SSM Aspide Glamour Wins!

[Misandal]

I'm finally checking back in with the results of my saddle search. I did get a Fizik Vitesse HP and rode it for a couple hundred miles. While it was light years better than the Aliante I had been riding, it was not the perfect saddle for me. The search continued. (Watch for a Vitesse to show up on the "For Sale/Wanted" thread.)

When I finally decided to try the Aspide Glamour, it was on backorder. It showed up two days before the Bridge to Bridge century ride, which I planned to do, so the dilemma was whether to change it and ride with no real test time or wait until after the big day. I put the bike on the trainer and swapped saddles on Friday night (the ride was Sunday.) In the amount of time I spent on the trainer, it already felt better than the Vitesse did in that same amount of time. I decided to do what you're never supposed to do and I rode Sunday with the new saddle.

I spent 7-1/2 hours in the saddle and was SO GLAD I made the change. I had plenty of complaints during the ride but my saddle was not one of them.

Two thumbs up for the Aspide Glamour!

[Skierchickie]

Ooh-ooh! What is the shape like?

I, too, have been using the Vitesse HP for a couple of months, and I, too, think it is way better than anything previous, but not quite right. Here is the thing: I like the long, narrow nose, and wider back, and the somewhat sharper transition from front to back, but I think I'd be happier if it were also flatter in the back. I may be slightly straddling it, based on some sore/bruisy feeling just ahead of my sit bones. I do still get some soft tissue discomfort, but better than with others.

I did get 100 miles in on the thing today, and it was way better than I'd feared, maybe due to the large amount of chamois creme I used. I feel a little pain now, but not really very bad (and had no razor blades in my pee! ). I'd love to find something better, though. The Aspide Glamour was one I wondered about, but hadn't seen much information about.

Thanks

[ilima]

Another SSM Aspide Glamour fan.

The saddle is shaped so it's nice and wide at the back and then very quickly narrows down to a narrow nose. The advantage of the wide rear is that my sitz bones are firmly supported and my more sensitive areas are not mashed into the nose of the saddle. And they're not pinched like they can be with cut-out saddles (I've previously used a Terry Butterfly and before the AG, a Terry Zero X).

Because the saddle narrows so quickly, it has totally eliminated the rubbing I got on the top/inside of my thighs.

Even going from a rather minimalist saddle like the Zero X, I did **at first** think, oh no this saddle is really hard and going to be uncomfortable. The saddle just disappeared beneath me, though, never rearing its ugly head the way the Zero X did around mile 40. Since getting the saddle I have never once (for 60+ mile rides) gotten to the point where I've felt like my saddle was painful and killing me.

I wish I could say the same for my shoes/pedals...

[Misandal]

Skierchickie,

If you want to see some views of the saddle, go to www.performancebike.com. Click on the Saddles tab, then Women's Saddles, then land on the Aspide Glamour. Another page will open and there are 4 views of it there.

I feel excited to ride my bike again, now that I have a saddle that doesn't cause me to scoot and shift and rearrange my shorts...everybody is different so maybe there's somebody out there who hates this saddle, but for me it's good.

[Skierchickie]

Thanks, you guys!

It's hard to find measurements of these things, so I never know, even looking at the pictures. This is one I had thought about, but the Vitesse got such rave reviews, it seemed safer. Looking at the rear view of the saddle, I see that it still isn't actually flat, but is it flatter than the Vitesse? Or at least flatter out to a wider point? And the Zero X seemed so promising, but 20 miles would start to kill me. It looks like the Glamour has some cutouts in the shell, under the padding, which I like the looks of (the Vitesse killed me in this area in the one tri I did this summer ).

You have both been really helpful!

Jan

[ilima]

There is a tri version of the saddle, the TriAthgel. trisports.com sells it.

There aren't cut-outs <i>per se</i> on the saddle, but there is an area that's a bit scooped out, which does help for those times you're in the drops. I still try and keep scooted back so my sitz bones are supporting me, though.

I've never tried the Vitesse. When I bought my Aspide Glamour I was deciding between it and the Vitesse. Since I was concerned about rubbing on my thighs, I went with the AG, and I'm very happy I did.

[Misandal]

Skierchickie,

I have both saddles here and compared them to answer your question. When I view them front-to-back, I would have to say that their upward slope at the rear is about the same. However, if I look at where I actually sit, the Vitesse slopes downward from the middle of the saddle to the outer edges, making the saddle more rounded. The Glamour is much flatter at the point of the saddle where I sit, with much less sloping to the outer edges.

I hope I've explained that so you can picture it. It makes it clear to me, upon comparison, why things felt kind of smashed with the Vitesse, because of that rounding in the middle. The Glamour is much more supportive and the weight distribution is more spread out because the "perch" is flatter.

I don't feel like I've explained that very well but it's the best I can do!

[Skierchickie]

Thanks Misandal!

That is exactly the information I was after. I have the sensation that I'm ever so slightly straddling the Vitesse, and having a little pain just forward of my sit bones - I figured a flatter platform would be better. I'm not sure why the width measurement is always to the absolute outside of the saddle, and not to the outside of the usable area. I'm thinking I need to try the Glamour. We're going downstate over the weekend, and I want to hit all the shops in the Ann Arbor area to see what they have. When we get back, depending on what I've seen, maybe I'll check out Ebay. There are several on there right now.

Is yours just the plain-old Glamour, like the one at Performance? I see there are several variations, with and without cutouts and gel, tri versions, etc. What appears to be the basic model (I guess) has no cutout in the cover, but a channel-shaped depression, with a cutout in the shell. Looks good.

Next problem to be solved: what, oh what to put on the touring bike?

[ilima]

I have the one from Performance.

If you're a skinny butt you might consider the Aspide Glamour FX.

There is also a tri version the AG TriathGel. A friend ordered one for her Cervelo P2C but I haven't seen it yet and don't think she's used it for a longish ride yet. But I'm anxious to hear how she likes it because I'm thinking of getting one for when I do tris.

[Misandal]

Yes, mine is the basic Glamour from Performance.

I didn't realize, until I got mine, that there are different sizes. The one I got is marked a size 235. I went to SSM's web site to see what the size meant, and for my weight and build (I am a skinny butt), they actually recommend a size 225 and the Glamour FX. But that one has a cutout, and I needed the saddle right now, so I went with what I had. Lucky for me, it's fine. Maybe if I had a 225 on hand to ride I'd like it better, but not having anything but previous painful saddles to compare to, it's heaven!

P.S. Skierchickie, I'm originally from Michigan - Muskegon. Is it getting cold yet?

[Misandal]

My bad - I'm giving wrong information here. The Glamour FX does not have a cutout.

[Skierchickie]

I'm afraid being a skinny butt is not one of my more pressing issues in life these days. Natural padding aside, I haven't had any sit-bone measuring luck, but I think the saddles I tried this summer that felt like a good width were 5 1/2" or so. Up to about 6", but that depends on how flat they are. Actually, my Butterfly is more like 6 1/2, and it was definitely too wide. Anyway, I don't think I need the FX version.

So, it looks like you have to submit info to the company to get the fit number - is that right? I looked earlier in the summer, and couldn't make heads or tails of how to get to the number, but this weekend it looked like you have to email them info.

Misandal: Hey - my DH is from Muskegon! We're actually in the U.P., about 10 hours from there, just north of Calumet. It has been cold, hot, rainy, dry, windy...you name it. It was 85 today, but its only supposed to be 59 tomorrow. About a week and a half ago there were snow sightings - just in the air, not on the ground. Last year we had about a foot on October 13th. My bikes won't be happy, but ski season is on its way!