So yesterday I got a new toy in the mail: a brand new Arione Tri saddle for my bike. The stock seat on my Cervelo Dual was pretty shitty overall and I've heard nothing but good things about this new saddle.

I put it on today and tried it out for a few minutes and I can already tell that it is the best saddle I've ever tried. I wasn't even wearing padded bike shorts and I have no discomfort whatsoever. My Cervelo saddle used to let me know instantly that it hated me.

Anyways, why it's important to buy a tri bike from a tri-specific store. When I bought my Dual, the guy who fitted me for it told me that "for some reason," Cervelo always has a screw in their seat clamp that is too long and creates discomfort for riders. He told me that it was unnecessarily long and offered to cut it off a bit for me. I said "sure, why not?" What could be the harm.

As we know, Cervelo has a flippable seatpost on the Dual so you can go from a 75 degree bike to a 77/78 degree for a more aggressive aero position. Feeling kind of stretched out in the default position, I decided to flip my seatpost whilst installing the new saddle.

It turns out that the reason that seat screw was extra long was because it needs to be that long when you flip the seatpost around. I just barely had enough length in the screw to get the seat at the angle I wanted it at (basically not poking my in the prostate). I think it's going to be ok, but I think I'll have to get Cervelo to send me another screw because I'm worried that it might pop out if I put too much pressure on the saddle.

Moral of the story: don't let a guy at a roadie bike store set up your tri bike for you. Buy it at a tri shop so they know not to cut very necessary screws off your bike.:o