I love this saddle!! I got the one with the silver on the sides (matches my bike). I was literally SHOCKED at how comfortable it is. Longest ride on it is only 45 miles so far but I had absolutely NO pain. Is the non-tri version this comfortable? If so, I may have to get it for the road bike.

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"Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession. Above all, Texas is a nation in every sense of the word" - John Steinbeck

I love my road Arione, that's why I got the tri

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Oh...and for anyone looking for a one-off standard road Arione (okay, I mean a 50-off as in 50 are being produced) - fi'zi:k's got an Aussie Flag Arione up on their site right now in honor of Gilberto Simoni's first Tour Down Under. Check it out. Sorry ya'll - don't mean to peddle product here but thought you'd like to know about the limited edition thing.

Cheers

www.fizik.it

Not that you need any help selling these!

BTW, what 's the material in the middle of the saddle, it doesn't seem to be leather?

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Just a quick question. What is the average size of the people riding this saddle? I'm 6'3 195 and absolutely love the selle italia SLK for my road bike (thinner saddles are comfy to me). I have the Arione tri saddle on the TT, but am having problems getting it set up right. I'm finding the sag in between where the seat rails support the saddle a little annoying. The sag essentially deflects the nose upward too much for my liking. Any thoughts on what to do?

The material used on most all of our saddles is a synthetic leather we call 'microtex.' I just yakked about this on another thread but essentially, microtex has all the properties, and then some, of leather. The molecular make-up of leather and the microtex we use is nearly identical. It's a bit lighter, stronger, water proof, washable and when using colors, won't fade. Dyed leather tends to eventually fade to brown. This is not vinyl or shiney microtex and is no less expensive then leather to purchase from a supplier for manufacturing. We use real leather on a few very high-end black covered models ie. the new Arione Carbon and Aliante Carbon. People want to hear that it's real leather when they're paying $265 and up for a new saddle.

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Suzette Ayotte

Hey Suzette...

I'm buying an Arione for my Road Bike. However, I am thinking of getting the Arione Tri because of the extra padding in the nose. Is this smart? Or, is it recommended to stay with the regular Arione for a road bike?

I like comfortable. I weigh 184.

By the way, I like the blue stripe Arione a lot. Nice design.

It's purely an individual choice. If you want more padding, then the Arione Tri provides that. Some people's definition of comfort is more padding, other's is less padding, while others is gel, a thin sheet of carbon or a hole. The key is YOUR comfort, not what's marked on the saddle or how a saddle is marketed. It's difficult for me to determine which option (more padding or less padding) is going to be most comfortable for you. A pro triathlete was recently testing the Arione Tri but now wants to ride the Arione. His reason is that the additional padding , means the saddle is 'too soft' and stuff is getting squished. For him, flatter and firmer is better. You could ride a "mountain bike" saddle on your road bike for that matter, if it was more comfortable for you. We do have two US Pro roadies on our xc Gobi. The more comfortable you are, the more likely you are to have a better ride.

I would say the number of pro triathletes we have on the Arione Tri vs Arione is at approx 50-50....but swinging slightly more in favor of the Arione Tri these days. Go to a full service retail shop that will let you try and/or return saddles that don't work for you. I know they're out there.

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Suzette Ayotte

Hi Suzette,
I got the Arione Tri last week (Hey, how do you pronounce Arione, anyways?) I haven't had enough time on it, but so far I like it. My previous saddle was a Shark. While I found that very comfy, it wore out, rather, started falling apart. Anyway, the Arione feels just a bit stiffer, perhaps because it's new. More importantly, it starts flairing out closer to the nose and that keeps me in a better position. Nice work, thanks! The one thing I'm pondering, though, is why the back is designed as it is. While most saddles either curve into a notch in the centerline or are more or less squared off, the Arione points back. This extension limits what can hang off the back, such as the X-lab X-Wing jig. Is there a reason, other than cosmetic, for the rearward taper? BTW: Not an issue that would keep me from using the saddle.

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Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

FWIW - I have a SI T1, but ordered a Arione Tri to compare. Should receive next week and post a review on both...

