Flat 143mm w/cutout?

SCR Pedro

Hoi.

My saddles woes continue. I know I need a 143mm width, am more comfortable on a flat profile, and definitely need a cutout or groove. I could get away with something a bit narrower, perhaps. I have tried:
Specialized Toupé. It was too hard. I need something with more padding.
Fizik Arione VSX. Again too hard, and I suspect too narrow. Numb sit-bones and saddle sores were aplenty.
San Marco Ponza. Padding suited me, but the profile isn't flat enough. Marginally better than the Arione.
I'm now on Giant's own performance saddle, which is soft enough, but not flat, and without a cutout. I have to ride with the nose down too much, and I now have a saddle sore on each side. Not fun.

Can anybody recommend anything? So far, Selle Italia look to have what I need in either the SLS Max Flow, or the budget Q-Bik, but this is going to get expensive if I keep taking a punt, especially as I blew the budget buying the TCR.
What is also weird is that my right sit-bone seems to take more of my weight than the left. Any idea why that might be?

Cheers

grenw

Got a Flite on my MTB and a Flite Flow (with the cutout) on my road bike and they are the most comfortable saddles I've ridden on . Right width for you although doesn't come with much padding.

SCR Pedro

Thanks. It looks to tick the right boxes, but unfortunately padding is important. I can't get on with hard saddles, or even too-soft saddles, it seems. It's becoming frustrating not being able to do long rides due to discomfort.

DKay

Which Toupe did you try? Different versions have different amounts of padding.

SCR Pedro

I can't remember now, but it cost around €90 last year.
I do remember that it was quite light, though.

norvernrob

It's well worth trying a Prologo Kappa Evo (they also do an Evo 2.0 PAS with cutout). They're 145mm wide and flat, you can pick them up very cheaply (£30 ish new). I had the original on my old bike and it was perfect, put a 2.0 PAS on my next bike and that was great too, I now have a Fizik Antares (just because of bling :oops: ).

All of them are very similar, I found I didn't actually need the cutout at all once I'd found the right shape saddle. Anything with any kind of curve on it made me p*ss fire, once I changed to a more flat, wider saddle I never had an issue.

SCR Pedro

My local bike superstore has them in stock, so I'll check that one out. Thanks!

antonyfromoz

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19660917#p19660917]SCR Pedro[/url] wrote:

My local bike superstore has them in stock, so I'll check that one out. Thanks!

I'm not sure if it would be flat enough but the Fabric Scoop saddle comes in three different shapes including one they call flat (apparently designed for people who adopt an aerodynamic position on the bike) and has a slight cut out. The width is about 142mm too - and the range starts at under £40 so it doesn't require too much investment. http://fabric.cc/shop/saddles/scoop/

DCI Gene Hunt

the scoop and the flite 1990 have raised rears and a dip in the middle which for flat saddle users like me too render them unusable due to forward slippage and never feeling centered and balanced, id give those two a miss. op should definitely check out the prologo kappa evo 2.0 pas as i think it would be very suitable, the hard black one looks bitchin and its as flat as fiona bruces bosom, check it out .

Giraffoto

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19660619#p19660619]SCR Pedro[/url] wrote:

. . . I have tried:
Specialized Toupé. It was too hard. I need something with more padding.
. . .

If the Toupé was a good fit other than the amount of padding, may I recommend the Henge? I bought the £25 version of this saddle from Evans for my MTB, and it's comfortable even with unpadded shorts.

SCR Pedro

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll report back with whichever saddle I decide to take a punt on.