fizik arione cx - Should it be so uncomfortable !

dario28

I just got a fizik arione cx saddle after having the bog standard Boardman one for the last year.

I picked the arione based on the profile on fizik site and reviews saying how comfortable it is....

But I have done one 50km spin , 20km hills and 1 commute 10km E/W and its pretty hard on my ass alot harder than the boardman one which is supposed to be a rubbish saddle !

Should it take a while to loosen out or have I gone for the wrong one and the antares or next one in the range have a bit more padding.

I have tried it with 2 different types of bib shorts as well

DirkVoodoo

Have a read of Fizik's "Spine Concept". It's a lot of marketing baloney, but the core concepts remain true (for me at least):

Arione: "You use the entire length of the saddle.
You flex easily and naturally to accommodate changing positions. Genital compression is not an issue for you as your weight is supported by the sit bones."

Antares: "You are not as restricted to saddle shape. For optimum comfort and performance you flex instinctively to manage the body’s weight."

Aliante: "Those with less flexibility are not able to easily accomplish the high performance cycling position. To reach this position the pelvis rotates forward dramatically forcing the hips back. In this position, the rider’s weight is directed to the genital area (i.e. rigid lower spine)".

I have poor flexibility, very tight hamstrings. Arione was the most uncomfortable saddle I have ever used, leading to numbness and tingling in my left leg. I have used an Aliante for years and love it.

EDIT: It's not a question of padding, they all have similar levels of padding. Shorts won't help if this is a flexibility issue and you are simply not a good "fit" for the Arione.

dario28

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Have a read of Fizik's "Spine Concept". It's a lot of marketing baloney, but the core concepts remain true (for me at least):

Arione: "You use the entire length of the saddle.
You flex easily and naturally to accommodate changing positions. Genital compression is not an issue for you as your weight is supported by the sit bones."

Antares: "You are not as restricted to saddle shape. For optimum comfort and performance you flex instinctively to manage the body’s weight."

Aliante: "Those with less flexibility are not able to easily accomplish the high performance cycling position. To reach this position the pelvis rotates forward dramatically forcing the hips back. In this position, the rider’s weight is directed to the genital area (i.e. rigid lower spine)".

I have poor flexibility, very tight hamstrings. Arione was the most uncomfortable saddle I have ever used, leading to numbness and tingling in my left leg. I have used an Aliante for years and love it.

EDIT: It's not a question of padding, they all have similar levels of padding. Shorts won't help if this is a flexibility issue and you are simply not a good "fit" for the Arione.

Yeah - I did the test , as in I can bend and touch the ground with straight legs

I can only assume wiggle won't do a swap

Arione saddle for sale - get your Arione saddle here !!!

coastwatch

I dont think those kinds of saddles "loosen out" over time, unlike leather saddles, so it's probably not going to get any better.

Saddle fit is more of a personal thing, and so a bit hit or miss buying online unless you know exactly what works. Some Fizik stocking bike shops will have a range of test saddles you can borrow for a week to see what suits. They may have the same amount of padding, but the dimensions (seat bone width) are different. I bought one from www.fitzcyles.ie having tested three different models.

dave_o_brien

Similar to DirkVoodoo, I wouldn't be the most flexible of sorts, and the Fizik guide suggested I try the Antares. I did, and I hated it. The Arione for me was much better. Having said that, nothing is as comfortable as either the Specialized Toupe or Alias. I even have a really cheap Cube saddle that came stock on a mates bike that works really well for me. Saddles are a frustrating purchase; it can take a long time to find one that suits, and it's not always the intuitive things that make it fit, like padding. I find I prefer longer, flatter saddles, but that's just me.

macnab

I have gone through a few saddles including a Bontrager R1 which is a plank, a Selle Italia SKN which is a little tough early season but grand after a few weeks, and the Boardman saddle, which is actually a Velo. So far the Boardman is by far the best.

ednwireland

why did you change the boardman saddle ?

dario28

ednwireland wrote: »

why did you change the boardman saddle ?

Because it was creaking like a mo fo and had become uncomfortable

I went with fizik on advise of a bike shop then reviews were all very positive

Bambaata

Base2Race in Ballymount do trial ISM Adamo saddles if thats of interest to you? I had one for the guts of 2 1/2 weeks before buying one.

crumliniano

CSS do trials of fizik saddles. I tried a few before buying last year. €100 refundable deposit as far as I remember.

dvntie

Did you play with the angles ie pointing the nose 3-4deg down?

dario28

dvntie wrote: »

Did you play with the angles ie pointing the nose 3-4deg down?

Did some changes alright -
Yesterday I raised my saddle a tiny bit and moved the saddle a tiny bit closer towards handle bars and angled the drops down a degree and seems to be alot better !

doozerie

I have good hamstring flexibility and initially I found my Arione good. Before long (a year or so of very little use) though it started to become uncomfortable, leading to numbness at its worst. I think that it was most uncomfortable on rides where I was pushing higher gears - one theory I have is that the more tired my legs got the less weight I bore on them leaving more of my weight directly on my saddle and if the saddle doesn't support you in the right places this will lead to problems. It's just a theory though and not backed up by any science.

I tried an Aliante instead and this seemed to solve the problem. I was able to ride hard on it with no real problems. However that didn't last either as during races (club league races so quite short) it hurt, and it started to hurt on fast training rides too. At that stage I measured myself up and went for a wider saddle (143mm - the Arione is 134mm and I can't actually remember what the Aliante is but it's somewhere between 134mm and 143mm from what I recall), a Specialised Romin Expert, and the problems haven't recurred with that during training rides. I've raced (again, just club races so still short but hard efforts) on a Prologo Scratch Pro 143mm and that too has mostly been fine, though with at least one painful race thrown in so I'm reluctant to consider it a complete cure yet.

I got a bike fit done last year which identified that my saddle was a bit high and too far back. That too could have contributed to my problems with both the Arione and Aliante, but I still think that 143mm wide saddles are just better suited to me. I need a few more hard rides on the Prologo in particular though, at the lowered height, to know for sure whether it is really "right" for me, but the Romin is still working well for training anyway.

So to summarise my experiences: I'm not at all convinced by the Fizik spine concept; Specialised's BG fit system seems to work well for me; saddle height and fore-aft position may be a factor in saddle discomfort; ...and I probably need stronger legs, but I'm typing this post as an excuse to delay climbing on the turbo trainer for some leg-strengthening pain