Bicycle Seats, Gel or not to Gel Saddles

I always used to ride a Selle Italia Turbo, this shows my age, but they were made popular by Bernard Hinault in the 1980's, very comfortable, but not too light compared to saddles these days.

My problems started when they stopped making them. So taking all the measurements of the old and loved Turbo I came to the conclusion that the Selle Italia Flite saddle was the closest and this turned out to be true and I was very happy with my Gel Flite saddle.



The Selle Italia Gel Flite Saddle

When the Flite saddle was unveiled a few years ago it looked like an old leather Brooks race saddle with sides cut away, and maybe it was based on that idea, but was a modern saddle with plastic base and titanium rails, it was light and strong enough even for mountain bikers to use them off road.

Many Pro riders chose it for its comfort, they could be astride one of these for 6 hours or more on long races, it was also light and looked good, not that you can see the saddles much if you are riding or watching a race! The Flite is narrow between the legs, this helps comfort as there is less fiction between the thighs and the back offers enough support.

The Flite Kit Carbonio Saddle

Then I built up my new bike, what could I get, the Flite Kit Carbonio is the same dimensions as the Flite Gel and only 166 grams, but no Gel, it looks good so we'll try it. This is a very nice, very light saddle and would probably give many comfortable kilometers of riding, the shape is perfect, slim in the center with enough support at the back to push against when climbing.

You can also move forward to the point of the saddle to push hard when sprinting fast to close a gap, this is a very nice saddle indeed, but and this is a BIG but, I personally found that after two to three hours I was becoming uncomfortable underneath where the bones rub on the saddle, others I have spoke to, with probably a bit more human padding in this department, have not had this problem, so its just me then. I'll try something else.

The Fiziks Aliante Saddle

The Fiziks Aliante was recommended to me as the answer to my problem and true I didn't have the same discomfort when I rode the Aliante, but it did cause other problems. The shape is very different, it's the same length as the Flight and that's as far as the similarities go.

1. First of all the sides are not cut away and so my legs couldn't pedal smoothly as the back of my thighs would rub and I couldn't seem to straighten my legs enough to get the proper power into the pedals.

1. Secondly, the padding is where you want it, underneath, but I found it forces you to sit in one position all the time, I found this put my lower back in a more upright position and after an hour I couldn't push on the pedals and had a sore back when I finished my ride. I know many people who love these saddles and will only ride them; well good for them, but it was not for me I'm sorry to say. I'll go back to the Flite range and chose one with Gel.

The Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow Saddle
This is the saddle that World road Champion Tom Boonen uses, the silicon gel that Selle Italia use is the lightest available, also has 40% more absorption than any other, this must be what helped Boonen win the famous road classic Paris to Roubaix over some of the worst "pave" cobbles anywhere.


The saddle also has an anatomic cut out in the center; this helps to protect the soft tissue between the legs in the sitting area. Everything is aimed at comfort, it's the same shape as the other Flite, but is 100 gr heavier than the Kit Carbonio, sometimes you have to give up on weight saving and go for comfort. So how does it ride? Very well indeed, the shape is perfect and the Gel is in all the right places and removes any bumps or road surface vibrations and the saddle is long enough so that you can move around to get comfortable.

The back of the saddle is wide enough to relax on or to push against when needing that bit extra. The anatomic gap feels different, but could be nice in hot weather keeping those "bits" cool. The sides are nicely cut away so you have full movement of the thighs and legs, nothing to stop you pushing hard on those pedals. Summing up, this is a very good saddle, comfortable, stylish and fairly light and more importantly it fits me!
What Have We Learned?

The big lesson is to find a saddle you are happy with and stick to it, if they stop making your favorite saddle you can either spend a lot of money and heart ache (bottom ache) trying many other saddles to find one that suits you, or buy up all the old ones on e-bay. Good luck with your saddle hunting it can be a touchy subject.