Selle Classic 1990 Flite saddle

Serious Cat

What do you guys think of them , I see them for sale at around £60 and am curious about the level of comfort they offer over short and long rides.

foggymike

I used these and various versions for years and only stopped using them when they changed the shape to "update" them. I always found them perfectly comfortable for any length of ride including lightweight versions with not much padding. I now use Fizik Arione saddles which are longer, softer and flatter (the Flites curve up a bit at the back and hold you in position more) but I like those too

I don't think anyone can advise you though as saddles are personal so you just have to give one a try. 100 people could come on and say they were great but you might hate them. What do you use now?

Monty Dog

The originals were lovely, the problem with they flexed and eventually broke - with my lardy 60kg ar$e I've still managed to break 3 of them - the later ones were far stiffer. I had a later gel one and it was awful. Another alternative might be the Charge Scoop ti - tempted to try one as shape is similar and not too expensive. Original carbon Aliante is nice too - but having worn through the outer simply due to wear, I now have a £150 scrap saddle and Fizik don't offer a recovering service.

bigmat

I have a couple of Flites, the most recent is probably the version before the current one - comfortable enough for the daily commute and I've done several imperial centuries on it. The other one is a bit older, not sure the exact vintage but perhaps late 90s. Its a bit heavier and perhaps softer - started to wear through on the nose so not used it for a while but it was perfectly comfortable. If you get on with the shape I think you should be OK. I like the original - tempted to get one for my retro MTB if I ever race it (has a Turbo on at the moment).

imposter2.0

I have a couple of originals from around 1991 - still going strong...

rolf_f

Monty Dog wrote:

Original carbon Aliante is nice too - but having worn through the outer simply due to wear, I now have a £150 scrap saddle and Fizik don't offer a recovering service.

Surely it should be possible to find someone to recover it? I can't imagine it is that hard to do it. I suspect I'd be tempted to have a go myself. Should be possible to get appropriate material off Ebay for well under a fiver and then it is just a case of identifying the correct glue to use. You'd have the original cover as a template.

me-109

I'm currently running my third; two originals and one of the re-issues. Back when they came out I was so impressed with the comfort I ended up with one on the road bike and one on the MTB. I remember recovering one in grey leather sourced from a local upholsterers; I think the original got crash damaged. That went when I sold the bike. The other one on the MTB was going strong until two years ago when I tried it on my new road bike. It proved more comfy than the original but kept bottoming out on the top of the seat post, so I bought a new one. On comparing the two I could not believe how much the original one had collapsed - basically the front of the rails had significantly flattened off after years of off-road abuse.

Anyway new one is same shape but I couldn't get as comfy, though I'm still fine for a couple of hours. On my n+1 bike buld I used a softer Flite C2 Gel Flow and am tempted to replace the Flite with one of those. Maybe my older ar5e feels the road more these days? If you fancy trying one without splashing the full expense, perhaps we can do a deal?

ex-pat scot

I have several from 1991-1994 on mtb, best bike, tourer. I managed to break the plastic shell of another on my FG a few years ago.
I've also got the updated versions (135g and 180g) are on my other bikes and equally comfy.
I've done everything from 600k audaxes to 444mile 24hr TTing on them.

cycleclinic

It is a small saddle with no cut out. I can't ride it for long, the new flite with cut out is lovely. If you are tall and have a 10mm saddle to bar drop or more then this saddle will not work for you. It suits smaller rider witha small backside and if you have low bars compared to your saddle you might get numb cock.

imposter2.0

thecycleclinic wrote:

It is a small saddle with no cut out. I can't ride it for long, the new flite with cut out is lovely. If you are tall and have a 10mm saddle to bar drop or more then this saddle will not work for you. It suits smaller rider witha small backside and if you have low bars compared to your saddle you might get numb fool.

And yet throughout the 1990s, thousands of riders managed to ride and race long distances on these saddles without issue...

cycleclinic

Yes I am not one of them, after 50 miles everything really hurts after 100 I have to get off. Like everything this saddle suits some but not all. The cut out is not the biggest thing wrong with for me (I ride saddles without cutout) but the shape just suit smaller frames. Cut outs given my position on the bike just helps. Remember back in the 90's most riders did not have large saddle to handle bar drops which is more common now and therefore saddle with cutouts are more needed now than in the 90's.

bigmat

I'm 6'2", 80kg+ and my saddle to bar drop is massive - works fine for me.

cycleclinic

Well it may do for you however not all tall riders need a wider base or cut out. It depends on allot of factors I am trying to point a general rule. There will always be exceptions to a general trend it does not make the general trend invalid. The modern flite I love but the old flite looks great same it hurts me allot.

ugo.santalucia

thecycleclinic wrote:

Remember back in the 90's most riders did not have large saddle to handle bar drops which is more common now and therefore saddle with cutouts are more needed now than in the 90's.

mmmmh :roll:

Moonbiker

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

thecycleclinic wrote:

Remember back in the 90's most riders did not have large saddle to handle bar drops which is more common now and therefore saddle with cutouts are more needed now than in the 90's.

mmmmh :roll:

I didn't realise that most cyclists were riding bikes like these back in the 90s........