I’m thinking about going from the Fizik Arione to this saddle, anyone?
I’ve recently made the same switch (only on road bikes). I just wasn’t comfortable for long rides on the Arione, I think the width of the flat section was the problem, just too wide for me.
I’d used the original Flite saddles for years until the SLR came out and had no problems with that change, but after a back problem kept me pretty much off the bike for two years the SLR was no longer comfy. I tried The Alliante, Bontrager saddles, Rolls, and finally the Arione over a couple of years.
I built up a cyclocross bike this winter and didn’t have a spare Arione so I dug an old, shabby, broken-backed Flite that had been kicking about for all that time and for the first time was no longer aware of the saddle at all.
The ‘new’ Flite is the same shape as far as the contact area is concerned and I am now finally comfortable again. I have the Flite Gel Flow on my training bike and the ‘plain’ Flite on my best bike to save a few grammes. Both are great, but the Gel saddle is certainly worth the extra weight on poorer road surfaces where less ‘buzz’ gets through the gel.
Build quality has always been good with Selle Italia, so no worries there.
The nose of the Flite is narrower and more rounded, so riding on the rivet is not as comfy as with the Arione, but thats not an issue on a road bike, where I only really end up forwards on the saddle when really hammering (or at least my version of hammering ;->) so the weight is supported much more by the legs than the saddle anyway.
Saddles are so personal that there is no guarantee, but I’d say it’s worth a shot. Selle Italia do have a ‘test centre’ arrangement with some dealers, maybe you can find a loaner saddle to try out.
Thanks so much for the detailed response. You addressed all of the things that I was wondering about. I’m definitely going to try to find one to try out.
E
i went from using the arione tri to the a plain vanilla flite last year due to saddle sore issues.
i’d say it solved about 80% of my saddle sore issues. the other 20% has been by getting a zero setback seatpost to have my saddle farther forward than it was before.
other than that, i found the saddle to be amazingly comfortable, but i think that’s mostly because it fits my sit bones quite well.