Evening all,

I was out for a long road ride today and found that my Fizik Arione saddle just isn’t working for me, I kept going worryingly numb on my underside, if you know what I mean.

I’ve been looking at saddles with cut outs and grooves to help releave the pressure and have so far narrowed it down to a San Marco SKN and a Specialized Romin but am open to other suggestions.

Any experience with the above saddles would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Will

specialized toupe works for me – looks razor edged but its like a trampoline. Used for several years with no problems

Try tilting the saddle forward a bit, moving it forward on the post a bit and making a concious effort to sit further back on the wider part.
Give that a go before you buy a new one.

I’ve tried a few saddles with cut outs or v’s to relieve pressure – SDG Bel Air Ti, WTB Rocket V, Specialized etc but none have come close to the comfort of my current Fizik Gobi XM

Rocket V on the MTB has never given me a problem, maybe due to the v channel thing.

Bontrager R1 on the road bike doesn’t have a channel or cut out. It was giving me a numb gooch after about 3 months. I just played with the set up like MTG has already suggested and it went away. YMMV

SDG bel air, very comfy

Thanks for the replies. I’ve been playing with the set up for a while but to no avail thus far. I’ll have a bit more of a play and see how it goes.

I’m still open to real life reviews of the saddles I’ve identified though for if I can’t get it sorted.

Cheers!

Spesh saddle in the correct width.

My (and other’s) Romin opinion here – although for a mtb:

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/specialized-romin-saddle-on-a-mountain-bike-wouldnt-have-happened-in-my-day

Same here, tried loads of saddles. Fizik Arione works well for me on the road bike but not on the MTB. I have a new WTB rocket V sat at the sorting office waiting for me to collect. Try what MTG says before spending more money.

San Marco Regal here – comfort, lightweight, suede, copper rivets, Hmmmmm! 🙂

More and more saddle brands are offering test saddles at good LBSs. Maybe try to find one of them close to you to try some out?

WTB have always been good for me.

I had this problem before so i bought this bad boy (no, not the white and pink!)

As used by Mark Beaumont who cycled round the world on it

Would that one work for ladies too? 😕

I’m fed up of being uncomfortable on my road bike

Yep, Would have thought so. I actually went to visit the main distributor in birmingham with my 2 bikes and tried every saddle they had (even a £400 full carbon 99g one!)

They’ve got a full ladies range – from what i can tell these are the same but with pink and white bits

I use the specialized ladies Ariel 143, it works for me.

I hated the arione but get on very happily with aliante saddles.

I’ve always liked WTB; the ‘Laser’ seemed comortable on long five – 6 hr rides.

I’m currently trying to get used to an [/b]SDG Formula FX on a new bike. It looks like a nice saddle, and I can’t see any reason why it’s uncomfortable, but is definitely is. It’s not a case of going numb; more a case of just sitting on something uncomfortable.
The reviews tend to indicate that the SDG Formula FX is a comfortable saddle, but I guess that saddles are quite specific, as opposed to reviews which are general.

People also speak positively of the ‘Charge Spoon’ in terms of comfort, but I’ve no experience of it myself.

watching this thread with interest, I have a spoon on my commuter bike and it’s comfy but I think wearing out so wondering what to try next…

I have an arione copy on my best bike but it’s taken me a while to get it at a comfy angle, MTG is right in that you need the back higher than you’d think – get the flat section on the nose level and this leaves the wing back higher than the tip but this is comfy… may put it on my commuter and try something else on my roadbike… maybe an aliante

It’s not just the angle and position though.
I find that deliberately sitting further back on the saddle, when it would be more natural to slide forward a bit, puts the weight on my sit bones rather than, er, the bit I don’t want to go numb.
I use a Gobi Wingflex and I find that allows the flex bit to do it’s thing too.

selle smp are the only saddles i can ride on a turbo trainer without going numb. i’ve tried loads of them in 25 years and concluded that the smp design must be better for me. they don’t flex much though and i rarely ride over 2-3 hours on the road. i use fizik aliante on my mtb’s.

I’ve always found the WTB’s to be very comfy, if a little bulky (& heavy), but I quite like the Charge Spoon these days. I have Ti & Cro-Mo versions & apart from the 15g weight difference the Ti one is comfier on a ht.

SDG Bel Air is all you need .

I heard the Ti- Spoon is v. good, not tried it I’m a SDG bel-air fan.

Might try out one of these SMPs though

a saddle is an extremely personal thing, we are all constructed differently in the neither regions!

some good bike shops have a ‘try’ scheme on mid to high end saddles!

I bought a Fizik Gobi after ‘forum’ recommendations and it almost cut off blood supply to the little fella! no matter what the tilt! so I gave up. I tried a Selle SLR Gel flow which looks like a leather wrapped thong and its as compfy as… a perfect saddle

moral of storey, try yourself before you buy and take forums advise if you so wish!

You may find that cut out saddles aggravate problems. It’s due to the weight of your body being less supported as there is less area for it to be.

Think of a girl in high heels on a muddy field.

The initial feeling will be of pressure relief but the channel will encourage soft issue to be pushed in it and then the 2 ridges putting excessive pressure on the perineal area
this might help explain more to help you
http://www.sq-lab.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=141&Itemid=251

I had problems with some specialized saddle that had cut-outs, and went for a charge spoon. It’s a bit firm to start and needed about 30 miles to break in (or my arse to harden up!) but at the weekend I was the only one of our group not complaining of a sore behind or numb nuts.

I heard the Ti- Spoon is v. good, not tried it I’m a SDG bel-air fan.

I have a Ti and leather spoon on my road bike and cromo one on my MTB. Can’t notice much difference but I ride them in a different way so hard to tell. Both are good for 4 hours plus. I have an SDG Bel-air on my tourer which is good for all day rides but a bit heavier and not nearly as good value as the Spoons.

puts the weight on my sit bones rather than, er, the bit I don’t want to go numb.

this is exactly what the selle smp saddle does. All your weight is on your sit bones. Takes a little getting used to at first but now it feels very comfortable.

A team in the tour used the high end one’s this year

I have fizik on my road bike and Bel airs on my mtbs which were both really comfortable at first but now I am beginning to find NumbNuts on both types. It might be wear [ on the saddles1] but one Belair is relatively new. It can be a big investment if you are having to change 3 saddles so how can you realistically test without spending the money?

you’re gonna get as many opinions as there are arses on here (and there are a lot of them…ho ho), but I’ll chuck my oar in anyway. Most comfy saddle I’ve ever ridden is a fully broken in Brooks B17 (someone else’s). I use a WTB Laser Team for ~9 hour rides on a hardtail & it’s just fine. Whilst saddle is important, choice of shorts/pad is even more so imho.

A lot to consider here so thanks for the input.

I’ll be out on the road later today so will try repositioning the saddle again and see if there’s any improvement.

Will

Once you get it, make a cross-section with a cut-out bit of card. It’s the most important bit of the shape. You can use it in the shops to compare saddles with what you know works.
After wasting money on several, I worked out that my best ever saddle was the el-cheapo standard factory job from my 1990 GT. Rock hard and leaking, but I took the cross-section, and arrived at Fizik Gobi, which has been perfect ever since.
Don’t get taken in by too many fancy cut-outs. IMO you need some pressure in the middle to spread the load out properly, or you’ll just end up with boils in your sit bones, and they REALLY hurt..

Think of a girl in high heels on a muddy field.

I believe there are websites dedicated to this sort of thing.

Think of a girl in high heels on a muddy field.

I tried this all the way through my ride today but still no luck 🙁