.  Bella had to regain 12 minutes!!  She would ride like the wind and come off the bike in 4^th and eventually run her way into 2^nd.  In the last 10k, Bella overtook first place and would go on to win by a mere 5 seconds!!  What a spectacular win!
 

April 13, 2008  Ironman Arizona  Tempe, AZ

Hillary Biscay finishes 8^th!  This year’s Ironman Arizona had a star studded women’s field.  The swim conditions were perfect, but the wind and heat on the bike and run proved too strong for 500 competitors who would eventually DNF.  It was the 3^rd highest dropout rate in Ironman history!  ISM athlete Hillary Biscay would persevere and finish a strong 8^th place in 9:53:21.  As always, Hillary is pretty in pink with her Adamo Road saddle.  Congrats on a tough event, girl.