SQ Lab 612 Ergowave R review: so long sore arse

SQ Lab’s 612 Ergowave R is a lightweight saddle that promises feather-cushioned levels of comfort, a combination that piques my interest. Are you sitting comfortably? Then, let me explain.

Some cyclists glide painlessly through two-wheeled life without giving saddle choice a second thought. Every conceivable type of perch that make up the majority of the best bike saddles – long, short, noseless, wide, narrow, flat, wavy, padded, hard – appears to cosset their posteriors like a plump, down-filled mattress. Whereas the rest of us – and here’s the rub – are saddled with a lifelong quest to find something (anything!) that’s acceptably comfortable on which to rest our battered butts.

Unfortunately, I fall into the latter camp, so I’m well aware of just how torturous undercarriage unpleasantness can play out. I’ve never suffered from numbness in the nether regions, but I’m very familiar with soft tissue discomfort and sit bone, well, agony isn’t too strong an adjective. Ever been forced to complete the last third of a ride out of the saddle, standing on the pedals with a contorted grimace on your face? Me too.

Fortunately, I rarely have to take a stand against saddle pain like I used to. I’ve found that for me at least, modern noseless saddles, such as ISM’s excellent, if pricey, PN 4.0 can alleviate soft tissue problems, albeit at the expense of sit-bone comfort on extremely long rides. Better still, contemporary short-nosed saddles with generous cut-outs, such as the Specialized Power and Fizik Argo, hit the sweaty sweet spot, enabling most of the pressure to be felt through the sit bones but with the nose still playing a supporting role.

Construction

So, have I discovered saddle nirvana? Am I sitting pretty on the straight and narrow? Not quite, which is why SQ Lab’s 612 Ergowave R tickled my fancy. It’s a short, narrow, unisex saddle that, in common with all seats from SQ Lab, features a subtle step at the rear and distinctive bowl-like depression from the mid-section back. There’s no cutout, and the foam padding is minimal, which worried me greatly at first.

However, this is not an aesthetic choice. SQ Lab pitches itself as a specialist component brand, developing products that aim to improve the ergonomic and health aspects of cycling. This is why its logo incorporates a snake-entwined staff, a widely recognised icon adopted by medical facilities and practitioners. It offers a bewildering range of saddles – I counted more than 40 on its website – all available in a comprehensive number of widths.

The raised step and central depression are SQ Lab signature features, designed to distribute pressure evenly across slightly raised sit bones, thereby relieving it from the soft tissue of the perineal area. These characteristics were arrived at following a German government-funded research project executed in collaboration with the University Hospital of Frankfurt and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. Other research, namely a master’s thesis at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, revealed that this stepped profile oxygenates the penis better than flat saddles, wavy saddles or those with cutout channels, due to the reduction in perineal load. This may sound like an amusing study, but erectile dysfunction is no joke.

At 252mm long, which is about 10mm longer than a Specialized Power, this is the only short-nosed saddle in SQ Lab’s Ergowave lineup, intended for more aggressive positions on the bike. In fact, because the stepped profile alleviates pressure forward of the sit bones the brand doesn’t see much mileage in producing short-nosed designs. It also doesn’t favour padding, since its studies have shown that sit bones just sink into cushioned areas, thereby increasing contact and pressure on soft tissue.

At just 162g for my 12cm width sample, it’s also a true featherweight. It’s beautifully made, but there’s not much to it. A microfibre cover, that feels slightly rubberised to the touch, sits on a thin layer of ‘superlight’ foam that’s attached to a firm chassis made from carbon fibre-reinforced polyamide. The rails are hollow alloy but, for the weight weenies among you, SQ Lab produces a version with carbon rails that it claims weighs a full 15g lighter. Wow.

The Ride

SQ Lab is obsessive about fit, which is why the 612 Ergowave R is available in four different widths - 12cm, 13cm, 14cm and 15cm. It recommends that, before making a purchase, you either have your sit bone width measured by one of its retailers or do the job yourself at home with an SQ Lab sizing kit, which it will send to you for free.

