selle san marco vs. selle italia

[Miranda]

I'm interested to see how the SI rides go. Currently I have the Diva and Lady Gel Flow. On order to come are the SI SLR and SI SLK (lady versions).

The only thing that's making the Diva not work quite right for me is the nose is kinda thick/chunky, and the flare to the back platform is like a fat pear. I get the glutt/quad crease bump.

I rode the Lady Gel Flow some more today. Actually the 'fat pear' flare as I call it is less I think than the Diva. HOWEVER... the cut out is like a lot of Terry saddles. IMHO, "sharp"... meaning it's a 90 degree right angle with a slit center. The "point" on the 90 degree edge starts to turn into a razor blade after a while. That's the bummer part.

The SLR and SLK both look like the cut out sections are not the 90 degree slit edge. They look like the Diva. Which is basically an opening with a slight rounded drop off.

The other visual I can think of is holes in beach sand at the shore. If your kid just dug a hole in the sand with a sharp shovel edge, it's like a Terry or the SI Lady Gel cut out. If the hole has started to sink in with the tide washing over it... it's rolled in like a Diva cut out... and softly disappears.

Do you suppose all this saddle searching is making me looney.... EVERYTHING reminds me of saddles.

I really like other things about the SIs. Hoping the shape of the next batch might be "the" fit shape wise for me.

[Andrea]

Rumor has it that the plain ol' Lady Gelflow is just a Terry Butterfly in nicer clothes. My first impression of the Lady SLR is that the cutout isn't quite as awesome as it looks in photos- it is large at the back, but it gets somewhat narrow in the front. It still does its job, though, and my 70 mile ride on Sunday will be the real test. It's pretty long, which I find to be a little annoying because the way my legs are built makes me have to scoot the saddle very far forward, which puts the long nose up where it can poke me in the butt or back when I'm starting/stopping.

[VeloVT]

Terry saddles are made by Selle Italia (or so I've been told by more than one person at bike shops).

Boyfriend recently got the Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow. It is a men's saddle, and is a good bit narrower (too lazy to look up specs right now but I would say between 130 and 135). I actually think it's pretty comfortable. This surprised me for two reaons: first, I usually really need a flat, flat saddle and the Flite is contoured and second, I normally hate saddles with cutouts. However, I can definitely tolerate this saddle (though it still probably wouldn't be my first choice). The cutout is fairly wide and the edges are not sharp at all. The cutout is kind of far back on the saddle though (there's a good bit of nose with no cutout). I actually think this may be why I can tolerate this cutout when usually I don't like them, but I could see how it might be a problem for women who are looking for soft-tissue relief. (Though if I really wanted a Flite, I'd probably still get the original one without the cutout).

The Flite Gel Flow seems to have a nice level of cushion. It's still fairly firm (much firmer than you would expect anything with "gel" in the name to be), and reasonably light, but does have a little padding. It feels less hard on your rear than bf's old Specialized Alias, although the Alias appeared to have more cushion if you pinched it. I actually have a theory that a good bit of how soft or hard a saddle feels has more to do with the shape of the saddle where it contacts your bones than it has to do with how much padding is actually there. This will be different for everyone because everyone's bones are shaped differently, but for me, a saddle that wraps down a good bit (i.e., is convex from side to side at the back, as my Arione is and as the Flite is as well) will feel much softer, regardless of how much actual cushion it has, than a saddle that is very flat from side to side at the back, such as the men's version of the SLK (haven't seen the women's version, so I don't know how they compare), or most Specialized and Terry saddles. A saddle that is too wide will tend to feel harder to me as well. I think it has something to do with the angle of my sitbones... or something ...

Anyway, I just thought I'd mention the Flite Gelflow -- I think it's a pretty nice saddle and if it's not too narrow for you, might be worth a try.

[emily_in_nc]

Rumor has it that the plain ol' Lady Gelflow is just a Terry Butterfly in nicer clothes.

I believe it -- I have one of each, and they are absolutely identically shaped, just have different cover material. They work for me, thankfully. I go the Lady Gelflow for a great price (new) on ebay -- about half the price of a new Butterfly.