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Selle Italia model comparable to Fizik Aliante

Mar 15, 2009
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I have ridden my Fizik Aliante thousands of miles with great comfort. However I would like to have a saddle that I can move around on more.

Has anyone or a buddy had good luck with a Fizik Aliante and also been able to ride a Selle Italia model that they could recommend for me to try? I have an LBS that offers the Selle Italia demo program.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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I love my Aliante and I dont think I would trade it in for anything except maybe a Selle San Marco Concor Lite or Selle Italia SLR XP. Those are the better comfort/proformance saddles I have found.

Good Luck
 
Mar 10, 2009
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I have ridden on Aliante, Flite, and SLR. For a full season on each and my favorite by far is the Aliante (carbon rail not Ti) however, I am going to test ride Fizik's Antares so i can move around and not just have one sweet spot. But, that being said YOU have to sit their for hours not me. Test ride them.
 
Mar 15, 2009
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Argon Man said:
I'm on the Selle Italia Flite, love it, comfortable as my loungechair

Thanks for that. What I need to verify is whether you have tried a Fizik Aliante and liked it also.

If I can find other riders that have liked the Fizik Aliante and also have found a Selle Italia model they like I will know which model is a likely candidate for me. At least I hope this logic is true. I may find this is not a good predictor.
 
Mar 11, 2009
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I have ridden aliantes for a few years after previously having an arione when they first came out. The aliante was good for the road, but not good if you wanted to ride forward on it like in a TT or pursuit on the track. Have moved over to a prologo scratch, which while harder to find in shops, has been worth the looking, as it is fairly similar, but with a slightly less angled nose, so is better for moving around on.

As to your question about Selle Italia saddles. You may like the signo without the cutout (the cutout one feels more flat than the aliante) or I would also try the SLR series- they were similarish in some ways, but I found the edges a bit abrupt compared to the rolled edges of the aliante.

The other question one has to ask is why are you changing if you like the one you are using. If it is comfortable for long rides, you may not need a saddle you can move about more on. Plenty of the pros use aliantes, so performance is not an issue.

Cheers
Juzbear
 
Mar 17, 2009
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Funny, I moved from Selle SLR to Aliante so I could move around more. The SLR was a great saddle, if you sat on it just right. Move a little in any direction, and soreness was not far away. With the Aliante, I feel like it has a bit more latitude for **** movement.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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Love the Aliante

I went from a San Marco rolls which I rode for years to the Alliante and I know it is a 1 position saddle but I love it so I have 3 bikes with it. I hated the flite saddles.
 
Master50 said:
I went from a San Marco rolls which I rode for years to the Alliante and I know it is a 1 position saddle but I love it so I have 3 bikes with it. I hated the flite saddles.

Hmmm, I use a San Marco Regal and I would not mind trying something a little lighter. I also hate Flites. They just do not work for me. Maybe the Alliante is one I should try.
 
Mar 15, 2009
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Master50 said:
I went from a San Marco rolls which I rode for years to the Alliante and I know it is a 1 position saddle but I love it so I have 3 bikes with it. I hated the flite saddles.

Which Aliante model or models do you have? I have the Sport and probably have ridden it 8-9 thousand miles. I hope to test ride the braided carbon railed model this week. I have been assured that it will support my 200 lbs. That was the first thing I asked after reading numerous reviews of lighter riders than me suffering broken rails. Historically heavier riders have been cautioned about carbon rails and the Aliante in particular seems to have had it's share of troubles in the past.
 
Mar 15, 2009
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TrapperJohn said:
Funny, I moved from Selle SLR to Aliante so I could move around more. The SLR was a great saddle, if you sat on it just right. Move a little in any direction, and soreness was not far away. With the Aliante, I feel like it has a bit more latitude for **** movement.

Which model Aliante do you have?
 
Mar 11, 2009
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The carbon based aliantes do feel a bit different to the sport model. As to durability, the braided carbon models are much better for bigger riders than their older style carbon rails, which tended to crack at the junction of the metal where the seat post clamped and the carbon part of the rail. If you have doubts, you can get the Kíum version with the carbon base, which is lighter and more solid than the sport model which has a nylon base. Those rails won't break, and it's cheaper than the braided carbon too.

