Road Cycling - Saddle thoughts

There's been a huge move over the last 6-7 years in racing saddle design to go super narrow. It started with the appearance of the original Flite circa 1991. Proven designs that were then considered narrow compared to recreational styles soon went out of fashion. After tolerating my Selle San Marco Era for the 2nd year, I have ditched it and replaced it with a WTB SST2000K. Yep, that's right, a MTB saddle. It is similar in shape to the road racing saddles I rode from '90 to '96 or so. There's less padding than the Era but more area to rest the butt on (relatively speaking--the Era is an inch narrower). I don't think all the ultra skinny saddles of today are good. What I do think is there is a big marketing trend going on and all designs aren't totally thought out or if they are legit, they aren't for every body type. Look at Specialized's saddle faux pas with the Minkow wedge and foam that was too soft so the rider suffered more pressure that a standard saddle. They worked for a very few folks but that design died once word got out--they sold a lot of them by then--doh. The cost of my out-of-fashion WTB? Only $32 and it's the titanium version. (was $99 a couple years back in it's heyday). How is your saddle working?

I'm still using my original Flite saddle from the mid 90's on my current road bike and I have no reason for a change. I recently built a couple of fixed gear bikes and wanted something retro for my saddles. I purchased a Brooks Pro saddle and immediately became the most comfortable saddle I've ever ridden on so I went ahead and bought another. I'm building another fixie now and I will go for another Brooks.

Brooks.
For me I don't think its width exactly but shape of the
top of the saddle. The difference to me is the Brooks has a
relatively flat top while the racing type saddles are curved
Ok, this is a stretch, but think of these as saddles on their
side, open side the bottom of saddle ] Brooks vs ) other saddles.
The curve puts pressure on soft tissue in center (top of arc) of
saddle.
I have flites, concors, regals, trans am and none of them are
as comfortable as the brooks.

Marty

I found the Fizik Aliante to be a bit flatter in the rear of the saddle, which fits my behind much better than the Flite I had before. I like it mucho.

I'm rockin' the FLite Ti now... I like it when I am going faster... it kinda hurts a bit on slower rides... this doesn;t make sense to me... but overall a comfy seat, and it is slightly narrow

Jeff

I've found the Selle Italia Prolink TA (with or without the Gelflow) to be very comfy for me. It's the perfect balance of semi-light weight and comfort. I'm good for 5+ hour days in the saddle without discomfort. On my race bike, I use a Selle Italia SLR TA which is plenty comfortable for it's intended use.

I gotta put one in for the body geometry saddle. i have the '02 or '03 pro model, and it is extremly comfortable. there is less padding then other saddles, and I think that this turns a lot of people off at first. When you ride it though, it feels extremly comfortable, since it is the shell that flexes, not the padding. in a way, it is like the old stretched leather saddles where the leather "shell" absorbes shock. Another advantage of the extremely firm padding is that you sit on top of the saddle, and you don't sink in, putting pressure on your, um, sensitive parts. Did I mention that the body geometry is light as a mo fo?

I haven't tried any of the other BG saddles, mainly becuase I'm afraid I'll be dissapointed. I have heard that they softened up the foam to make it more "comfortable" and make the notch narrower to make it look more normal.

selle italia flite trans am. very comfortable. i also have a fizik pave on my cyclocross bike, which i find exceptionally comfortable.

I've been using Selle Italia Flite (genuine gel, Ti rails version) for the past 5 years both on my MTB and my RB and have been very happy with them. Before that, I had some Vetta something-or-other that was okay... it was a bit wider than I preferred and always found myself scooting up to the front of the saddle. I think my butt just prefers thinner saddles which is why I like the Flites.