Road Cycling - San Marco or Italia?

I know there' s plenty of these threads, but i gotta get rid of my Specialized BG Butt Breaker! Checking out some saddles, I like the Selle San Marco Era Arrowhead and the Italia Prolink Transam. Of course, this opinion is based upon picking 'em off a rack and looking at them, but at least the Era looks like the Specialized Telluride on my MTB (which I love) and the Transam looks pretty comfy too. Does anyone have any experience w/ both of these saddles? please no one say "get a brooks" because i know i'll screw up and not put enough effort into breaking it in and ruin it. plus, i think it's just not right to put one on a compact frame aluminum bike w/ a triple chainring.

Fizik Arione

I have an Arrowhead Ti and I love it. Seems to hold up pretty well too as I shift around the saddle a good deal depending on whether I'm climbing, sprinting, or just riding.

Don't know about the one you are asking about however, I have a San Marco Aspide and I believe that must be italian for Midievil Torture Device :( I am waiting for a good deal on the Fizik Arione.

I was referring to the Aspide Arrowhead Ti (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=18284&subcategory_ID=5210). It did take me a week to acclimate my posterior to it. Since, it's been perfect for me.

After the last two months I now consider myself to be a saddle expert. I'm joking but seriously I went through 8 saddles ofer the last 2 months and I can tell you that you will not get any help here. You have to find a connection like I had at my LBS where I could try out a saddle and return it for another one. If your fitness level is up to it I would recmmend putting 200 miles on it including one 80 - 100 mile ride. I tried a Fizik Arione and it felt like my ass was bleeding after 20 miles. Do not rely on reviews or opinions on saddles. I also have a san marco arami gel which I find tollerable but ultimatlly the Terry Zero is now my new saddle and I plan on buying another one to keep in the closet for the next time I need a saddle. But all this meens absolutlly nothing to you trust me.

What about getting a mountain bike saddle for your Allez? If you like the saddle then what is the harm? (That is an open question because I bought a mountain bike this year and I really like the seat. I'm thinking about trying this. Probably a bad idea I'm sure. )

How many hours have you logged on your road saddle. I think they all suck at first.

I have about 10 hours in the saddle right now. i know that's not alot. but it doesn't feel "right" to me. i was thinking about throwing a specialized telluride MTB saddle on my roadie, like you said, but that's no fun. gotta experiment a little. the Specialized OEM saddle is just chintsy. the staple job securing the plether underneath the saddle is horrible, and the stuff just doesn't breathe at all. i'm going to try it for a little longer, but i figure i might as well start getting opinions now.

as far as the LBS front - i can't imagine many LBS's are willing to let you ride saddles for 100 miles, getting 'em all sweaty and buying them back from you.

If the Selle Italia ProLink TransAm is the same as the Selle Italia MaxFlite TransAm, then you'd be hard pressed to find a more comfortable long mile seat. I think that the curent version is called the Selle Italia TransAm (with the MaxFlite part dropped). It has a center area cut out, leather wrapper with kevlar side panels, and magnesium rails. I have 8,400 miles on one and will probably pick up another for my other bike.
Meanwhile, on the other bike I have a Selle Italia Genuine Gel Flite. It is nice but not as comfortable as the TransAm. I have about 1,800 miles on the Genuine Gel seat. Good luck.

Talk to your LBS and see if they'll let you try out some saddles. I found two in my area that would and finally settled on a Fizik Pave. Both stores had no problem with me trying the saddle for a week then returning so long as I didn't leave any non-removeable marks on it. Worst case, sell it on Ebay if you hate it and lose a few bucks. Better than having it collect dust in the closet and remind of the butt-torture it gave you.

All this talk about saddles, have you considered getting better shorts??? Good shoes and good shorts makes the ride for me.

I just switched out my Selle San Marco Aspide. It was a great minimalist seat and I really tried to like it. I put about 500 or so miles on it and developed saddle sores for the first time ever.

It's a great seat for a slender person. I have a big, meaty butt, and for me it didn't work out. There was no depth to the edge of the saddle and the sides dug into my leg/groin area and caused me great difficulty.

I just switched to the SSM Concor lite. It seems much better, but I don't have any significant miles on it yet.

I know there' s plenty of these threads, but i gotta get rid of my Specialized BG Butt Breaker! Checking out some saddles, I like the Selle San Marco Era Arrowhead and the Italia Prolink Transam. Of course, this opinion is based upon picking 'em off a rack and looking at them, but at least the Era looks like the Specialized Telluride on my MTB (which I love) and the Transam looks pretty comfy too. Does anyone have any experience w/ both of these saddles? please no one say "get a brooks" because i know i'll screw up and not put enough effort into breaking it in and ruin it. plus, i think it's just not right to put one on a compact frame aluminum bike w/ a triple chainring.

Hey, I just put a Brooks on my compact aluminum bike w/a triple chainring! I knew how good they were but just didn't think it would go right with the bike. Got the hardest to break in Brooks (Team Professional), two rides on it and it was more comfortable from the start than anything I've had on there. Not for the first ten minutes or so of a ride but after the first hour there's no comparison. It replaced a Selle Italia Flite with ti rails. When I was changing the seat over I had one in each hand to compare weight and the Brooks is just enough heavier that I could tell which hand it was in. Not much of a difference and certainly worth the lack of agony.

The Brooks looks better on the bike than I do.

Ok here's what I have for you:

First I'm 6'2 170LBS (soaking wet). So I don't have a large rear so to speak :)

I have the selle italia FLITE TI on my mtn bike (with the cut out groove).

and I have the San Marco Eva (Colnago branded) TI seat on my colnago road bike (no center cut out).

Here's what I think about them:

The Italia Flite: Narrow, takes a bit to get used to, you can move around on the saddle a bit but the back isn't "wide", so if you like the seat to really support you like your sitting on a chair...might not be for you! I do like it, and I've used it on several 100KM+ rides without any trouble.

San Marco Eva: Wider back, sits flush with the top tube the way I have it setup. Feels like a wider platform to sit on (this doesn't mean I measured them...this is purely feel...very opinion oriented review here :) ) I think this seat would be more comfortable for someone who's not used to a race saddle (and / or doesn't want to be!)


I also had a lower end selle italia on my bike for 2 weeks while the san marco (again its branded colnago but its the same seat) came in. It's actually a decent feeling seat...for alot less money (65$CDN compared to 190$ for my colnago seat and 150$ for my italia flite ti seat). you can see it on my bike...the model # I'm not sure but its got this gel thing in the middle. I did a few big rides on it, it was a little easier to get used to than the italia and a little harder to get used to than the san marco.

So I think based on all my perceptions and reading your original post, the san marco would PROBABLY be best for you. Bring the bike in and have them put it on and ride it around for a while ... my LBS is good enough to let me try out whatever seat I want before buying (and exchanging if it just hurts like a mother after a week :)


Chado

Im also in the market for a new saddle. I was wondering why almost everybody seems to be getting a Fizik. Is it that they have a new technology that makes the san marco and italia saddles obsolete? Im only considering fizik and dont know if I should try some of the others as well.