XC looking for a bit of advise on a good replacement for a Fizik Gobi, great saddle but I good through them like cop sticks in a chinese takeaway. Need something strong and reliable for XC riding on a sort travel HT. Thanks lads.

Specialized body geometry. Had mine for a few years now, bit creaky and graphics slightly worn but it's still going strong and fits me very well 🙂

nice one!

I went for the Spesh Phenom SL. Carbon and Ti, very durable, light and comfy.

Bought a cheap planet x 'team' road saddle for XC – they are on sale at the moment I think at £15/£20. Nice long body like a fizik, good for sitting forward on climbs. Comfy up to 6 hours sp far and ok for weight. Spesh body geometry – hmmm, tried it and didn't get on. Horses > courses.

Agree on the Phenom SL, really like mine, much stronger than the Toupe too, snapped a couple of those on the MTB.

Although it's worth checking the width thing, I come out as 'needing' a 143mm, which I'd always bought, my bike last season came with a 130, which I couldn't be bothered to change, and that was perfectly comfortable for a 12 hour solo amongst other long rides, when I needed a new one for this season's bike, I bought a 130!

No single answer is right though for me, Spesh all the way and I'll second/third that the Phenom (standard version) is great and a lot stronger than the toupe.

Njee – size is affected by position – the further forward you lean (eg flatter backed) the narrower the section of your sit bones that you actually sit on become so the measurement in the shop is a good starting point for a trail bike position or not too racy road position but moving to a narrower saddle for racy positioning is quite common.

Been using this for a while and it works for me.

Selle seems better built to Fizik!

Trying an SLR at the moment. Not bad at all….. more of a sit on than Fizik, sit in feel….

I'm nearly 100kg and riding a Fizik gobi on a hard tail and it's being going strong for 2 years+

I'd buy another tomorrow if it broke.

Njee – size is affected by position – the further forward you lean (eg flatter backed) the narrower the section of your sit bones that you actually sit on become so the measurement in the shop is a good starting point for a trail bike position or not too racy road position but moving to a narrower saddle for racy positioning is quite common.

Yep, I know all that, I worked in the shop, so it was the Spesh guys who measured me as a 143 as a 'guinea pig' whilst showing us how to use it. My point is to take it with a pinch of salt, I still use 143mm Toupes on my road bikes, which are very comfy, but I'm happy with the 130s on my MTBs, despite it being a less aggressive position.

SLRs wear out very fast IME, although I've not tried the version fasthaggis links to.