Lewis_Moon

I'm getting back into cycling after a long layoff and it seems that everything has changed. I'm now riding a nice Rolls, and that and the Regal were my faves, but I gotta believe that saddle tech has come up with a lot of new and different comfort features. Is there a good guide to choosing, say, a Fizik saddle. I'd rather not do the trial and error thing too much.

PS: I'm 200+ so I need tough rails.

ThinLine

May want to go with CroMo rails, although I'm 196 lbs and ride Ti railed saddles on almost all my bikes (9). I have approx. 12 saddles due to your mentioned comment of trial and error....................where most fell into the error side.

Riding a Bontgrager Inform RXL now and seem to like it on one bike and believe it or not a Pinnerello Leopard saddle on my pedal force RS2 which I find a bit small but great. Fizik makes extremely high quality saddles which most people like.

TrojanHorse

I'm still sitting on a 15 year old Rolls... Just put 73 miles on it today too.

If you're committed to spending the money, find a bike shop with a loaner program. I know specialized does it, not sure how you could do the same with Fizik but obviously, paying retail but getting to try 14 different saddles would be the way to go.

You may also want to get back to where you can put some miles on it first too - no point in buying a saddle that feels great around the parking lot.

Smallguy

go to a good lbs and ask for recommendations

the fizik saddles some in different shapes based on your flexibility

a good shop should let you demo asaddle

johnny99

You can find recommendations on Fizik's web site. Basically, they recommend narrower saddles for people with better flexibility (can you touch your toes without bending your knees)? People with worse flexibility should get a wider saddle.

JohnJ80

WHich is all basically BS.

Just go and find a LBS that will let you try them. That's what I did and found the versus versions to be what works really well for me.

J.

milkbaby

Fizik seems to have a demo program as many of their demo saddles show up for sale on ebay.

I think Glory Cycles offers a by-mail demo program too where you pay a fee and shipping, and the fee can be credited towards your purchase.

Right Said Fred

+1 on the Fizik demo saddle program. Have tested a couple from LBS and ended up buying an Aliante.

NWS Alpine

I swung by my shop to pick up one of the demo fizik saddles. They recommended to start with the Aliante so that is what I got. Based on me being extremely flexible and I do move a little on the saddle when ridding I thought I should go with the other end first but oh well. I will eventually try them all but just sitting on my bike the Aliante hurts. Way too much contact up front. Nowhere to move around to get a better feel. My stock Prologo Kappa is way better that this. Really want to go back and get the arione or antarez.

JohnJ80

Like I said, their whole seat selection strategy is BS. Use your best judgment.

Do, however, make sure that you accurately translate your old saddle position (angle, fore and aft, etc...) from the old to the new. It's really easy to take an old saddle off, put a new one on just a *little* out of position and have it be a major problem.

J.

Porkponey

When I was looking for a saddle I talked to the LBS about loaners. Bontrager and Specialized both do refunds. Based on recommendation and budget constraints I tried an inform affinity R. Felt better than the stock saddle, but started rubbing. That told me the width (148) was too much. Too much padding as well which had me hunting positions. I had a fit done on that saddle to make sure that wasn't an issue. I went back knowing not so much what would work, but what didn't. That information helped me a lot. I knew it had to be more narrow and stiffer. Other than those things, no real issues. Returned the saddle, paid an extra 10 bucks and got a specialized romin. Had a fit done on that and it was immediately better. Just did my first 50 a few weeks ago with absolutely no pain or numbness.

The selection process may appear to be BS, but starting me on the wrong saddle just made it easier to zero in on the right. In other words, you've got to start somewhere. Be patient and really give the saddles some time. I didn't notice the Bontrager rubbing until after the 1.5 hour mark.

StanSeven

Of course that information on saddle fit is coming from the saddle designer/manufacturer.

adacas

There is no more personal relationship between a man and his saddle. Marriage comes a very close second.

With that said a good LBS will have a saddle demo program or a saddle selection that has a comfort guarantee. With dozens of saddle choices out there the chances of hitting the mark the first time is hard. The Fizik Alliante has been pretty popular from what I've seen but at my LBS, Bontrager has been pretty good as well as Selle Italia.

Young Version

I use an Arione, and absolutely HATED it when I first started riding on it. Now I can't really imagine using anything else.

Whatever you try, give it some time before making a decision.