VT to CA

Weigh in- which saddle does the best job keeping the baby-making gear in tip-top conditon?

iNewton

No matter what saddle you get, the trick to keep having baby making functionalities is to move around on it.

VT to CA

Yes, yes- no noob here. Sufficient out-of-the-saddle time or not, one of these saddles is wowing more people in that department than the others, and I'd like to find out which before I pull the trigger on one... do you ride any of the above? Opinions?

garysol1 

The best saddle that I have found to keep pressure off of the nether regions is the Specialized Alias hands down. You may or may not find the saddle comfortable but I will promise no undo perineal pressure.

branman1986

I like the Selle Italia Flight TransAm, but I use a Specialized Toupe on my race bike. For the weight, it's amazingly comfortable. I haven't used the other two though, sorry.

DrPete 

The Specialized saddles are fantastic. The Fizik Aliante I had was great for the boys too, but in terms of dollar spent per GCU (genital comfort unit), the Specialized is a great value.

clausen

This applies to the saddle as well.

terry b

If I apply right amount of patience, any saddle can be made to work with regards to those particular body parts. Perhaps it's easier with a cut-out, I wouldn't know, because I've not had to go there. I ride SLR, Pave, Aliante, Arione, Flite. Some are more comfortable than others on long hauls, but once I get the fore/aft and tilt set, none of them bother my bits.

garysol1 

I have to disagree. As a rider that has nether region issues I am getting pretty knowledgeable on this Many saddles are designed to distribute the body's weight over a wide area including the the taint regions. Unless you tilt these saddle down to the point where you slide off of the thing, you will not relieve the pressure in the nether regions.

branman1986

Not to mention their high GCU/gram ratio

recneps

old school flite trumps allllllllllllllllll.

terry b

Anticipation of your response is exactly why I went back and changed the wording in my OP. Our checks crossed in the mail.

I can make any saddle work for me and I think cut-outs are generally the easy way out for many people. Clearly you and others have a different situation and therefore need something that works for your particular needs. Saddles are without a doubt the #1 personal preference item on a bike. The fact that I can tune them to work, doesn't mean the next person can.

Which is why threads like this are really an exercise in personal opinion and nothing more.

GuitarWizard

I love the Specialized Toupe....I have the Alias on one of my bikes, and it's not as comfortable.

GuitarWizard

How to you make a saddle "work" for you if it's the wrong width for your sitbones?

urbanknight

As mentioned above, saddles are personal, but I recently tried an SLR Gel Flow and although it was ok on the boys, it didn't have enough surface area to support my rump without making it sore. I found the Flight Gel to be more comfortable, but I go numb after about 20-25 miles. My new saddle which I will try tomorrow is the Max Flite Gel Flow, wide plus a cut-out, so we'll see how that works.

pathdoc

I have the Strike Evolution. Its a vast improvement over my old Flight saddle.

terry b

Well I guess I must fall in the middle of the "average person sit bone measurement number" that most saddle makers use to design their saddles.

Honestly, the only thing I have not been able to work around is embroidery. If that's on a saddle, it's a recipe for pain for me. If I take the time to work with position, I can ride just about anything. But that doesn't mean I by saddles randomly. All the Fiziks work for me, and that's where I spend my money.

Agian, to each his own.

FIVE ONE SIX

i say get each saddle off e-bay, and try them all, and keep only the one you like the best. you can always relist the others, and there's no reason to pay full retail for something that you are not sure you're going to be happy with, unless the store you get them from will take them back if you're not happy with them. sometimes that's an option, and sometimes it's not...

i personally like the Specialized Toupe, i got it for $108 including shipping off e-bay, but i should really go with something wider for my sitbones. it's not as comfortable as my Aliante, but it doesn't put the boys to sleep like my Aliante did, and to me the numbness issue is more important than the comfort issue...

i would love to try the SMP Strike Pro, but it's too cold out now for me to ride, so i will probably wait till may or june to try it out...

also, you want to try a different pair of shorts too, sometimes you can compensate for comfort with the right shorts...

garysol1 

Respectfully Disagree. The OP didn't ask the normal "what's the most comfortable saddle" question. His question can be answered without peoples personal opinions getting in the way. Some saddles are just built for those of us that have issues down there or want to make sure they don't get problems down there. The comfort of these particular saddles are personal preference but at least we can provide some saddles to start with.

terry b

Here's the original question:

"Weigh in- which saddle does the best job keeping the baby-making gear in tip-top conditon?"

And here are the two poles of the argument -

You say cut-outs work for me because I have special needs. A cut out saddle keeps my baby-making equipment in tip-top condition.

I say any saddle can be made to work for me if I take time to dial it in. My baby-making equipment works just fine on 5 different saddle models.

Who's right? Which one does he buy? What's going to work?

It's 100% a personal preference debate. There is no correct answer for everyone since we're all different. He might get on a cut-out and think it feels weird (I do.) He might get on an Arione and feel like someone is jamming a fireplace poker in his butt. There are no guarantees in either direction.

clutchy

I like my toupe.

gpelpel

I have used many saddles, I have wide seatbones so my search ended with 143mm or wider saddles. I started with the Fizik Arione (great but too narrow at 133mm), the Fizzik Aliante (didn't work for me at all), the Specialized Alias 143 (great but hard as a brick), the Selle Italia ProLink Gel Flow (good at first but it started sinking in the center very quickly and became the worst of all), the San Marco Rever (fantastic, light, wide in the rear, no numbness, but I experienced prostatitis after a couple of very long hilly centuries), and now the Specialized Toupe 143. The Toupe was hard on the first couple of rides but is now amazingly comfy. I still have to use it on a century but I think it will work as the "love channel" is quite pronounced.

dno

I switched from an Airone to a Toupe about 6 months for the issues you are eluding to. I was getting numbness, but this is now gone on the toupe and it is also damn comfortable with the right positioning and goos shorts.

percy

I had an Aliante that I thought was great (for 10k miles) and then I decided to try Specialized. The Toupe was surprisingly comfortable given its minimalistic nature but, I'm on the heavier side and it just didn't seem like quite enough saddle for me. I decided to try an Alias. I will never look back. Great saddle.

My LBS swears by the Toupe, by the way. And I swear by the bike shop that lets you try loaner saddles until you find the right one.

swyant

I have the Specialized Avatar on my Trek Pilot and like it so far. Is the Alias more comfortable, or just lighter with the same comfort?

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