Selle Italia SLR Gel Flow (2006)

[kelownagirl]

It's a keeper.
Following the recommendation of another TE member (thanks! and sorry for forgetting your name right now) and after browsing both stores and online I decided I'd get a Selle Italia (beautiful designs and quality worksmanship) and, as suggested, went for the SLR Gel Flow (which, in Selle Italia parlance, means "cut-out").

It came in yesterday (along with one for my sweetie who also wanted to change saddle). CDN $ 149 at Campione in Vancouver. (FYI all Canadian readers: They are great with shipping, by the way.)

I have only ridden 40 km on it but I am fairly positive this is the saddle I want.

It is the right size.
Very light.
The cut-out is longer than on the other saddles I have tried and this works perfectly for me.
The sit-bone area has some gel but is not very padded, which I really prefer because I hate sinking into a saddle.
The leather is really soft.
The rails seem to be doing a relatively good job of smoothing pavement imperfections.

Had to do minor adjustments after 12 km and since then I have been a very happy rider.

The strangest thing is that I feel MUCH stronger. I had noticed that with the Jett too: I think I couldn't sit with my hips tilted properly on the Pave saddle because of how it squeezed my most intimate body parts. Hence I had much less strength and was in a generally overextended position. Now I just feel like attacking!! I felt like that when I was riding the Jett too (until it bit my thigh!!!).

So I'm a very, very happy rider.

For those who wonder, my dear partner, who started on a much cushier saddle, thought it was a bit hard on his sitbone, but after changing the position of the saddle a little bit he thought it was much nicer. I am not sure he's going to keep it though. But he sure likes its look!

So are you still happy with it two weeks later? I am on a saddle search, like so many others..

[Grog]

Almost 30 hours in the saddle later, I am still really happy about it. I've used it for rides up to 4h45m and it's been a non-issue ever since.

Boyfriend rode his for over 8 hours this weekend (a 260 km trip) and was really happy about it too. I think that was the ultimate test.

It is a bit hard but I like that I think.