So I used to ride a brooks saddle, but switched over to a Selle Respiro on account of paranoia about perenial pressure and damage to the sexual parts. After having done my first short tour on the respiro I've decided that I hate it now. It was fine when I first got it, doing short delivery runs during the winter. In the summer heat the gel becomes much softer, and this combined with increased distance makes it very uncomfortable.

I never had any discomfort with the brooks, but I did notice a bit of pressure on the perineum. It wasn't uncomfortable, and I wasn't experiencing any numbness, but being that I was riding my bike for a living I figured it wasn't worth taking any chances with doing permanent damage to my sexual health. Trying to read up on this kind of thing I find that there's very little scientific information.

Selle SMP has a scientific study about penile blood flow, but I have heard others argue that actually a saddle with a cutout can make this problem worse as some of the blood flow runs around the edge of the perineum. Given there's only the one study, I also wonder if it was funded by Selle SMP, or if they're methods have been peer reviewed and such.

Contrary to the SMP study there's a lot of people who talk of having been riding a brooks for decades without issue.

So anyway I'm trying to decide if I should buy a Selle SMP or a Brooks Flyer. The cheapest SMP is not much less than the Brooks, but it feels as though it would wear out much more quickly. I hesitate to drop $200 on the more expensive SMPs as I'm unable to try any of them before I buy. If I go with brooks I'd probably go for the sprung Brooks Flyer. None of the sprung brooks saddles have the cutout. The cutout of the imperial isn't very sizable anyway, so I wonder what if any affect it has. Some argue that a cutout on a leather saddle just increases the hammock effect and increases perenial pressure.

Anyone have any insights? I'm probably over thinking this yes?