I am a huge fan of the old skool Selle Italia Turbos. They are relatively light, and very comfortable.
Also, if you love the B-17, put it on there?
2010-05-24 20:47:30
12
Road Bike Saddle Choices
I recently bought a (new to me) incredible road bike. It’s an early 2000’s Boron steel carbon fork Bianchi with Shimano 105 components. I believe the model is a Pinerella but there is no place on the bike that says it. It has a pretty ridiculous (read: awesome) color scheme of Bianchi Celeste and Mango and basically the lightest fastest bike I have ever been on. I am currently overhauling all of the serviceable parts on it to breathe some new life into it.
The rear hub has been over hauled; I am in the process of redoing cables and housings and bar tape. I bought a fancy new stem to bring the handlebars a bit closer and to dress it up a little bit. Wheel truing, repacking the head set will come next.
My question comes with the saddle. Right now there is a nice (but cracked and very flexible on the left side) Selle Italia saddle. I am going to replace it because my hips and back are out of alignment when I am on the saddle. I began with some preliminary searching for road saddles and I am completely overwhelmed.
I have a brooks saddle (B-17 Special) on my one bike and I really like it. Although I feel I would be doing disservice to this awesomely light and fast Bianchi to put a 2 pound saddle on a 17 pound bike. So I am browsing the different lines at San Marco, Selle Italia and Fizik. Do any of you have any experience with these types of saddles? My intent is to go for competitive paced (although not racing) rides 25 – 100 miles long. My price range is $100 - $130. I am not gram counting for this saddle but it should be reasonably light. (I whole heartedly believe I could lose 3 or 4 pounds and be healthier and not have it cost another $500 to lose that weight on my bike).
So if you have a nice road saddle let me know what you think of it and I will start my test rides and shopping with your suggestions.
(Also if you are trying to unload one cheap email me)
Thanks again.
2010-05-24 20:37:55
if you want a lighter brooks, you could always go with the b15 swallow. You can even get it with titanium rails (360grams).. I think its pretty expensive tho. between 250 and 450 from a quick google search.
2010-05-24 22:33:13
i pretty much only use turbos and brooks... so if you find brooks comfy turbos probably a pretty good match
2010-05-25 01:14:38
I ride a Cannondale R800 with a Brooks B17. While it looks a bit goofy, I'd take it any day. Realistically, if you have a saddle that you don't like, you're going to ride less because it's not going to be a positive experience. I poured over reviews of new racing saddles and they all had mixed reviews. The only one that had all positives was the Brooks. That was 2 years ago, and I've put several thousand miles on it, riding to DC, going on 50 mile rides, or just riding around the neighborhood. I haven't found the extra weight to be hinder my riding ability either.
fwiw, the b17 weighs in at 1.16lbs, whereas most racing saddles weigh approx .3lbs, a difference of .86lbs. I'll gladly haul that .86lbs around for thousands of miles if it means that I'm more likely to ride and enjoy the ride more.
2010-05-25 01:30:53
http://www.velo-orange.com/vosamo6blwco.html
You can also get one of the Taiwanese leather racing saddles. Maybe still twice as much weight as a fancy road saddle but one pound vs. two.
http://www.velo-orange.com/brtepr.html
And the real deal for twice as much.
2010-05-25 02:10:01
An extra .86 pounds? You could lose that much by spitting in the dirt or taking off your t-shirt.
If you measure your times in 100ths of a second, then losing that weight would be well worth it. Otherwise, IMO, go for the comfort. I like my B-17 (Thanks Alankhg!)
2010-05-25 02:15:46
VO was considering doing the Model 6 with titanium rails and had a prototype at NAHBS, looked quite nice. Maybe drop them a line and let them know one more person would be interested in such a thing…
2010-05-25 12:15:26
I ride a (no longer available) Nuevation S2--I was wanting something shaped like a Fizik Arione at a lesser cost. It's been a good saddle. The price is right for pretty well made clones of other other saddles:
http://www.neuvationcycling.com/components.html
2010-05-25 12:21:06
This is one of those situations where the .86lb difference is probably worth it. You can probably lose that much weight and make up the difference. 
Pretty sure Clankworks carries those VO model 6 saddles if you wanted to check it out in person.
2010-05-25 13:29:23
This is one of those situations where the .86lb difference is probably worth it
Indeed. I read that as .06 pound before, which you could spit off. .86 is 13 ounces, lot of spitting on a regular basis....
2010-05-25 17:27:02
personally i like the selle italia slr knockoffs that pricepoint carries under their house brand sette.
2010-05-26 02:48:21