currently have a spec. toupe on my ‘proper’ road bike and love it

favourite mtb saddle is the WTB SST 98 (and hopefully the new SST soon)

need a saddle for the tourer/winter road bike/CX bike for long days in the saddle

it has a specialized rival on it at the moment which I find to have too much padding and a little wide in the mid section.

any recommendations, is the Toupe Gel a little more forgiving than the standard Toupe? what’s the spec Avatar like? any other recomendations?

What’s wrong with another standard Toupe if you love the one you’ve got?

not sure i’d want to do a really long day in the saddle on it, tourer has a more upright position so something a little more forgiving might be better

Spesh Phenom? Not a road saddle, but a bit more padding, and a bit easier to move around on imo.

just had a look at one online, looks good. similar profile to toupe but a bit wider at the back.

I have the Avatar (Gel) on my Sutra (tourer/commuter) and Toupe on the carbon fast bike. Much the same sort of “feel” other that the greater comfort, obviously. If you stick with the same size, it should be a pretty good fit.

Did a 385 mile ride over 3 days using my Toupe Gel. Still felt comfy at the end.

spoon, very comfy on my roady, firm but ‘givvy’

i have a spesh saddle here i’d flog not sure what it is tho

Well if it’s for a tourer I’d go for a Brooks B17 narrow. It’ll take a fair few miles to break it in but once accustomed to your shape should be very comfy for years to come. Depends if you can put the initial uncomfy miles on it first.

HOw about the same one you’ve got on your MTB then you’re already used to the shape

too expensive – £70 is too much for my touring bike plus I don’t think the drop nose will work on a road bike, it’s very much an mtb saddle I reckon

not sure i’d want to do a really long day in the saddle on it

<shrug> Got the same saddle on the tandem (mainly used for touring) as I had on my road bike at the time (a Flite – have now gone SLR on road bike and MTB). Never noticed it to be a problem – but then I have a pretty similar position on both. Not really sure why you’d need a significantly higher position – if anything I’d expect to spend longer sitting on the bike without stopping on the road race bike, and haven’t ever done as many miles in a day touring as on a sportive.