Rumor has it that new phenom Australian Pro Triathlete Luke McKenzie has his heart set on one of those limited Aussie Arione saddles.
Shocking huh? :-)
Cheers,
Herbert
Litespeed/QR

Suzette,

Will the Arione Tri be offered in new colors this summer? I ask--based in part--because of the "Bike of the Month" review in the February Triathlete featuring a Red/ White Arione Tri.

Halfspeed - the point in the back of the Arione and Arione Tri is mostly aesthetic (and yes, different from others on the market) but I hear that members of the Italian peloton like to hang their shopping bags from it. Additionally, however, the saddle is the longest on the market at 30cm and not all of that comes from that extended point on the back. I would say, and I think many others would agree, that while I'm not typically sitting exactly on that point when I move back on the saddle...I'm definitely using just about all of those allotted 30 cm.

Herbert - regarding the Aussie Arione, tell Luke to get behind Cameron Brown in line :) Talk to you later about this.

Cheers

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Suzette Ayotte

You guys don't miss a beat do you? That was a special saddle (red/white Arione Tri) we did for that bike and for our friends at Triathlete Mag. As is standard with our saddles, we usually release one, two or three colors to our distributor throughout the first year to year and of half of the saddle's life. After that we add the saddle to our customize-your-saddle program on our website. The Arione Tri is not even up on the site yet. The reason for the delay, lagtime, in offering the custom program for new products is simply out of respect for our distributors and retailers. Eventually you'll be able to order custom colors w that model as well. As for when? I'm not able to answer that right now. My best guess would be 'later in '05.'

Cheers,

Suzette

Question about the two versions (Tri v Road)
Is the road version of the saddle flatter? It looks so in the photos.
Thanks for your help.

Each version use the exact same shell, but because there is more foam padding on the Arione Tri (particularly toward the nose), the appearance is that it dips a bit and isn't as flat. Part of this true simply by virture of more padding toward the front - compared to the "road" Arione whose padding is of equal thickness all across the top of the saddle. Additionally, with more padding on the nose, it's probably going to feel that way as well -- more or less depending on your weight. AND, on top of that, both the Arione and Arione Tri have rails that measure over 85mm, which means the saddle is also going to get a bit more flex. Hope that helps.

Suzette

Thanks Suzette for spending all this time here. It's wonderful to have people in the industry here willing to answer point-blank questions.

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Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

ErnieK

I never answered your question. Regarding your height and weight...maybe the standard road Arione is better for you. It's flatter and thinner than the Arione Tri. This is the saddle that Magnus Backstedt rode to victory during the Paris Roubaix. He doesn't seem to have problem with sag and genuinely likes the saddle (ie. I don't think it's just sponsorship chatter) and he isn't a small lad. He comes in at 6'4" and 91 kilos which is about 200 lbs.

Suzette

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Suzette Ayotte

Yes, thanks for answering questions. By doing this, you are doing good work for your company and you might pick up some good ideas as well.

So, how about a profitable product idea for your company?

I would be very tempted to buy and try an Arione saddle if only it did NOT have the huge triangular extension of saddle hanging off the back. Some cosmetics and, to a degree, playing with colors is fine, but to add a large chunk of nonfunctional plastic and synthetic leather to a part of the saddle that a rider will not sit on to simply "differentiate" your product seems like a lame design move, much more applicable to the fashion industry than to the bike industry.

Clever, intelligent, FUNCTIONAL design will get you folks far more customers than superficial 'aesthetic' design. Of course this takes far more effort and brains than cosmetic 'product differentiation'....

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Where would you want to swim ?

Suzette, please please tell me you know that Cameron Brown is a Kiwi and you are just trying to wind us up.

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Those who know do not speak, those who speak, do not know.

I like the fact that it looks different. What's wrong with that? Running shoe companies put cosmetic touches on their shoes all the time.

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There is nothing "wrong" with it, as everyone is entitled to their opinion. You like the giant arione fin?--great. Go out and buy a bunch of the seats.

But for me to fork out the substantial price for this seat, it must be better than that. The coolest thing a product can have is an intelligent and clever design. To me, the arione rear extension is as cool as a pair of fuzzy dice on bike: .... pretty lame.

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Where would you want to swim ?