Which saddle did you trade your toupe for?
 

I've heard of a lot of people saying the Specialized Toupe is a real pain in the ass (literally) and after a few rides I'm starting to think the same thing.

For those that have traded it or sold it for something new, what saddle did you find to work better?

I'm thinking of trading my Toupe for something new and just looking for some options. Something flat would be nice.

I use Toupe on both of my road bikes. At first I thought it was the saddle causing pain, but it was just me sitting on the wrong portion of the saddle, readjusted saddle to where my sit bones were in the right location and voila, I ended up with a very comfy seat. half centuries no issues or soreness.

Some have said that the Fizik Arione works well for many who find that a Toupe doesn't.

I tossed in my Selle Italia gel flite max for my toupe. Never looked back.

Fizik Arione. Toupe was a torture device for me.

Toupe was great, but the flare on the edges chafed me. The Arione was great but I'd need a cutout and haven't tried the vs. Antares killed me. Riding the Romin now and love it. Have the Selle Italia SLK on another bike and love that too.

155mm Romin feels much better than 143mm Toupe. I can't chalk that up solely to design considering the width difference, but the difference is night and day. The nose of the Romin is a little wider than I need, and I might try a more severe cutout style (Adamo ISM), but I'm happy for now.

Arione

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I used Toupe for quite a while. In the beginning it was literally pain in the a$$. After some time it became comfy enough but it's sharp tip kept causing some unpleasant accidents every once in a while. Then on a whim tried Fizik Arione and never looked back

Selle Italia Max Flite Gelflow Team Edition

Went from a Bontrager Inform Rl, which was nice but in a low aero position pinched a nerve on one inner thigh

to a Toupe, which was just uncomfortable - like too hard of an edge to it

to an Aliante, which felt fine at first but too much padding and a lack of "space" (fore-aft positions) bugged me after awhile

to an Arione, which feels just right so far (5k miles or so). I built a TT bike this winter and picked up their Arione TR2 saddle for that, but haven't had it on the road yet.

Ironically, on my commuter I have a $10 Vader saddle which is really comfortable to ride even in street clothes, and it looks more or less like a Toupe knock-off.

I liked the shape of the Toupe, but the contact area was just too small so I ended up with soreness on long rides. It took quite a while to get the angle of the Toupe "just right", so you might find that you can get it to work for you if you have a micro-adjustable seatpost.

I switched back to Ariones on both road bikes and have stuck with them for many thousands of miles.

Rode several Toupe's for well over 15K miles and this year my sit bones started to hurt in the 50+ miles. Test rode a Romin in same width and did 150miles that weekend. During the ride, I didnt even notice my sit bones. I have been on a Romin for 1 month with about 800 miles and never looked back!

Selle San Marco Mantra - it was more a case of alleviating numbness rather than pain on my sit bones.

I'm looking for a new saddle to replace my beloved Toupe. It's been great for years, I've owned several. However, I'm starting to drop some weight and it seems to be causing some issues. Looking at the Arione as a possible replacement but the width has me a bit skeptical. Perhaps the Aliante, I'm not sure.

Keepamonte,
What do you think it is about the Romin that makes it more comfortable than the Toupe? Others have said they prefer the Romin to the Toupe as well.

Is the Romin harder or softer than the Toupe? Is it shell shape or maybe flex? Any idea?

Both the Arione and the Toupe are in my arsenal. I like both, however each require different shorts/ chamois(material) to be comfortable. The Toupe works well
with a gel type chamois for cushy support.

Anyone else out there that can comment on dedicated chamios / saddle combos, please
post your findings. Thanks.

Agreed with the Arione comments. Everyone I know who doesn't like the Toupe, loves the Arione. Also, consider trying different shorts. I found that my chamois makes a bigger difference in comfort than my saddle.

This. I went from the Toupe to Arione and it's a night and day difference in comfort.

Romin has a rounded back and a tad more curve to it. I think the firmness is very similar, definately no more padded that toupe. I changed my cockpit quite a bit when I started racing this year to a more aggressive and lower position. I tried to adjust the toupe withouot success. When I climb seated, I can push the against the back of the saddle for a tad bit more leverage. The nose is wider but that hasn't bothered me. I tried every Fizik (including the vs's models) and they all gave me numbness.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the Phenom! It's like a better designed Toupe. Slightly more padding, no stupidly designed pointy edges. It rules.

I've been very happy with my Toupe Expert. Rode a century on it and was a bit sore the following morning. No tenderness or pain though.

Thanks. I am wide hipped and riding the Toupe 155 this spring. I would give it a B. There maybe another saddle out there that fits me better but I can tolerate the Toupe for 50 miles. No real pain or lingering pain to my sit bones and the cut out really helps with riding in the drops.

Toddbiker made what I thought was an astute comment. Many that have tried the Toupe know it is firm which is a good thing to a point.
Type of shorts pad or chamois seems to matter. I have more comfort when I ride the Toupe with the thicker pad in my PI bibs.
Cheers.

The Phenom was my favorite saddle, I have one on my road bike as well as my MTB. When I bought my 'cross bike a couple of months ago I went to get a Phenom for it and noticed Specialized had changed the design. The new design does not seem as comfortable as the old design; the trough is narrower and the back has changed. I am now looking at the Romin to see how that feels.