More than 30 years of serious riding, and more than a dozen different kind of saddles, and I finally settled on a Brooks B17.
When I was young, Brooks were what the bike touring crowd used, it was the standard saddle of the day. I thought they were too low-tech, and not Italian enough, so I avoided them. Years later, when I finally got around to buying a Brooks, and breaking it in, I could see why they were so popular.
So far, the B17 is the only road bike saddle which I can do fairly long rides without needing bike shorts. I imagine that today, in the age of carbon fiber, electronic shifting, and GPS navigation that modern riders would be even more averse to riding a Brooks than I was as a kid in the early 80's. Modern saddles are as sexy and high-tech as the bikes they come on, but they are not as comfortable as old-school seats unless you are wearing shorts which cost at least as much as the saddle.
All of my bikes are now fitted with Brooks saddles.