ISM Adamo Racing Saddle Review

It’s been easy for me to maintain my mantra of “Function over Form” since, in life and bike parts, there is usually a functional option that looks good. I’ve been able to have my cake and eat it too until I rode the ugliest saddle ever – the ISM Adamo Race .

The Adamo Race is the first saddle I would consider riding 112 miles in tri shorts. I know many people do that, but I think that unless you are a possible Kona qualifier where every second counts, you are nuts to skip the chance to put on a proper pair of cycling shorts for a 112 mile ride - at least I felt that way until I rode an ISM Adamo saddle. I find this saddle allows me, without a doubt, to be the most comfortable I’ve ever been in an aero position. I’d write more but it’s just that simple - no burning crotch, no numbness, no restriction of movement. I also found that, for me, the saddle required no adjustment time. Often we are told to give a new saddle or position a few weeks before making a judgment but with the Adamo, my first 40-mile ride was just a comfortable as the last ride.

ISM has taken a completely new look at saddles. Not just a cut out, or gel, or more padding in the nose or new rail material but a completely new approach to making the cyclist comfortable and efficient on the saddle. In fact, ISM saddles aren’t even mounted the same way as traditional saddles. ISM provides a good video that walks the user through the proper saddle mounting procedure on their web site. It is a “must see” as this completely different saddle requires a completely different set up than we are used to. After watching the video, I mounted the Adamo Race saddle to my bike and you know, it looked better on the bike than I thought it would. The next day, I set out on a 40-mile ride and my conversion was underway. I was wearing a pair of cycling bibs instead of tri shorts so, as comfortable as I was, I thought that some of it could have been attributed to having a real chamois versus the pseudo chamois found in tri shorts. For the next few rides I used tri shorts but it didn’t make any difference, I was still very comfortable. After each ride, the saddle looked a little better. I’ve also talked to a few folks who’ve been riding Adamo saddles for a while and they tell a similar story of newfound comfort in the aero position.

As always, I will direct you to the company’s web site - http://www.ismseat.com//. ISM has tons of useful and reliable info on their products including saddles for road and touring bikes and more.

If you’ve struggled with saddle comfort in the aero position, you must try the ISM Adamo saddle. You may find it to be funny looking at first, but just one ride will have you believing that this saddle’s beauty is in its comfort.

Mark Still
TriGearReview.com