Selle San Marco Aspide Glamour

[tzvia]

Sometimes having padding is a bad thing. Sometimes a cutout is a bad thing. For me I guess both of these are true because the Aspide has no cutout and it's light on the padding and firm. It does have a 'channel' down the center that takes the pressure off my soft parts but it still provides support that feels very even with no 'hot spots.' For a while, I had my Terry Butterfly on my roadbike (took it off my MTB to try it on the road), and found it less comfortable. I sunk into it more, and that became pressure as the cutout provided no support and all my weight felt like it was on the sitbones. It is also wider feeling on the nose and I could feel rubbing as I peddled. On the MTB I guess I don't stay planted on the seat as much as I never noticed these drawbacks on the Terry before.

I had ordered the Aspide from here (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=21179&estore_ID=1056) and when it arrived I thought "oh oh, too hard." I dreaded the thought of riding it but it took only about 4 miles for me to realize that I had found my new saddle for my new road bike on the first try. :)

[ny biker]

This is good to know. I'm trying out a new saddle right now (Bontrager inform RL) and I'm not sure yet if I like it. I prefer a saddle with no cutout so if this one doesn't work out I'll look into the Aspide.

Thanks.

[Miranda]

This thread caught my attention as I was looking for an answer to the above post title...

What is the difference between the Apside Glamour and the Apside Glamour "FX"? :confused:

Price is one. I believe weight is another. More $ FX is lighter. But... I can't tell from the pics I googled if the pressure relief channel is different? :confused:

To ME, the FX looks as though the channel is not as deep in the pic... the regular glamour looks larger?

More sites carry just the glamour, vs the FX or K arrowhead... so, I was trying to decide it if was worth it on features to order more than one style of glamour to see the differences. Unless of course some kind soul on TE here happens to know first hand:o;).

Glad the saddle is working for you. I will be so glad when I find one that does for me. The pain and search has driven me to not want to ride my road bike anymore:(. Thus, more mtb, which is fun... but I agree as stated, the saddle contact time and position is totally different between the two types of riding. I really miss my road girl... but the pain and frustration is just not worth it anymore "as is".

Happy and safe riding to you! :)

btw... if no one chimes in with a "ooo ooo I know the answer", I'll post seperately after I search old stuff some more, nothing directly matched.

[Miranda]

Don't know if any owners or try-ers of this saddle will chime in, but here we go...

Do your thighs rub the nose of the saddle while pedaling?

It's in my pile of saddles I'm trying (the regular one, size 235) and refitted it today. At first, I thought it was a no go. After a trip to the lbs to pick up a couple width Bontrager Informs I ordered, the tech and I were discussing leveling the saddle etc. (like digging out the actual tool, vs the eye).

My Bontragers are both hitting sorely in the same spot. I took the widest Bontrager off today, and put the SSM Aspide back on. This time I leveled it with the tool, and moved it back. The pain spot the Bontrager caused in the same position was instantly relieved. The Bontrager, if you have not seen it in person, has a nice narrow nose = + IMHO. I am hopeful now about the Aspide... just thinking the nose is a bit wide?:confused::(... I'm going to try a re-position, and re-ride this week.

Any nose width comments, please add on:).

[Xrayted]

I have that saddle and love it. I tried all kinds of saddles with gel and whatever they are injecting into them these days. They got worse and worse as I went. I figured I was going in the wrong direction so I tried this one because it was light on padding but still had some and was on sale at my local Performance. I loved it within a mile. Still felt great after 20, then 40, then 60... Wow, who knew?
I got away from the super diaper shorts too. I prefer a thinner chamois like in a tri short. I dunno why it works better for me but it does. I felt so chafed with the squooshy saddle and padded shorts combo. Only thing I can think of is that I was sinking down into it so much that I was rubbing stuff that shouldn't really be touching anyway. Now it just sit on my ischial tuberosities (sit bones) and I'm much more comfy these days. Of course, you need to get the right width too. There's no denying that it makes a big difference too. No chafing of inner thighs either. I used to have to slather on the chamois butter. Now, I only put some on if I'm going over 40 miles.

I hope you continue to have good luck with it. A saddle that feels good is such a personal choice and fit. I went through about a dozen until I wizened up. I may buy another while they still have them for when I wear out my current one. :D

Take care and safe riding to ya.

[tzvia]

I still love this saddle, and have not noticed any rubbing or chafing. I do use Chamois Butt'r and Descente and Pearl Izumi shorts. The saddle is set dead level, with the fore/aft setting set to put that spot under the knee right over the pedal spindle. That works for me. Best thing about it is that it is nice looking, (not a fat gel blob on a seat post- heck that's my job ;)).

[berkeley]

I have both the aspide and the FX.

The FX has a TAD more padding, and less of a channel (not that significant).

I find I'm a little more supported on the Aspide, but the FX is a little gentler on the sitbones.

I'm actually planning on selling the aspide, if someone's interested in trying it! It's brand spankin new.

[Misandal]

See my post under "Adventure Stories" for a real test of the Glamour. I did my first-ever tour last week and had zero saddle issues. It was great to be one of the most comfortable riders on the tour - credit also goes to my Sugoi RS shorts which have the best chamois I've ever tried. No bunching! The best saddle in the world can't help you if your shorts are bunching. :eek:

[tctrek]

Big thumbs up to the Selle San Marco Glamour saddle! Saddles with cutouts and extra padding just didn't work for me. I went to the Glamour and a minimal chamois and haven't had any saddle soreness since. I'm a relatively newbie. At first, I thought maybe I needed "more" protection and padding. But in this case, "less" is actually better. I've had the Glamour for a year now and wouldn't trade it for the world.

I'm kinda medium sized-- certainly not skinny, but not over-weight either. Not sure how this saddle would work for other anatomies, but it sure works for mine.