I bought an Arione a week ago. I have been having some serious issues with saddle discomfort ever since I started riding. I started with the stock saddle on my 2002 Cervelo One, then I added a QR seat cover. I used this combination to do the 2002 IMFL. That winter I recieved a SSM Azoto for x-mas and used this with a cover. It helped, but I still had problems with numbness. I decided that I was sitting to far on the nose, and the saddle was all the way forward on the rails, so I got a Thompson center mount to move it underneath me more. This helped the numbness, but then I started to have serious issues with chaffing on my legs due to the thickness of the saddle nose. Also, while moving it forward allowed me more positions to shift to while riding, the spoiler on the rear-end of the Azoto made sliding back uncomfortable. Which leads me to the Arione. I have seen tons of positive reviews on it, more than any of the other saddles I’ve looked for. The only negative I heard was from Dan E. about it being a bit hard. This concerned me, as I also like soft saddles, but decided that I would go with the Arione anyways since my Azoto is as soft as they come and I still had considerable discomfort.
After a week of riding on it, the jury is still a bit out. It isn’t the perfect saddle in that it isn’t as comfortable as I would hope, but there are several improvements for me over the Azoto. First, the longer rails allows me to get even more of the back end of the saddle under me. This is good as my reach is a bit long on the Cervelo, and it is hard to get enough saddle under me. Also, the flatter area makes shifting around much easier. The slimmer nose has reduced the chaffing, and also improved my pedaling mechanics. I didn’t realize how much the thick nose of the Azoto was affecting me until I went to the Arione. I was having numbness problems in my feet with a new set of shoes I recieved, and this has been cleared up. Plus the pressure feels more even on the ball of my foot rather than on the sides of my foot. The saddle is, however, a bit hard. Riding on the nose, something I tend to do while hammering, is more uncomfortable than the Azoto. Furthermore, I find that in the aero position my hammies feel pressure from the wide wings. Hopefully this will break in as advertised. One odd thing is that I find the discomfort that comes with the saddle does not progress as much as the Azoto. Once the discomfort sets in on the Azoto it increases until I get off the bike, no matter how much standing I do. On the Arione, if I just stand for a few seconds, it seems to relieve the discomfort, and I feel pretty good when I sit back down.
All in all I agree with slowman’s assesment that for triathlon, the saddle is somewhat unfinished, and I look forward to trying the tri version that is supposed to come out later this year. I find it very comfortable while sitting up on the pursuit bars in a paceline. And I find it better for me than the Azoto for the triathlon position, but it hasn’t cured all my problems. If you are a person that rides on the tip of the saddle in the aerobars, this is not the saddle for you, as it is very hard on the tip, and slender. If you ride with the saddle under you more, then I believe this saddle is a better option over the Azoto. Thought you all might be interested, sorry it is so long.