Specialized Romin Expert Saddle Review

Specialized Romin Expert Saddle Review

Specialized makes amazing bikes and components, but their Romin Expert saddle didn’t quite meet expectations. The Romin Expert has titanium rails, and a stiff carbon reinforced shell. It is 145 millimeters wide and has a claimed weight of 205 grams. It also has a fairly large cutout going from the middle to the back of the saddle. Coloring is rather boring, and only comes in white and black. It has a smooth and sleek design that utilises Specialized’s patented Body Geometry which insures blood flow to arteries. It also comes in four sizes so you can get the best fit for your sit bones. It is important to get the right width because your sit bones can sit on the cut out and be very uncomfortable.
    The second I got on the saddle I could feel a big difference in comfort. The saddle flexes nicely, yet does not feel like it is wasting any precious energy. I do not shift much on the saddle, and because of this my butt usually really hurts on long rides. This saddle made the pain almost disappear. Cyclocross remounts were difficult at first mostly because of the slightly flared end of the saddle. I still haven’t been able to get remounts quite as smooth as with other saddles, and when it gets wet the saddle gets a little grippy making it just a bit harder to remount. It isn’t bad enough to make that much of a difference, but it should be considered. The saddle didn’t give me any chaffing, and even on really bumpy rides I didn’t chafe at all. I would totally use this saddle for a very long time to come, but it just isn’t durable enough to keep using.

I recently broke a Romin saddle for the second time. The first one was the Romin Pro which was even stiffer and lighter, but I snapped the rails clean off while riding on nothing more than a bumpy trail. Boulder Cycle Sport was kind enough to give me store credit, so I got the Romin Expert. This time I broke the shell of the saddle. It happened during a race in which I didn’t crash or have any abnormally hard remounts. I almost didn’t notice, but I looked down after the race and saw an abrupt dip in the middle of the saddle. I was lucky the leather didn’t break and the shell didn’t impale me. To me breaking two of these in one season is unacceptable. Before it broke the saddle was very good, but getting a new one every two or three months is not worth it.

    There are some other companies that make more durable yet similar saddles. Selle Italia makes a very wide range of saddles for all different disciplines, but I would recommend getting one of their saddles meant for offroad use. Fizik is another popular company, and they make very durable yet fairly light saddles. They also make a cyclocross specific saddle, and have custom color options. It is hard to go wrong when getting saddles from these companies, but it is always best to try them for yourself before buying one.