Anyone tried a Flite Max Gel Flow saddle?

sward29

Having tried Ariones, both the standard and gel Toupes, and more recently a Selle italia SLR XP, I'm on the hunt for that elusive saddle which does not make my ar*e feel like it's been hit with a hammer.

The SLR has probably been the best of them all but is still not really comfy on any rides of two hours or more. One option I'm looking at is the Fizik Antares but it seems a bit steep at £120, or the Selle Italia Flite Max Gel Flow Team.

My question is: Has anyone tried the Flite Max Gel Flow (Team or not) and does the Gel padding and the hole for your plums to slot into make it any comfier than the standard flite.

I did try one of the original Flites about 10 years ago and didn't get on with it but desperation is making me reconsider it, and also I understand that the new one is a slightly different shape.

Any help, opinions, or suggestions for alternatives would be most welcome.

johncp

I had one for a little while, didn't find it fantastically comfy, then one of the rails snapped so I got a refund and tried something else (Spesh Avatar - love it)

dennisn

I have one that I don't use. No particular reason. I'll send it to you, free of charge, if you want it. It's not new, but still in good shape. If you can't use it, give it to someone else.
Not sure how shipping it would work(I'm in the US) but you're welcome to it if you want to give it a try. Let me know.

CarbonCopy

Thats very gentleman like dennis.like a true English man

sungod

i use one, it's comfy enough but quite heavy

for my new posh bike i'm probably going for either arione or antares - the width/shape of the mfgf isn't quite right for me during racier riding - so will be having a 'sitting' at the shop to decide which fits best

unless you've undergone some horrific accident, the gap in the mfgf will be much too narrow for any plum slotting, it just takes some pressure off the perineum

with no mudguards, what the gap does do is give you a special surprise when it rains

but whether the mfgf is more/less comfortable than the arione - which has a flexier centre i think - is really down to how well the saddle fits you

have you measured your sit bones? maybe the problem is saddle width rather than padding

if you go here... http://www.specialized.com/gb/en/bc/sbcfaq.jsp

choose "saddle sizing" from the "common questions" list then click 'search', it'll give you a list of documents about how to measure and select saddles

if you can find somewhere to try one, the selle smp saddles have a more radical slot, quite pricey but if you look on wiggle they have good reviews

on-yer-bike

I had one and it gave me internal bleeding so the hole didnt work for me. I bought it because my Toupe gave me bruised sit bones. I then bought a Selle SMP Glider which is OK but weird looking and has edges. I'm currently trying a Spec Romin which could be the answer.

dennisn

CarbonCopy wrote:

Thats very gentleman like dennis.like a true English man

Don't tell me. I've been COVERTED and didn't even know it???? :oops: :oops:

Wheelspinner

I've also tried the Max Flite Gel, and it's a definite improvement in comfort terms for me over the Arione it replaced.

I've also got a Fizik Aliante which is pretty comfy, and a San Marco Zoncolan which should be painful because it has almost zero padding, but is actually pretty good when set up right. I've even got another carbon base saddle from Selle Bassano which looks like something from a torturer's toolkit, but even that is remarkably good (and much better than the Arione).

It's all down to shape. I'd guess if you didn't much like a Selle Italia Flite, you may not find the Max much better.

The Thoork Team Gel Flow might be worth trying in their range - less bulky than the Max, still has the gel bits for your bones, and a (small) cutout. Not done a long ride on it, but seemed decent for a quick spin.

nax-ian

Any of you guys up for a swap?
I got a Prologo Naga PAS that I'm not gettin on with. An incidentally I been using an original Flite TT for years, an were talkin zero padding, but we get along great!

Ian

dennisn

Nax-ian wrote:

Any of you guys up for a swap?
I got a Prologo Naga PAS that I'm not gettin on with. An incidentally I been using an original Flite TT for years, an were talkin zero padding, but we get along great!

Ian

Not a bad idea. A little tough for me to get involved but "over there" it might be worth a try.
Some sort of "slightly used saddle central" type of thing. Seems like more than a few people have a spare saddle just sitting around because they found one that suits them better. At least then people could try one to see if they like it. Then IF it works for them, go out and buy one, not wondering if they are wasting their money.

nax-ian

Thank you D.
At last someone sees the sense in it!
Too many sceptics abound I fear.

dennisn

Nax-ian wrote:

Thank you D.
At last someone sees the sense in it!
Too many sceptics abound I fear.

I like the idea so much I just emailed our club President to see about getting one started. Bound to be a few people with a saddle or two to donate to the cause. We'll see how it goes.

Wheelspinner

dennisn wrote:

Nax-ian wrote:

Thank you D.
At last someone sees the sense in it!
Too many sceptics abound I fear.

