Phenom Comp

I have been using different versions of this saddle since I first discovered it nearly 14 years ago. Although I did like the saddle a little bit better when it had the split tail due to better flexibility and adaptability, I find the profile to be absolutely perfect for road, mountain, and gravel. I have tried dozens of saddles over the years to see if there might be something better, but I keep coming back to the phenom. Some people might say that there is not enough padding on the saddle, but if you get too much padding on a saddle you get instability. It’s much better to get better padding in your shorts with a higher end short with a free floating pad design such as in Assos or Castelli. Would love to see Specialized move the Elaston material into more saddles than just the ones that have carbon rails, because I’ve found that the carbon rails just don’t have the durability that I need. (Hint hint…)

Nice saddle but after about a year (just out of warranty) it developed a loud annoying creaking from where the rails meet the plastic molding. I tried using chain oil and other methods to quiet it but nothing helped. I’m roughly 150lbs and put less than 1k miles on this saddle. Disappointing for a saddle at this price. Would not purchase again.

The saddle is shaped very well for me however I find the rubbery covering combined with the short nose catches on my shorts when trying to get back on the saddle after climbing or other movements in front of the saddle. It might be fine if for road but annoying for off-road use. I also find that this model has very little padding. Luckily it shaped very well and so is acceptably comfortable for 2 -3 hour rides.

A reasonably comfortable saddle at this price point. But one of the rails cracked - completely broke in two parts - after just one year of moderate use (about 2000 miles, all on paved roads). I had to ride the 6 miles to the bike store standing the entire way, because it was no longer safe to sit and put weight on the saddle. I expect better construction for a saddle at this price point. And more reliable performance.

This is my second Phenom, after14 years it was time to retire my first one. For me this is the best saddle out of the other 5 other brands I have in my bike shed.

Great feel, real improvement on my older Specialized seat.

Have 3 of these and love the fit. Over time the plastic has cracked (carbon rail model on my road bike). On my expert model the rails came loose at connecting points (hard tail MTB) Lowest model with cromo rails has held up the best (gravel). Expected more for the price and hope these can be improved. Otherwise love the fit and all day comfort. Wish they would warranty normal use but lack of durability. I’d bet the engineers would learn something from the real world results.

My preferred saddle, long lasting, comfortable, ligthweight, sufficient padding. This is the 3rd such one I have purpose, although stay away from the carbon rails if you are a frequently on the mountain bike as it will not last.

I used this saddle because it came with my Crux I bought 8 years ago.. If your sitz bones are narrow enough for this saddle I'm sure it would be great, I've done multiple 150km plus rides on this saddle and it was atrocious, it pushed in the inner side of my sitz bones and no matter how far back I sat the bones had no flat surface. IF you measure your sitz bone width and happen to have a narrow distance, this would be awesome.

Very nice saddle for gravel riding. Narrower than the power line for more comfort on the drops, but for l more forgiving and versatile than the romin when things get bumpy

I must say that I was expecting much more when purchasing such a pricey saddle. On paper it looks like a killer product. After riding for a while, I started to get some unexplained noises. I thought it was my dropper post.I just let it slide and the squeaks got louder over time. Finally, I swapped out my seat and all the noise subsided. Im not really sure what's going on with these seats but has something to do with rails and how they attach to the seat. I hope there is a fix for this and Specialized works it out.

This is my go to saddle and have it on all my bikes. Comfortable for Long days on the gravel bike or hitting up MTB trails for epic 6hr rides.

Second time the plastic under the cutout section has cracked.

I like the shape of the Phenom but it's too firm to be comfortable for very long. Even if I'm riding technical trails where I'm in and out of the saddle my max ride time is 2 hours - less if there's a lot of seated climbing. The saddle is well made but either the base or the padding need to be more flexible. I'm not looking for a saddle as I've ridden road and MTB for decades but this is too firm for me.

I got this with my diverge and wish I had a power saddle to swap out. Hopefully specialized will let me swap otherwise I might switch

I want to love this saddle but.... It's not working for me. Saddles of course are very individual. What I love: The cut out is great and that's a big improvement over my WTB Rocket. It looks awesome on the bike :) What's not working: It hurts my sitbones after about 45 min. I wish there was more padding. It has definitely less padding then my WTB Rocket.