Road saddles

horizon26

This is boring i know, I need some advice on a saddle. I have a fizik arione a specialized toupe intake podium a concept something came with my focus cayo.None of above mentioned seem to work for me ,any advice would be welcome as this is getting very expensive.Of all the saddles the specialized feels the best,the concept is rubbish the intake is ok on short spins but is much to soft.The arione is great for 15 miles then everthing goes numb.All my saddles are put on with a level.Talking to a few people who seem to think the fizik aliante might be a good option?i have tried the aliante on short distances and it felt great.Does anyone own one,whats it like on longer distances is it then uncomfortable?Thats my main worry not that i do massive milage, but it would be nice to know does this saddle feel as good on the longer runs.Any advice would be helpful as i am now at my wits end.:( this saddle question is now stoping me from enjoying cycling.(Might have to take up running Fu*ck it hope not.)

Lumen

What's wrong with the toupe? What size is it (130 or 143)?

horizon26

The toupe has a split in it that is getting bigger.No I am not that heavy nor did I crash my bike while the toupe was on it.

copacetic

it sounds more like you have to look at your saddle setup, one of those saddles should have been ok for you. Not everyone is suited to a level saddle, depending on where the numbness starts you should look at a slight up and downturn of the saddle and also have a look at your actual overall bike setup.

For what it's worth I get on fine with a spesh toupe and a fizik nisene

horizon26

I have tried everythink saddle slightly up and slightly down,but thanks for your advice copacetic.I have had the aliante for a trial for 2 weeks seems like my best option.Can always sell the arione seems to be a popular saddle.The intake podium is also a popular saddle hope to sell it as well.

tomc

Give us a shout if you are going to sell the fizik as I will probably buy one in the next week, cheers.

penexpers

Sounds like you need a Brooks

horizon26

No problem tomc selling the arione only 6 months old very good condition.

Home:Ballyhoura

What colour arione is it? Also, what size is the Toupe 130 or 143...colour? I need to try out a few saddles, wouldn't mind buying one off you if you don't mind! Cheers

hillclimber

Saddles as we all know are very much a personal thing, however having tried a few I now use a Selle Italia slr (my second) \and cant fault it. Might be worth a try.:)

ednwireland

i use a selle italia trans am xo
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=22000

weirdly it never feels comfortable when i sit on but i never get sore / numb bits

each to their own i guess

short circuit

The man comes looking for advise on what to get ... and there are 10 people looking to buy off him ...

Power to the internet ...

OP ... Charge spoon from Wiggle gets good reviews .. and is fairly cheap .. you might want to try them ..

Last I heard .. wiggle also did a 7 day trial on saddles .. not sure if this was applicable to Ireland though.

blorg

@horizon26- are you sure the Specialized is the right width for you? Is it possible that is the right saddle for you but just you have the wrong width? Have you measured your sit bones?

The Concept that comes with the Cayo is an ass-hatchet IMHO (to steal a phrase from El Tonto.) But it is a very personal thing, I am a Brooks fan myself but many can't stand them.

There was a thread on a while ago that pointed out that many shops will lend out demo saddles so you can find out what works for you. I'd try that route rather than just spending more on other random ones.

FrankGrimes

OP - I went through hell trying to find a saddle that I could get comfortable on. Tried a Selle San Marco Viper (which when I came back to it after getting my setup sorted is actually a close 2nd on comfort), PlanetX stock saddle, a Brooks Swallow, Specialed Toupe Gel, and am now on this little Selle Italia SLR Gel Flow Team Edition beauty. There's what feels like substantial padding in that saddle and a nice big hole down the middle and the 290g weight is fine with me.

Still haven't gotten totally comfortable in it but that's down to my shorts - I'm admitting defeat and accepting that dhb Findcheans have padding that is like sitting on a Brillo pad. I've full confidence that this saddle is really very comfortable and initial tests with other shorts back that up but I'll wait till after ROK this week to confirm how it is on very long cycles. Love the look of it too.

I will say though, that as soon as I got my bike fitting done I was much more comfortable in the 3 saddles I tried so I don't think the Toupe or Brooks were the problem - I think it was my setup was putting too much weight through the saddle.

After seeing a comment from tunney that saddle pain is often due to not putting enough power through the pedals I consciously tried to put power through the pedals as soon as I feel saddle discomfort (generally when taking it easy or on descents) and I have to say I do notice a big improvement when I do that and it also gets me into the good habit of continuing pushing on easy bits.

Remember, a 1cm change in saddle height or fore/aft is a major change in your setup so I do suggest playing around with it a bit more. With hindsight, I think investing in a bike fit earlier would have saved me money on the saddle as with my current setup the San Marco Viper that I already had is actually perfectly comfy.

blorg

That is a good point regarding fit and the weight you are putting on the saddle- although I am a Brooks fan for the long distance multi-day stuff I actually get on pretty much OK with most saddles and have done long cycles on modern saddles. I am pretty balanced between bars/pedals/saddle, certainly more than I used to be.

Murph100

Maybe it would be a good idea to have a dedicated saddle ' exchange / sale ' thread, where you can list your spare / unwanted saddles ( I've 2 new ones gathering dust ) and others can pay for P&P, try them out and if they suit, buy them.


Much easier than bloody ebay.


Just a thought.