I opted for the latter option and, sure enough, within a few days, a kit popped through my letter box. It’s little more than a large square of corrugated cardboard that, when sat on, will reveal two indentations that mark the position of your sit bones. Measure the distance from the centre of one indentation to the other and you’ll arrive at your sit bone width. SQ Lab recommends adding an additional 2cm to arrive at your optimal saddle width.

If you haven’t done a similar exercise before, it’s well worth doing. I’m fairly tall at 190cm, so it follows that I should have wide sit bones. But I don’t. Mine are just 10cm across, which means that the narrowest 612 Ergowave R is the pick of the bunch for me.

Once you’ve purchased your saddle, installation is straightforward, but I did find the lack of a cutout slightly hampered my ability to adjust and tighten the bolts of my Ribble Allroad SL R’s seat post. I also had to adjust my saddle height by about 5mm to compensate for the raised position of the step. Talking of which, the idea is not to sit right up on the top of the step, but on the section just forward of it, where the saddle ramps up. The highest portion of the step then ‘locks’ you in position, stopping you from sliding back as you put the power down. Despite not sitting all the way back you may still have to adjust your saddle rails slightly further forward than you are used to. This is not a saddle with a nose that’s designed to be sat on, in fact the waist is very narrow to give your powerful, pumping thighs plenty of clearance.

To ensure I enjoyed the very best experience from the barely padded 612 Ergowave R SQ Lab generously sent me a pair of its SQ-Short One 12 shorts that, unintuitively and somewhat disappointingly, also boast a barely cushioned pad. The chamois is very firm, and just 5mm deep at its thickest point. When you think about it, it does make sense. It’s often troubled me that we’re continually told not to buy over-padded saddles, yet we’re sold shorts and bibs with ever more cushioned pads. The SQ-Short One 12 short is supportive, but it won’t let your sit bones sink so much that blood is restricted to your perineal area.

I’d love to tell you that riding the 612 Ergowave R is like wafting along on a cushion of air created by the beating wings of a thousand angels. It’s not. In fact, at first, it’s rather unpleasant. The ramp, the lack of cushion and the thin pad make for a very direct ride. Immediately, I was very much in touch with where my sit bones were making contact but, on a more positive note, they did feel planted securely against the step.

According to SQ Lab, this harsh sensation through the sit bones is entirely predictable because they’re now taking on their fair share of the work. A period of conditioning is required and, true enough, after a few rides over several weeks – this isn’t a process that can be rushed – the discomfort subsided.

A couple of months on, I’m now at a point where the ride still feels direct but there’s no discomfort and certainly no pain. There’s been no pressure on the perineal area from the first ride, so the combination of raised sit bones and the bowl-like depression is obviously doing the trick. Similarly, the narrow waist and slender nose provide excellent clearance for my thighs and hamstrings, which means I haven’t had to endure any chafing.

The shorts are noticeably consistent in feel during long rides. In my experience, over the course of an hour or two, softer pads can feel like they’ve ‘bottomed out’ – pun intended – but because the SQ-Short One 12 pad cannot compress it retains the same ride feel from the off. Furthermore, they don’t distort during a ride and remain highly breathable.

I did, of course, try other shorts, from the likes of Santini, Castelli, Gorewear and Giro, with the 612 Ergowave R and they all performed well enough. So, you’re under no obligation to buy a pair of SQ-Short One 12s to go with your new SQ Lab saddle. However, it does seem odd that few other brands have had the foresight to develop specific bib shorts and tights to interface with their saddles. So, well done SQ Lab.

Value and conclusion

My initial, slightly uncomfortable, experience with the SQ Lab 612 Ergowave R made me wonder if I’d signed up for a bum deal. However, once I’d given my sit bones a few weeks to warm to the fact that they were going to be called on to do the heavy lifting I’m finding this saddle to be as comfortable as my Specialized Power Comp, which I’ve grown rather fond of. The 612 Ergowave R has the advantage that it makes the bike feel more responsive and it’s considerably lighter by almost 100g.

On the flip side, at £134.99/$ 179.99 this isn’t a cheap saddle, though you can easily spend twice this much on a seat this light. What’s more, for some of us, a comfy saddle is a priceless rarity, so it will represent great value for many. Of course, saddle fit is extremely personal so what works for me may not work so well for you, but I think we can all take comfort in the fact that the SQ Lab 612 Ergowave R is the product of solid research.