I like the idea so much I just emailed our club President to see about getting one started. Bound to be a few people with a saddle or two to donate to the cause. We'll see how it goes.

Geography aside, I'd be in that for sure. I've got a few spares in boxes in the workshop - an Arione, a San Marco Azoto, the Selle Bassano Mission, Selle Italia C2... mostly bought on the chance they might be good. Still looking for the perfect one though.

Fizik do a demo program here, where you can borrow one from the dealers to try. They are all a neon orange covering with DEMO stamped on it, just in case you decide to steal one...

rokkala

sward29 wrote:

Having tried Ariones, both the standard and gel Toupes, and more recently a Selle italia SLR XP, I'm on the hunt for that elusive saddle which does not make my ar*e feel like it's been hit with a hammer.

The SLR has probably been the best of them all but is still not really comfy on any rides of two hours or more. One option I'm looking at is the Fizik Antares but it seems a bit steep at £120, or the Selle Italia Flite Max Gel Flow Team.

My question is: Has anyone tried the Flite Max Gel Flow (Team or not) and does the Gel padding and the hole for your plums to slot into make it any comfier than the standard flite.

I did try one of the original Flites about 10 years ago and didn't get on with it but desperation is making me reconsider it, and also I understand that the new one is a slightly different shape.

Any help, opinions, or suggestions for alternatives would be most welcome.

I have Flite Max Gel Flows on both of my road bikes now. For me they are comfier than the standard Flites, which were ok up until about 1.5-2hours, same with the Charge Spoon.

Not had any saddle issues since swapping to these a couple of months ago.

kfinlay

I've just got a Max Flite Genuine Gel (same as Gel Flow but no cut out), having tried:-
Prologo Nago Evo - good shape but too hard padding
Charge Spoon - good padding but don't like raised nose although setup correctly I lasted 2 hours.
Specialized Toupe 143 - good shape, flat front to back but no padding so bum bones tortured
Fizik Pave Sport - too narrow for me.

When I first sat on the Max F Gen Gel I thought oh no, too hard gel padding like the Prologo and really wasn't looking forward to testing. However out on the road, the road buzz was drastically reduced and bumps smoothed out so much mainly due to the 'suspension' that is built into these saddles. I have a alu framed bike so can be harsher than full/part carbon frames and this saddle has made my bones feel much better. I think it was due to the constant road buzz and bumps that made my bones sore on longer rides - the roads around here are pretty rough.
So far I've, only had one run of about 90 mins and was more comfortable than my previous best - Charge Spoon. The Max F Gen Gel is also quite wide at about 150mm and flat both width/length wise so you can get a lot of different seating positions.
One thing I have noticed is the nose is quite wide compared to the others - I ride with my knees quite tucked into the frame and so my legs rub against the nose a bit. Can't see it being a major problem but thought I'd mention it.

For the record I'm 78kg, 5'9", 32" waist and bones measure 120-125mm centre to centre on the Specialized pad.

HTH

crankycrank

dennisn wrote:

Nax-ian wrote:

Thank you D.
At last someone sees the sense in it!
Too many sceptics abound I fear.

I like the idea so much I just emailed our club President to see about getting one started. Bound to be a few people with a saddle or two to donate to the cause. We'll see how it goes.

Not to exclude our UK friends here but "BikeForums" has a saddle swap thread. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.ph ... addle-swap Mostly north american readers but plenty of other members of all nationalities.

nax-ian

Hope the good people of BR are listening, maybe I started something here....

kfinlay

the UK site Cycle Chat also have a "Saddle Library"

nax-ian

@ kfinley
Thanks for the referal mate, but over at Cycle Chat they need a"post count" of 200 before a new member can join in!!
It'd take me forever.

So anyway, got any saddles to swap?

Ian

kfinlay

Hey Ian, I've only got a Charge Spoon at the mo but need to keep it in case the Max F Gen Gel doesn't work out. Wiggle do a Spoon for £17.50 that can be sold on ebay and basically get your money back if no good - I found that seat angle is critical - perfectly flat for me - works best with the spoon.
My LBS let me try a couple of display saddles as sometimes they have saddles that people don't want on new bikes - I have known my LBS for quite a long time but not been the best spending customer so that may be worth a try too.
If you have a local Specialized dealer you can probably sit on the bone checker pad and check your measurement without getting a proper fit - it may give you an idea of the width of saddle you need. I managed to slowly work out what shape of saddle I needed to help shortlist my choices.
used the spoon to help with saddle position to get rid of leg/knee/hip pain so then I jsut had to sort out the right saddle for bone pain - been at it since Sep 09 but hope that I've got there with the Max F Gen Gel

HTH

nax-ian

Hi Kev,
Let me know if anything changes with your " saddle story'.
I live on a greek island,don't have the luxury of a LBS.

Cheers
Ian

kfinlay

ok buddy