Specialized Toupe Sport Saddle Same As Riva?

buckmulligan

In my endless quest for posterial perfection, the next on my list of saddles to try is the Specialized Toupe. In looking at options I was surprised to see the base Toupe model (the Toupe Sport) at a mere £25, fantastic I thought, a nice cheap tester that I can stick on the winter bike if I get on with it. Anyway, in delving into some reviews it would appear that the Sport model is a new addition to the line up and isn't what many people would expect from a Toupe due to the large amount of padding on it.

Some people are comparing it to the old Riva saddles that used to come supplied on many lower level Specialized bikes; I've used a Riva before and similarly, the main reason I got rid of it was because it was too soft and squishy, can anyone confirm if the new Toupe Sport is really that soft?

I'm looking for a mid-range saddle (£50-100) something reasonably firm, currently using an Arione but would like to go back to something with a cutout and preferably with a shade more padding than that. How do the higher range Toupes compare to an Arione for firmness?

Thanks in advance!

johnsonmoog

New Specialized Sport????

muttley_109

I use a toupe pro on my cannondale and recently bought a toupe sport for the winter bike. I would have bought another pro but they aren't cheap.
The sport is very squishy compared to the pro but they are close enough in shape to get an idea if the you would get on with the pro.
£25 is cheaper than £130 if it turns out you don't like the shape

buckmulligan

Excellent, that is exactly what I wanted to hear! I want to give one a try for shape and then upgrade to a decent model if it seems comfortable enough. I’ve had a prod at a couple in the local Evans and they don’t seem as soft as I recall my old Riva being, which is good. For £25 I figure it’s worth a punt.

The difference in weights across the range is quite dramatic though, the bottom of the range Sport tips the scales at a whopping 343g (as claimed by Specialized so could be closer to 400), whilst the pro is less than half of that at a mere 159g. I know people will scoff at potentially sacrificing comfort for weight, but 184g is a fair amount. For reference, my bottom of the range Arione R7 came in the middle at 250g.

matt_n-2

Riva, Avatar and Romin are basically the same shape, I have 2 Romin Pro on my best bikes and an Avatar on my winter bike.