Most folks I ride with locally who have swapped saddles seem to prefer, in no particular order:
- Brooks and the very similar Selle Anatomica leather saddles (the Selle feels a bit more comfortable to me on short rides on their bikes). Some with the cutout, some without.
- Three ride Brooks Cambium and like 'em. The riders range from bony thin to hefty.
- Several serious local roadies like Fizik. Choices vary according to riding posture, per Fizik's recommendations.
- One seriously fast guy I know is trying an ISM saddle to cope with persistent saddle sores.
Quite a few seem to keep riding whatever came with the bike. In eavesdropping on bike chat over beer, I get the impression that some folks -- who are casual riders cruising at 12-14 mph on nice road bikes -- switch to Brooks or Selle Anatomica based on subtle peer pressure. Fans tend to speak in absolutes. And a friend quietly admitted he now needs padded shorts since switching to a Brooks B-17 Imperial (with the cutout). But it didn't look quite broken in.
The Fizik fans are those guys who'll spend money for a bike fit and choose every little option for an nth of a degree improvement in performance. They're local KOM Top Tenners, so I suppose it works for them. And participating LBSs have a loaner/tester program for Fizik saddles.
Most folks seem to stick with whatever saddle came with the bike.
I like Lycra fabric covered saddles with firm foam. They breathe in hot muggy weather, so I don't get swamp butt. I can ride 'em comfortably without padded shorts (I wear Champion tech fabric boxer briefs under baggy shorts) for rides up to 40-50 miles. Occasionally I'll wear padded tight shorts on really windy days, but the padding isn't necessary with these saddles. Only drawback is there's probably some loss of efficiency -- I can feel a little bouncing on some terrain at some cadences. But I'm not fast enough for it to matter. I like the comfort.
But I'm tempted to try one of those castoff, take-off saddles in the bargain bin at the LBS. Looks like plenty of riders ditch perfectly good looking, nearly new stock saddles in favor of Brooks and Fiziks.