ISM Adamo Breakaway Saddle Review

I became interested in ISM saddles after seeing so many pros adopting them. I have to admit that as a longtime roadie some of this triathlon gear still looks pretty geeky to me.  ISM saddles fit the bill as a “tri geek” looking item.  (Don’t beat me up too much. I just put a seat mounted water bottle system on the ISM saddle. I’ll admit to be a little nervous riding with such a thing around my old road buddies…) Even with their strange looks I figured there had to be something to the saddles since they were popping up on more & more pro bikes. I made contact with the folks at ISM and offered to do a review from a Clydesdale perspective. After professing my love for fizi:k Arione saddles my contact at ISM told me that the Breakaway would be the right saddle for me to test. (ISM provided my test saddle at a significant discount for the review.)

The weather is still fickle here in PA but I have managed to get a few hundred miles on the ISM Adamo Breakaway saddle. I tried to escape the PA winter with a trip to San Diego in early March for the Gran Fondo and was greeted by 50 degree rain. So much for sunny southern California.  I did get in three decent rides while I was out there and put on a bit over 160 miles.  It should have been more but my riding buddies and I pulled the plug on doing the whole 101 miles of the Gran Fondo due to the weather.
I’ve had the saddle on four different bikes (2 tri bikes and 2 road bikes) during the test.  My first thought was that I’d feel like something was missing when I sat on the saddle, that I’d feel maybe a bit less stable.  Nope, the Breakaway feels like a saddle.  It provides a completely stable platform even though I thought it wouldn’t.  ISM notes that it may take a bit of time for the muscles around your sit bones some time to get used to bearing all of the weight.  I didn’t experience any discomfort.  My, uh, sit bone region took to the saddle right away.

When compared to a standard saddle the nose of the ISM saddles are notable wider.  At first I thought that this was going to be a point of discomfort.  I definitely felt the wider nose on the first couple of rides and did have a small amount of odd muscular discomfort post-ride on my inner thighs.  The discomfort disappeared pretty quickly, though.  My thought is that this is simply a matter of getting used to the wider nose.  I’ve heard that some folks have used zip ties to narrow the nose area of the saddle but I haven’t found this to be necessary.  Within a couple of rides I had pretty much forgotten that the ISM has a wider nose.

Where the ISM makes an enormous difference is in any position that gets you leaning toward the nose of the saddle.  It stands to reason that the “noseless” nature of the saddle would come into play leaning on the aerobars of a triathlon or time trial bike and this is certainly where the ISM shines.  Being able to have a flat back without the nose of the saddle putting undue pressure on the nerves running through your sit area is enormous.  Since the ISM bears your weight on your sit bones you feel none of the discomfort that you’d feel with a standard saddle.  I’ve been able to maintain a nice flat back aero position without the smallest amount of discomfort or associated numbness that comes from too much pressure on down-under nerves.  I even did a ride yesterday on a tri bike that I’m testing with the saddle perhaps a bit too high in the front.  The result?  Nothing negative.  A completely comfortable ride with only a mental note to drop the nose of the saddle a bit.

In my opinion the ISM would be a great saddle not just for a triathlon bike but for a road bike as well.  I’ve had the Breakaway on a Cervelo RS that I borrowed for the San Diego Gran Fondo and on my road bike here at home.  The saddle offers tremendous comfort while you’re in the drops.  (At least comfort to your underside.  I don’t think any saddle can reduce burning quads…)  Since the saddle removes the rivet when you’re “on the rivet” you’re much more comfortable.  I haven’t thrown aerobars on my road bike for a test with the Breakaway but I’m pretty confident that I’d be great.

I love this saddle. If you’re a fizi:k Arione fan and have been curious about ISM saddles give the Breakaway a shot.  You won’t be sorry!  Here’s a shot comparing the ISM Breakaway to the fizi:k Arione Tri.  You can see that it’s pretty similar in dimensions.

I’m going to give the ISM Breakaway a big Clydesdale thumbs up.    If you’re fan of another saddle find an ISM saddle that is similar to your current perch.  I’m confident that you’ll find the ISM saddle to be super comfortable.

I wonder if I can get a deal on another Breakaway for my road bike…

Tagged as: breakaway, clydesdale, cycling, fizik, fizik arione tri, gran fondo, ism, ism review, saddle, saddle review, seat, seat review