jjjj

I just finished riding RAGBRAI, and I have decided to replace my Fizik Arione saddle after 3 years. It has always been fine for shorter rides (less than 50), but always has caused chafing/discomfort on the longer rides. My previous saddle, a Trek cheapy, did not do this. My best guess is that it is not wide enough for my sit bones.

I went to the LBS's they do not demo or return. Unfortuantely, this is their typical response. The least objectionable LBS is a specialized dealer.

My question is buy a Specialized Toupe locally for $165 or do the Competive Cyclist demo plan. 11 saddles $75 with a $35 credit if you purchase one.

The saddles in the demo pack are:

Fizik

ARIONE WINGFLEX K:IUM
ALIANTE CARBON TWINFLEX K:IUM

Selle Italia

FLITE GEL FLOW
SLR GEL FLOW
SLR T1
FLITE GENUINE GEL
SLR
PROLINK LIGHT GEL FLOW

Selle San Marco

REGAL TITANIUM
CONCOR LIGHT TEAM
ROLLS TITANIUM

Thanks for any input.

Cycho

If your LBS carries Bontrager, consider an Inform RL. You can get fit for one easily and it comes in various widths. The main reason to consider one is the fact that Bontrager offers a 90 day satisfaction guarantee, independent of the dealer so if you don't like it, you can return it.

I was saddle shopping a few weeks ago, and considered the RL and the Toupe. Toupe's, from what I've read, seem to be loved or hated, no in between. I ended up, due to circumstance, with a Specialized Phenom, 143mm. It is supposed to be MTB specific, but I can't really see why. It is light (cro-moly rails) and just has a bit more padding than the Toupe. And it's cheaper than the Toupe too.

jjjj

I never thought about Bontrager, I will check the Inform out online. There is a Trek Dealer in town, so they may have it.

acaurora

I was visiting a LBS in another city with my friends and saw this baby



Looks quite a beauty isn't it? I just had to buy it. However, my credit card denied me that pleasure. So I just left with the BG Pro/PD-5610 pedals that I had originally come for. Sure looked pretty though /sigh.

kbtommy

I just picked up a Specialized Alias about three weeks ago. So far, it's been fantastic.

MONGO!

Do the demo plan.

Roobaix

The demo sounds awesome...

JTinDenver

While I'm generally not a huge Performance fan, you can do what I did. During one of their many sales, I bought an Arione, an E3 and a Selle Italia SLR. I had to front the money for all three obviously, but Performance will take anything back no questions, including saddles. I ended up with the Fizik, but got a test out all three. I even asked the Performance manager about this, and she just encouraged me jokingly to return then to a different store. She actually said people buy and return saddles frequently.

clausen

I switched from fizik saddles both Arione and Aliante, I'm using a Flite gel flow on one bike and a Regal Ti on the other. Both are firmer and I've had 4-5 hour rides on both without issue.

If the problems only comes up after few hours, getting out the saddle before the problem comes up may help.

rmcnealy

Do the demo...I did and chose the San Marco Regal.

I never would have picked it off the shelf.

johnknappcc

It's individual . . . I know . . . but the InformRL was desperately uncomfortable after 30 miles. At 40 I wanted to stop riding. For short runs, however, it was fine. I gave it about 350 miles, and moved to another saddle.

Just my two cents.

sstorkel

What kind of LBS won't let you return a product if it's still in brand-new condition? My Specialized dealer will throw a saddle on a bike and let you ride it on their indoor trainer for as long as you want. If you want to try it on your own bike you've got to buy it, but they'll accept a return for 30 days provided the saddle is in brand-new condition. FWIW, I hated the Toupe but found the base-model Phenom to be almost acceptable.

After riding a Selle SMP Extra saddle for the last year, I finally sprung for an upgrade to their Lite 209 saddle. The Extra was nice, but the Lite 209 is quite a bit more comfortable. Can't quite decide if it's worth the insane price, but it's certainly the best saddle I've ever ridden.

jjjj

Thanks for all the responses. I went with the demo. Hopefully it will help me decide what works for me and it will be great motivation to get a lot of miles in. I let you know my results.

Regarding what kind of LBS. Neither of my LBS's are very customer oriented. This one particularly will only let you demo bikes in the parking lot. Imagine, buying 3k bike after riding a couple hundred yards. Needless to say, I can not buy a bike from them with their trial policy (built my own campy/pedal thanks bike forums). I probably would have bought the Toupe saddle had they told me I could return it for 30 days. Alas, they said that they had no way to demo saddles "it would then be used" and they did not mention a 30 day return policy. I still try to support them where I can. They are nice & better than no LBS.

bassplayinbiker

Dude, you rode Ragbrai

lets be real, you dont need a nice racing saddle.

Cycho

I checked the details of the CC saddle demo and here's what I don't like:

• You pay $75 to cover the inbound/outbound UPS costs plus a fee to try the saddles for 7 days.
• You have 7 days to try 11 saddles. Since you really don't know how good one is going to be until you put 35+ miles on each, you really have to put in a lot of miles in that 1 week.
• If you don't get to try them all, you have to return the kit and either pick one of the saddles you test rode not knowing if one of the others you didn't test ride might be better.
• In the end, if you buy one from them, you end up paying $40 ($75 - $35 they refund) + the cost of the saddle.

jjjj

Well I got the demo pack from Competive Cyclist. I down selected to the following saddles to initially evaluate:

ALIANTE CARBON TWINFLEX K:IUM
SLR T1
FLITE GENUINE GEL
PROLINK LIGHT GEL FLOW
CONCOR LIGHT TEAM

Short Ride test 5 per saddle:

Prolink, Alliante, SLR T1 all felt great on the short ride test

Flite liked the looks the best, but nothing special on the short ride

Concor light was bad on the short ride test

Tomorrow, I will do a long ride on the prolink.

I do not know if the demo program is the best idea, but so far it has been fun.

SystemShock

It would be a terrific demo program, if only Competitive Cyclist gave you more than the 7 days to demo (11!) saddles.

It's kinda silly if you think about it. One way around it, I guess, it to take a second saddle with you on a ride (if it fits in your particular back jersey pocket). Go out to your turnaround point, rest, swap saddles, ride home.

It's still silly though. They should either give you fewer saddles (at a cheaper price) for the 7 days, or have a demo period of 10-14 days, if its going to be 11 saddles.

bicyclerubber

Hard to give advice on saddles as its a very personal choice and the wider the range you consider, the more likely you are to find the one that suits you best.

I settled on the SMP4Bike Evolution, its mint

jjjj

Ok demo update. I have tried all the saddles. I am most happy with the Selle Flite saddles. I was biased by my short rides to like the Pro-Link and the Aliante, but on longer rides they were not as comfortable. I think they were too wide.

So I am now trying to determine which Flite is better with cutout or without. I am experiencing no numbness with either saddle. Advice would be appreciated. Also are the other Saddles I should consider similiar to the Flite?

ridethecliche

I got tons of numbness with the old school flite.

I since stopped using it. If it had a cutout, that might have helped.

Georgebowen

Aliante felt great for me for 15-20 miles for me, then after 1 hr or so it was li ke sitting on a baseball. I could tell it has a sweet spot, I just could not get into a groove on it.

My current saddle is pretty good, but a little too soft... Anyway, it is tricky becasue you really have to put the time into the saddle to see how it will settle out, relax in to after some real miles on it. PLUS you may have to adjust the tilt, position, etc.