Friday, September 02, 2005

More stuff I love.

Yesterday I was mentioning my TT helmet, but I also meant to mention my favorite saddle; the fi'zi:k Arione saddle/s. I know these have been on the market for a couple of years and it's not like I'm educating anybody, seeing as to how it is one of the most popular saddles on the market and in the peloton.

When the saddle first came out, I was fairly skeptical actually. I wasn't too sure about the shape and the length of the saddle. We spec the Arione on our high-end bikes, so I got a chance to get acquainted with the saddle when I came to the company. I have been a Selle Italia Flite and San Marco Concor rider for years and never thought I'd get off of either. Now I'm a huge fan of the Arione. It is hands down my favorite saddle on the market. No- they aren't paying me to say this, nor will I get a discount on the saddles we buy. I now have them on a couple of bikes, including the TT bike I've been riding all week. The tri' version of the saddle abso-tively kicks ass! Like a lot of people who are dumb enough to do a time trial, I spend a whole bunch of time way out on the nose of the saddle and this saddle has just enough padding to be comfortable and not squirmy or squishy. Some saddles have so much padding in them that you are wobbling around on this jelly-like sponge, which is not exactly a good feeling. Even my track bike has a fi'zi:k Aliante saddle. I'm pretty much a fi'zi:k rider... and not just because our US contact is so cool (I'm talkin' 'bout you Suzette).

Ok, that's all the praise I can muster for something I sit on.

Tim

3 comments:

stickboybike said...

Yea those seat rule! My arse fits like teeth to gums on my Fizik...or something like that.

Anonymous said...

I've tried really hard over the past year to like the Arione, but my crotch and I have never been able to be fully comfortable with it. I never got used to those two seams that run down the middle and I've never been comfortable on an Arione for longer than a half hour. You would think the the fact that the Arione has more surface area than a medium-sized African nation would at least balance out these issues, but it just never did.
As a result I have now come to the exact opposite saddle conclusion, I now exclusively ride Flites. To each groin his own, I guess.

Bernie said...

Brooks Swift... they're heavy but they're good