I’ve been riding an original Bontrager inForm RL saddle now for very nearly 3 years and well over 10,000 miles. I’ve had great luck on my own saddle and fairly good luck fitting folks to these saddles. But, Bontrager has introduced a new member of the inForm saddle line for 2011 called the Affinity that only offers increased comfort. The Affinity line of saddles borrows heavily from technology developed for last year’s Evoke line of mountain-specific saddles, but wraps it all in a road-specific package to maximize in-saddle comfort and performance. I’m happy to announce that these saddles have finally landed at your neighborhood Bike Gallery location.

Much like the performance-oriented “original” R/RL/RXL inForm saddles, the Affinity line utilizes size-specific curvature to best fit the skeletal structure of the rider. Thus, it is available in three widths for men and three widths for women, which are color-coded by size: red (narrow), yellow (medium), and blue (wide) for men, and pink (narrow), light green (medium), and light blue (wide) for women.

However, the Affinity inForm has been designed for the unique support needs of someone riding a modern road bike, where the torso angle is a little more upright than that of your average bike racer. To further maximize comfort, Bontrager has integrated the Contour Relief Zone, a relieved section on the top of the saddle that removes material that would otherwise create pressure on soft-tissue (this feature was originally offered on the original inForm WSD performance saddles and later the Evoke mountain saddles) as well as Zone-Density padding (on the RL and RXL models) that offers firmer padding under the sit-bones for support and softer padding in the nose of the saddle for increased comfort.
A lot of saddle manufacturers place cut-outs of various sizes on their seats, claiming that this leads to increased comfort. But, you might notice that the Bontrager inForm seats don’t have them. Pressure mapping performed as part of the original research (performed at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 2007) that led to these saddles actually showed that a cut-out can increase pressure, sacrificing comfort.

Matt Dour, a sales person at our Lake Oswego store, rode an Affinity RL for about 150 miles on his daily commute and was impressed by how the nose of the saddle remained supportive when he needed it, but didn’t get in the way otherwise. Jason Domann, of our Beaverton store, has also put similar mileage on an Affinity RXL. He was pleased how the Contour Relief Zone eliminated pressure he has experienced on other saddles. Myself, I’ve got about 250 miles, spread between an Affinity RL and an Affinity RXL and have found both seats to be every bit as enjoyable to ride as my much-loved original inForm RL.
Additionally, a vast majority of the 2011 Trek road bikes are coming with an original-equipment version of the Affinity saddle (which only comes in one size and doesn’t have as nice of rails or the Zone-Density padding of the aftermarket saddles). On the Cycle Oregon week-long ride this year, Trek sent their demo fleet along for riders to sample the 2011 Trek bicycles. According to Dax Tobin, the Trek Demo truck driver, just about everybody that rode one of his demo bikes was impressed with the new Affinity saddle.

Determining your correct size is crucial as an apparently large-framed rider may take a small size and a small-framed rider may require a wider saddle, based upon the structure of their pelvis, which isn’t always readily apparent. Fortunately, figuring out your correct saddle width is simple thanks to a special sizing device that takes an imprint of your sit-bones in a material called Z-FLOW. A color-coded slider then helps determine what width of inForm saddle you need.
It’s also important to get the Affinity saddles set at the correct angle. Jason Domann discovered that the seat-post that came on his daily commuter didn’t allow adequate angle adjustment and he wasn’t really able to enjoy the benefits of the Affinity saddle until he had upgraded his seat-post to one with infinite adjustability, a Bontrager Race seat-post.

Trying one out comes with almost no risks as well. Between Bike Gallery’s 100% satisfaction guarantee and Bontrager‘s 30-day comfort guarantee on the inForm saddles you have to time to experience the inForm saddle yourself and discover how it works for you.