I kind of get the feeling that I know just too much about this particular saddle... Now if I used my time training instead, just think what I could achieve!
 
Mar 15, 2009
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I took the Bontrager Inform RL, Fizik Antares, and Selle Italia Thoork models for rides around the parking lot today. Actually all felt good enough to do long term tests.

I rode the Inform saddle first at an LBS that I seldom go to because of their location. They were the closest LBS that stocked them so I made the trip. The saddle felt good enough that I was tempted to buy one and rely on the 90-day money back guarantee. However, I wanted to try more saddles before making that commitment.

The next store is one that is closer to home and I do business with occasionally but only when my main LBS does not have the item that I want. They are a Selle Italia test center and they also had the Antares test saddle which I did not expect. I rode the Antares first and it felt good. The Thoork felt good also so I am going to test it. My main LBS sells Fizik so I will by an Antares or another Aliante from them if that is my final decision.

I researched the Thoork after I returned home and found a post where I had related that my neighbor had ridden an Aliante for a season and then purchased a Thoork. I had forgotten about that. The plan is to ride the Thoork tomorrow for 60+ miles and do a 55-mile ride Tuesday evening and then decide if further testing is warranted.

It is interesting that no LBS wants to recommend a saddle but both LBS's preached to me at length that my current saddle is set up wrong. My fitter has my Aliante angled downward a little over 2 degrees. One of the LBS's measured and indicated it was angled 3 or 4 degrees. It has not felt as comfortable this Spring so it may have slipped slightly while doing high intensity drills on the trainer this winter. Both LBS's stated that it should be lower and level and the downward angle was compensation for too much height.

I have read a lot of threads on Aliantes and positioning. Some have it level, some have it angled upward, and some have it angled downward. I don't know if they listened to my answer when they asked me how the current position was arrived at. I told them it was based upon a 2-hour fitting, hundreds of miles of riding, and some tweeking. Nobody commented on that. One LBS said that having it angled that far downward would put too much pressure on my wrists. I replied that I knew exactly what he was talking about because my wrists, elbows, and neck were stiff before the fitting and that my current position had cured all those problems. Again, no comment.

I am probably preaching to the choir. When it comes to saddles everybody is long on knowledge and criticism but solutions are nonexistent. I can sympathesize with an LBS not wanting to make a recommendation because my main LBS tends to recommend the Arione for most cyclists that are looking for advice. That is the absolute worst saddle I have ridden. But I don't think they would criticize every aspect of someone's current position if that person stated that they were not having any problems but still wanted to demo some saddles in the hopes of finding something better.

I hope this effort is not as painful as last year's Arione demo. I have ridden a lot of saddles in my life and mostly with much cheaper, less effective shorts and pads and only experienced less comfort than I wanted. Riding the Arione gave me saddle sores and pain that I had never experienced before.

The Aliante may be the best saddle for me. The Inform saddle is interesting. However, most riders that like it say that it takes 3-4 weeks to adjust to it. I could take discomfort for that long but if pain and saddle sores developed I think I would just quit and buy an Aliante Gamma or Carbon and forget trying to fix something that is not broken.
 
Mar 15, 2009
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juzbear said:
The carbon based aliantes do feel a bit different to the sport model. As to durability, the braided carbon models are much better for bigger riders than their older style carbon rails, which tended to crack at the junction of the metal where the seat post clamped and the carbon part of the rail. If you have doubts, you can get the K?um version with the carbon base, which is lighter and more solid than the sport model which has a nylon base. Those rails won't break, and it's cheaper than the braided carbon too.

I kind of get the feeling that I know just too much about this particular saddle... Now if I used my time training instead, just think what I could achieve!

I e-mailed Fizik and they confirmed this information.
 
Mar 12, 2009
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If the Aliante works stick with it, I am going back to it as well. This past summer I had some back pain, I thought maybe it was the saddle so I tried a flatter saddle, Inform RL. Felt good but never as comfortable as the aliante. After 1 month the back pain returned. After trying numerous saddles, over a dozen not joke, I recently purchased an aliante again & it felt like putting on a long lost sweater that just feels right.

I agree about the SLR, it is flatter & you can move a little on it, but move just off, & it is uncomfortable. I also could not get comfortable on the Arione & would get saddle sores. But put my 150 pound **** on an Aliante & its just heaven.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 

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