fi'zi:k Arione Donna -- any experience?

[blue_angel]

Perhaps your stem is too long? Or the saddle needs to come forward on the rails? I find that when my torso is too stretched out, I shift onto my soft tissue as opposed to centering on my sit bones. For me that makes a much bigger difference than which actual saddle I'm riding!

[Mako]

My Arione Donna arrived in the post today

It looks better than I was expecting, nicer than my Vitesse which wasn't much of a looker.

Hopefully I'll be able to test it out over the weekend and report back!

[beancounterbeth]

I rode 42 miles on it today and had a lot of numbing and pain. It was quite uncomfortable. Not sure if the saddle just needs to be adjusted but I'm starting to think I'll just go back to my old Specialized saddle. It didn't cause me as much discomfort as the last three test saddles I've tried but I do suffer from a lot of saddle sores, which is why I started the new saddle journey. Not sure what to do at this point.

[Mako]

Only just managed to test out my saddle.

Popped out on a short 20 mile ride last night. I had to stop half way up the street and raise my seat slightly, I assume this was just because the Arionne Donna is a little flatter than the vitesse.

First impressions is that it is far more comfortable around the nose as it it less bulky and has a small channel down the middle. It is also noticably lighter than my vitesse

It was really quite comfortable, if a little firm, but it's probably too soon to sing its praises. I'll try for a longer ride on Saturday and see how it goes.

Despite being worried about the flowers, I have to say it looks really smart on my bike. I know aesthetics aren't the most important things when it comes down to a saddle but this seat actually looks like it belongs on my bike rather than an ugly blemish

I think my vitesse was an old model which I only brought as it was the only one my LBS had, and I was desperate to try it out my new bike when I picked it up. I didn't want to brave the mens Fizik Pave that came with it

Fingers crossed for future rides. How is everyone else getting on?

[zoom-zoom]

Finally got my first ride on my new saddle last night...just shy of 23 miles. No pinching, no pressure, sit bones were perfectly happy...but I did have wicked hooha chafing. I don't think it's the saddle, though. I've had intermittent rides with this issue and I strongly suspect that it's due to shorts in need of retirement (the chamois has a weird rough patch right where my girl parts make contact--NOT good).

I'm going to try the saddle again today with a new pair of shorts to see if things are better.

[bluebug32]

I rode 42 miles on it today and had a lot of numbing and pain. It was quite uncomfortable. Not sure if the saddle just needs to be adjusted but I'm starting to think I'll just go back to my old Specialized saddle. It didn't cause me as much discomfort as the last three test saddles I've tried but I do suffer from a lot of saddle sores, which is why I started the new saddle journey. Not sure what to do at this point.

Feel like I could write the same post...

Tried to Arione and the Vitesse and my soft tissue was really in a world of hurt. I also had three saddle sores. So it's back to the Specialized Toupe in the meantime.

[zoom-zoom]

Where were you experiencing saddles sores? So far the overall fit of my saddle feels really good and I'm not having the pinching or mild numbness/pressure issues up-front that I would experience with my Jett. But I do have a pretty raw spot on my left side where my labia minora and majora meet. I suspect the shorts I wore last night were responsible, though...the chamois cover fabric has some rough/worn spots and I've had similar issues with these shorts in the recent past on my Jett.

Today's ride was not much better with different shorts, BUT I think that's more a matter of the raw spot having had less than 24 hours to heal and I didn't get those shorts yanked-up high enough (they're a Sugoi short that is really snug through the legs, so getting them up high enough is tricky--I'm really not sold on these gripper-free shorts with the overly tight leg-bands...I think I do better with silicone grippers and less-compressive leg bands), so I had some rubbing-around of the chamois until I stopped to adjust things.

[skinimini]

I just tried the Arione Donna today for a short 20. It was a little uncomfortable, squishing soft tissue just a bit. The hardness of the saddle didn't bother me and the back seemed to support my sit bones appropriately. The jury's still out on the channel. But as I was riding a brand new bike with a much more agressive geometry than my Synapse, it could be a matter of getting accustomed to overall fit of the bike. The saddle on the Cannondale is the Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow and I really love that saddle. I'll give this one a few weeks. I don't think the Donna is quite as attractive as the Arione CX which came with my bike, but one climb into that saddle and I knew I needed something else.

[zoom-zoom]

Ahhh...and the SI Lady Gel Flow was a very bad saddle for me...too soft/wide/pear-shaped.

I like that the channel on the Arione Donna doesn't pinch or put pressure on my girl bits. If the chafing I'm experiencing is from the saddle, then I'm hoping it's a matter of adjusting the fore/aft placement slightly or tilting the nose a bit (perhaps up, since the chafing is back a bit and when DH put it on my bike initially it was down a hair and I immediately felt like I was having to push-back with my hands).