Buy a couple different models, used, on ebay. Keep the one you like, sell the ones you don't.

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It's just my opinion, but saddle rental is more expensive than buying a lightly used one and re-selling it later if it doesn't work out.

Tritones are pretty easy to find here on ST and Ebay for a great price. The Mistica is the updated Tritone and has been popular. I think they are great place to start if you have some good experience with the Arione. If you're anywhere near the Northern Illinois area, I have 4-5 split nose saddles you could try since I won't even look at my TT bike again until March. One of those is a very lightly used (large/65mm) Mistica.

I suspect your previous happiness or otherwise with an Arione is utterly irrelevant.
Split nose saddles, when used correctly, support you completely differently. Thus whatever made the Arione work (kinda), will probably not be relevant to how the split nose saddle fits. If you try and relate the two, you will just end up with confusing things and perhaps ending up with a bad split nose saddle set-up.
If you're going to try a split nose saddle, forget what came before. Start from scratch. In my experience a split nose hurts for a few weeks because the adaptation for a conventional saddle is not really applicable and you have to adapt again. I started using a split nose on 2 occassions. Once when I first tried one for a month long trial. But I didn't buy one until 6 months later and had to restart the process. On both occasions I was quite uncomfortable and had to keep rides fairly short for the first 2-3 weeks and after that the saddles magically became very comfortable all of a sudden. Others have had different experiences.
So, my advice is to forget all about conventional saddles and give the split nose the benefit of the doubt even if it feels awful at first.

Which cobb saddle did you try? I tried the jof55 (55mm wide) and it was too wide for me, I ended up getting a v-flow plus (45mm wide) which has been very comfortable. Also I have a tritone for sale if you're interested.

I rode the Arione Tri for 8 years and made the switch no problem to the Fizik Tritone and then Mistica.

Eric

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
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I've gotten my saddle fitting game down pretty well, and am using just about everything on the market in my fits. Top saddles are the ISM PS series (1.0 and 1.1 mostly) and the Cobb JOF 55. ISM's PN 3.0 is a newer offering that was coming on strong. The Fizik Tritone was chosen in about 2% of fits. It was generally reported to be too hard and squared off. The Mystica seems to address those issues, but I don't have a ton of experience with it.

Saddles are similar to bike shorts in that some people are very sensitive to different materials and shapes of chamois, etc.... while others can ride a century in anything from the discount bin at Performance bike. I can ride anything in the aerobars... any noseless saddle, all the way to a Selle Italia SLR. We all have our particular sensitivities.

I would definitely go the buy a few used saddles route, keep your favorite, and resell the others for roughly what you paid for them. There is a robust market for used tri saddles.

Cobb will let you order multiple saddles and demo them and return for full refund. I'm guessing you tried the 55, might still be worth trying again, it'll feel less wide if you angle your hips forward more. I think some people also zip tie the nose prongs together to make it slightly narrower. The Randee has a slightly narrower nose, might want to try that also. And there are a few other Cobbs that likely come into question.

Some fitters will have a stash of saddles for you to try. Some also have a piece of gear that makes it very quick to throw new saddles onto a fit bike.

If struggled with width issues and finally tried the adjustable width Hilo. This saddle will allow you to decide on a width that doesn’t feel like you femur is being pulled out of the hip socket.

Given Your LBS issues I would definitely go the used route but also remember that a fitter with a collection of saddles experience with what works and what doesn’t may be your best bet. It took me forever to figure out that the trick for me to be comfortable on a split nose saddle is that it has to be a touch lower and with much more setback than my road saddle.

Has anything else in your fit/body changed in the last year?

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

I've steadily lost weight over the years and have gotten more and more aggressive in my position. No back problems from it, mostly it's that my taint just doesn't want to be sitting right on the center part saddle when i'm not wearing a massively padded cycling short.

I tried the cobb max, too wide just very uncomfortable for me in general.

Not to ruin the excitement of trying new saddles, but have you tried changing the angle of your current saddle at all?

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

yeah, I've moved it around quite a bit. It's just the weight on my taint, correct as if i'm wrong, but i'm looking for a split nose so my weight isn't on my taint and hopefully my junk will stop going numb. Couldn't feel my main man for a solid hour of IM AZ this weekend

OK, that's good information - thank you for your answers. With all that said, and with saddles being a very individual thing, I would certainly take a look at the ISM PR 1.0 or 2.0 - these are the closest to a safe bet as I can recommend without having you in the studio to try everything on the wall. An added bonus is that they are relatively affordable saddles at $119.88 and $139.88 MSRP, respectively.

The key with these, and with many noseless saddles, is how you mount them. Start with the rails level, which results in the top of the saddle being angled down about 8 degrees with these models, if I remember right. That's going to seem interesting at first, especially when you sit up. You can maybe tilt it up a degree or two if you feel like you are sliding or have too much weight on your shoulders where it affects your breathing. If you feel like it's too wide, you need to get it out from underneath you and get to the front of it. You don't do that by moving yourself forward and closing up the cockpit - you move the saddle back. The idea is that you keep your pelvis in the same place in space as before, but the saddle just touches you differently.

