Toupe or not Toupe

solboy
solboy Posts: 368
edited October 2011 in Road buying advice
Anyone have experience of the Specialized Toupe AND Romin? I need a 143 size and think the Romin would suit me better and it seems to get good reviews. any thoughts and comments appreciated.

Comments

  • snakedoc
    snakedoc Posts: 200
    edited October 2011
    My Tarmac came with a romin which I felt was comfortable but have recently changed that for a toupe pro (in White) that has carbon rails. I. Finding this seat even mote comfortable than the romin.
    The romin seemed a little more angled at the rear in comparison to the toupe.
  • rc856
    rc856 Posts: 1,144
    Try and find a Specialized dealer and they will/should have test saddles you can try out for a week.
    I tried the Toupe but didn't like it.
    Happy with my Alias instead.
  • cubicboy
    cubicboy Posts: 117
    Deffo try before you buy... there a lots of test centres.
    Me? I've tried (and bought) maybe eight different saddles only to head back to the Toupe.
    I need a cut-out for my perenium and the Toupe is the only one that works for me. I recently bought a Fizik Antares Versus (Fizik's attempt at taking a slice out of Specialized's market share) but it was horrible.
    All purely subjective stuff.
  • Bozman
    Bozman Posts: 2,518
    During my quest to find the perfect seat for my arse i bought a Toupe team and it was very uncomfortable, i gave it time but it just didn't get any better.
    The Selle italia slr flow works well for me but after reading various positive reviews i thought that i'd give the Romin a go on a winter bike build, after a few hundred miles it feels like the toupe : a plank of wood, i use the carbonio flow slr on my other bikes so it's not like i'm used to a padded seat.
    The saddle is purely an individual choice, you're not going to ride for thousands of miles on an uncomfortable saddle because it looks good.....are you?
  • dave35
    dave35 Posts: 1,124
    edited October 2011
    drop me a p.m, i've got a white toupe 130 you can have for £15-if you don't like it then not much cash wasted.
    dave
  • doyler78
    doyler78 Posts: 1,951
    I have used a toupe for years. Fits great for me. I have test many a saddle earlier this year when I couldn't get a replacement toupe saddle anywhere and none came were anywhere near as comfortable as the toupe. I found the Romin acceptable however due to its back end being so high it made setup a lot trickier. I'm staying with the toupe. I take they are back in stock again.
  • doyler78 wrote:
    II found the Romin acceptable however due to its back end being so high it made setup a lot trickier.

    How trickier?
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • doyler78
    doyler78 Posts: 1,951
    doyler78 wrote:
    II found the Romin acceptable however due to its back end being so high it made setup a lot trickier.

    How trickier?

    Because you can't just plonk a book on it and stick a level on top to get it set level (or slightly point upwards in my case). You need to find something just the right size that will sit in the middle so that you can put the level on it. Also if found it hard visually see how straight it was as well for those times when I've found the rather useless seat clamp has had my seat pointing a bit too far south due to slippage (but I could of course sort that problem by getting a better seatpost) :lol:
  • APIII
    APIII Posts: 2,010
    I've got the toupe on the cross bike and the Romin on another. I find both comfortable, the toupe is a little tougher on the sit bones, but the Romin has a wider nose, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who was, er, a bit chunky.