seat upgrade question
 

I have a bontrager ultra race lux seat, it seems ok to me but everyone else says it really sucks, which generally isn't enough to make me want to get a new seat, but has made me curious, what makes a good seat good?

Chalk it up to my inexperience but i sat on my buddies fizik seat and enjoy how light and cool looking it was but it had zero padding, which left me confused, why are the $230 seats with no padding considered soo good? What should I look for in a better seat in the future when i'm ready to swap this one out.

To me, the best seat is the one that you find most comfortable for the type of riding you do. Weight / appearance are secondary concerns. Those $230 seats usually are that expensive because of the materials used to make them light.

Personally, I have a selle italia butt. I have an SLK which looks like a torture device, but is comfortable for me. I love flites, and have an orbea branded flite on one of my bikes (sold my old bike and didn't think to remove the gel flite that i so dearly loved, grumble, grumble). So if your saddle is comfy for you, don't worry terribly about "upgrading."

Check this out.

http://www.roadbikerider.com/pbs_page.htm

I just thought the fizik's had like some sort of super hidden padding haha but when i sat on one and said what the hell this feels like a piece of plastic my buddy said you have to rely on the padding in your shorts.

I have yet to figure out why everyone says my saddle sucks, the only thing i have noticed in the nose is a bit big on it.

Zero padding means that i sit on my sit bones and little else. A padded seat, in my past experience, puts pressure all around the sit area and causes unwanted numbness.

Interesting, maybe its like the effect i found on the pair of novara tights i bought i got them cuz the chamois was huge and super padded but when i rode them it felt like i was sitting on a pillow and caused all sorts of odd sensations and sketchy feelings.

Comfort on a saddle has virtually nothing to do with the amount of padding, otherwise we'd all be sitting on giant hunks of foam rubber.

Not only do the $230 saddles with little padding look super bling they tend to be engineered such that those with compatible sit bones put them in just the right place and have just the right amount of shell flex to absorb road vibration, slight bumps, etc.

So far my butt works with very well with both the Specialized Toupe (very little padding lots of shell flex) and Fizik Aliante (a little thicker but firmer padding, less flex, rounder cross section).

Your buddy that said you need to rely on the chamois is misinformed, no amount of chamois will solve saddle problems. I ride a Toupe on my fixed-gear commuter in Benny D's with zero soreness (albeit over short distances, ~10mi).

I tend to agree that a good saddle must be determined on the merits of comfort. However, I would also include function as of equal importance. There some some saddles that might be quite comfortable, but for various reasons the rider has less control (for me this comes when the nose is too short). Only the rider can determine what is comfortable and what gives him or her the right about of control. I think the weight issue is less important for most people. Unless you're at about 3 to 5% body fat, the weight of one's seat just doesn't seem to be a very significant issue. While I share the OP sense of liking things that look good, the only time I see my saddle is when I'm not on it. Hence, for me the looks of the saddle falls off considerably in terms of importance.

for me the fizak arione is the most comfortable seat. when i got my c'dale six13 a couple of years ago i thought oh man i will have to replace that seat. to my suprise the arione just worked perfectly for my butt. i do have to say it is not a great looking saddle but comfort is more important to me than looks.

What else should i be looking for other than comfort.

Nothing. And as noted earlier, more padding (saddle or chamois) doesn't necessarily mean more comfortable.