Ok, I know they are personal, but this is fairly specific: I currently have a Specialized Romin Evo, which is ok, but I find the edges of the channel become uncomfortable on longer rides, making me miss my old Selle Italia Flite classic. However, I still think the channel is of benefit, so Id like a cross between the two.

Can anyone offer any suggestions? I know Selle Italia do a Flite with a channel but I found that a little uncomfortable as well.

I used to love the specialised toupe, but after cracking a few I moved to the Romin. I also found those edges on the channel to hurt after a long ride so I moved to selle SLR XP flows which have been great.
I quite fancy giving the specialised power saddles a go.

Very much enjoying my Phenom.

I quite fancy giving the specialised power saddles a go.

Me too. Might have to demo one, but I’m not sure if the combination of my fugly seatpost and one of these would be just too much!

I went from a Romin Evo to an ISM Breakaway and haven’t regretted it. Takes a wee while to setup, but the online videos are very good.

this one

Fizik Antares/Arione VS has a channel – in fact there are two models, one has a slightly deeper channel for the more ‘blessed’.

I quite fancy giving the specialised power saddles a go.

Quite fancy trying one myself, though Spesh saddles don’t really work for me and it’d be a bit of an expensive experiment.

On the cheaper side I’ve found a Charge Knife to be a decent saddle very much in the Flite style. I’ve not got on with saddles with dips in the middle before. Not exceptionally light (220g) but far nicer for me compared to the Antares (170g ish) that I had previously.

I like a nice flat saddle and with no kick up at the back.
The old toupe was a s good as it got but they didn’t age well and cracked around the rail.

Over the years I’ve spent literally 1000s on saddles to find “the one”
IMHO, some of the best money you can spend on a bike.

I have a Charge Scoop which is comfortable, cheap and looks good. It’s also showing no signs of wear after 2 years use.

I think they’ve now changed the brand to Fabric. The saddle is still called a Scoop though and there are various levels of spec to choose from in the range. They also have a model with a groove if that’s your preference so Fabric may well be worth checking out.

I quite like the look of the Fizik Arione Vs.

I had a look at the Fabric website and didn’t like the look of the one with the channel, but I’ll check out some reviews, thanks.

I’ve given up and gone back to Flites. Though, the Spec Power does quite appeal.

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/selle-italia-flite-classic-1990-saddle/aid:481187?channable=e8467.NDgxMTg3&gclid=CO2gxf6hp80CFRUW0wodrGUNiQ

Funnily enough, I still have one of those Flite Classics that I moved onto my mountain bike: I might have to give it another go on the roadie and get something else for the mountain bike.

I’ve got Selle Italia SLR-XC on my road bikes (and a couple of spares too). Comfortable and so never wanted anything else.

I run a Antares Vs K:IUM and like it a lot. Hard for the first 30 minutes but comfortable on 8 hour plus rides.

If it helps, I’m SDG Bel Air shaped on a MTB.

I had Fizik Aliante Vs with the cut out channel on both my bikes for 2 years and loved them, far better than the charge spoon and Giant standard saddle I had before.

I recently had a bike fit and discovered my sit bones are slightly too wide for them so I am using a specialized toupe at the minute and quite like it, taking some getting used to though. I am now selling my Fizik Aliante Vs Kium if your interested.

Another charge knife fan.. Have the Ti one

Spesh toupe & power here. Slightly prefer the power, can’t afford to replace all of my saddles though.

If you look at charge then look at Fabric as they are virtually if not the same. I have the line which has a cut out in it. I like it.

I’ve got a pro logo scratch on my new road bike. It’s pretty damn comfortable.
Not sure if you can get a scratch with the channel but definately other pro logo models.
Decent saddles

Using a Spesh 168mm Power (sit bones were 141mm!) and Selle italia superflow SLR.

Spent £££’s but never found the perfect perch.

Toupe works best for me only when I’m slimmer.

Still getting odd pain if I use cheap padded Lycra or too fat rear. When slim, the lard pad is reduced so the sit bones hit the saddle better.

On my mtb I’m fine. CX or road I start to notice and shuffle. Also good quality padded gel shorts are awesome!

Well I got back from a 50 miler just now.

The pain was from the saddle on the prostate area even with the Spesh Power saddle.

Adjusted it so the nose wasn’t level, maybe 10-20 degrees up.

Reduced it to 10 degrees when I got home. Felt a bit better. Probably need to lower my saddle by 1-2 cm and stop wearing mtb shorts over my lycra might help. Otherwise I guess you defeat the saddles purpose with too much padding.

^^^ don’t persevere with pain in that area, make some changes, saddle or otherwise. ISM ones are good for many, self included – I changed to them after Prostate surgery ..

I’ve just picked up a Fizik Antares VS, with the channel. If this doesn’t work, then I’m going to move away from saddles with a channel in and just accept a bit of numbness.

It’s usually the ridges along the side of the channel that bug me, as I said in the OP. The ridges on this one seem a bit softer than my Spesh Romin, but we’ll see.

I’ve also moved my saddle forward a bit, to try and ensure that my sit bones are located where they are supposed to be on the saddle. I’ll see tomorrow.