I hope that helps!

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

where are you located?

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

This is interesting because while also fitting with every saddle on the block I tend to get a lot of success with the Tritone and now Mistica. Thing is though, more than any saddle clients need to be taught how to sit on it, but they also need to be taught the WHY of it, and how it fits into my overall fit philosophy. Once that lightbulb goes on we go from 2% to about 30% for the Fizik.

I'm sure some of this is unintended bias, but part of it is certainly being able to lead a horse to water with regard to saddle selection.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Arione was terrible for me on my tri bike. I got an ISM Adamo, used off the classifieds here like 5 years ago and have been riding it ever since. It always takes a few rides to break my buttbones in, but so much better than a taint saddle like the Arione.

That is a fit issue. Try moving the saddle back a bunch more than you have tried so far. The reason they cut the nose off is so there isn’t pressure in that area.

Well, you like the Tritone, right? Personally I mean. I used it for a few hundreds fits and then took it out of the primary rotation. The Mistica seems to address the primary issue most riders had with it. Looking forward to working with that one some more.

Definitely not a right or wrong thing, as I've seen your fits and know you do excellent work, and get the posture correct. If you can do that with the Fiziks, and everyone walks away happy, then that is a solid job.

This helps a lot, I'm going to sit on the 55 as a friend saw this thread and has one, but if that doesn't work i'll get an ISM and then a mistica

I agree with this - the Tritone had some good ideas with a few issues, and Fi'zi:k did a nice job with the Mistica - they addressed the issues without losing sight of the good aspects of the Tritone. The Mistica has been a pretty good option for my customers - not always the winner, but usually in the top 2 or 3 for triathletes.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

I was in the same situation, rode the Arione & loved it for around 8 years. I got numb down there but it was better than what I was on before. Got a new bike & tried the worst of which was the Tritone...couldn't make it past a week, it tore me up and was like sitting on a 2 x 4 despite fit on it in the shop. Returned it, tried multiple ISM saddle which just were not good feeling but better than the Tritone. Then along came the JOFF 55. I had an "ah-ha!" moment and have never been more comfortable on a saddle. The only think different I'd do is maybe reduce the width by 2.5 mm on the prongs so you have like a JOFF 50. That would allow a bit more of us narrow hip-types.Although since they don't make one, I wouldn't know for sure if that would cause a more concentrated weight induced pain on a lesser area supported underside. It may in fact, be more uncomfortable that way.

Be fair to the saddle if you do? Meaning if your friend's bike geometry and fit is not exactly as you than the initial sitting may feel like the worst saddle on the planet.

I am by far not a pro at this, but I just went through this process with buying a new bike. While I transferred over some thing I wanted to give a JOF type saddle a try. The Cobb V-flow plus had been serving me well on long routes and only had some very minor things that made me want to try something different. The shop where I purchased the bike had Cobb test saddles and the shop owner said I could try out the Cobb 55 for a few weeks.

Here is the crucial part. When I did the very first rough fitting the bike had been setup much like my old bike, but when I sat down the first few minutes on the trainer to dial in the saddle it was very uncomfortable. Painful in fact and yet just a very slight change in the seat angle changed it completely. I took it out for the first ride on the rough fitting and had just a very slight amount of pressure, but really no worse than the v-flow that I liked. So like a degree or two change in the angle the saddle went from something that was miserable to something that was pretty decent in the first 60 mile test ride. From that I ordered the saddle. I think this Cobb 55 saddle could turn out to be my favorite of saddles. With my bike and fitting really comes down to dialing in the angle on the Felt IA, which to me and the shop owner was extremely difficult. The only other minor thing, it is almost a non-issue, is that I wish the saddle width stayed narrower a little further back. When I get to steeper hills and I have to sit upright to climb the top of my hamstrings are hitting the wider portion on the back of the saddle, but that is super minor because I usually do not have that position on the routes I use. Also I have fairly muscular legs so there is less gap between my thighs and yet the nose is narrow enough for me.

Another aspect, as others have mentioned, this was my first time on an intentional JOF and I did not know where I was supposed to be sitting. The shop owner got me to the right spot during the rough fitting. On my test rides I now know where I am supposed to be and it feels decent and I naturally end up in that spot. I have not yet had a professional fitting and yet this saddle made enough impression that I went ahead and purchased one. I am not sure when I can get out and test it on the 100 mile course with holidays and weather changing. That is where I am curious how this will work for me.

Of course we know that these things for saddle come down to individuality, but to give a saddle (whatever brand or style) a fair chance may take a little tweaking and testing before making a judgment. At least this is a lesson for me lately because of the recent experience in trying a new type of saddle. If you live in a metro area and there are shops with test saddles available see if you can borrow one for a couple of weeks. Had the Cobb 55 not worked well for me I would have looked for a shop carrying ISM or gone back to the v-flow.

Has anyone tried the fully adjustable BiSaddle DaVinci (new model ShapeShiftwer)? At $300 its a bit expensive but might be worth it if it actually works. Apparently you can change the width both front and back Here the link http://www.bisaddle.com/...e-shapeshifter-2018/