Strengths: Great Seat..very comfortable. Took a couple of months of minor adjustments to get it into the correct position. After that it was the best seat I have ever used. A Nice lightweight seat
Weaknesses: I cant see anything wrong with this saddle. Works just fine...
Bottom Line:
Great saddle for the price..lightweight, comfortable
Submitted by
Stu Morrison
a Weekend Warrior
from England
Date Reviewed: May 26, 2007
Strengths: Amazing comfort considering the absolute no-give construction.When I opened the box I thought I may have shot myself in the foot but I persevered and I'm glad I did.The Aspide took a bit of getting used to which did NOT entail soreness,numbness or discomfort.More like a new concept of sitting.Despite the gloss finish I didn't slide about.My longest ride is,to date,60 miles on varied road surfaces at quite a brisk pace.I have described myself as a weekend warrior but I'm really an ex-racer who rides to keep in shape and because I enjoy it.The Aspide is as comfortable as most saddles I've ridden and more so than virtually all.It's a real good-looker too.On appearance alone it's worth an extra mile an hour.
Weaknesses: I bought mine,new, at what was pretty much half price.The full price does seem a bit steep.Saddles are a very personal thing and if you buy an Aspide and it don't suit you then it could be a problem.I also get the feeling that if you dropped your bike and the saddle connected with the pavement then you might be left with some vey expensive shards.The edges,where the cantle would be,are sharp and you have to get used to them being there.Likewise the noe.Like I said,new concept.
Bottom Line:
A very good racing saddle that also fits the bill when it comes to brisk leisure riding.Not for anyone with pre-concieved ideas.Try it first if you can because I get the feeling that if it doesn't suit you then you will be in a world of hurt,physically and financially.
Similar Products Used: The hard Brook's saddles of the 1950's and '60's and the dreaded Unica-nitor,made of nylon-plastic which just didn't work for me.
Bike Setup: Standard Carbon/Aluminium road racing frame and equipment.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from Orlando FL.
Date Reviewed: December 12, 2006
Strengths: light weight very limited flex
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
180 pound rider got my first one about 6 years ago. fell in love with it right away. if you have the right size sit bones for this saddle you can't go wrong. I found on sale on the web. I bought 6 of them that's how much I love it. I have one on my road bike, mtb, & my spinning bike. for me best you can buy!!
Submitted by
Dion
a Racer
from Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Date Reviewed: December 10, 2006
Strengths: lightweight, good looks
Weaknesses: stiff, bloody uncomfortable!
Bottom Line:
I'd avoid buying this seat, it's lightweight but awfully uncomfortable.. to the point of causing pain and bruising after I used it in a 24 hour race (more than 20 mins on this seat hurts), I'm not stranger to lightweight & low padding seats and you can have both lightweight and good comfort (Fizik Arione / Flite Titanium) but not with this seat, I think the problem is it's too stiff, maybe for a heavier rider (i'm 82kg) then it might flex more but I suspect it would still be uncomfortable. I'm runing a carbon seatpost also which usually dampens some shock. I swapped this over to my road bike thinking it might be okay but it's still uncomfortable.. I'm selling this one and buying another Fizik Arione!! nuff said!
Similar Products Used: Flite Titanium, Fizik Arione, SDG
Bike Setup: Specialized Epic Comp
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Harold
a Cross Country Rider
from The Netherlands
Date Reviewed: September 13, 2006
Strengths: Light weight, great looks, I've got the nighttrain edition, comfortable for me.
Weaknesses: No kevlar or other protection on the side, be carefull with it when putting it against a wall.
Bottom Line:
Very nice saddle for me. Very happy with it, good looks, light weight and comforable enough for me. I don't think I should place this saddle on my roadbike. But for my xc-racer it's great.
Strengths: Comfortable. Nice narrow nose. Firm, minimal padding, but with good shell flex.
Weaknesses: Not for everyone.
Bottom Line:
Most comfortable saddle I've ridden. I bought this saddle after a century ride on my old Pave left me with ischial sores that wouldn't heal up until I took a week off of the bike. Since then they haven't returned. After 6 hours on this saddle my rear is not the sorest part of me by far. I actually have three of these saddles now - a plain Aspide, a Trek/Volvo team saddle, and an Aspide FX.
Note that I weigh under 140 lbs and I have relatively narrow hips. Other reviews seem to indicate that this isn't a good saddle if you're more heavily built.
Similar Products Used: San Marco Concor Supercorsa, Concor Light, Rolls, Selle Italia Turbo, Fizik Pave
Bike Setup: Scott CR1 Team Issue and Trek 5000/Ultegra 10
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Leonid Loiterstein
a Cross Country Rider
from St.Petersburg, Russia
Date Reviewed: November 29, 2005
Strengths: An ideal balance of weight and comfort.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
A saddle can only be perfect for someone it fits, but some saddles are so lousy they don't fit anyone. Well, now you know this saddle perfectly fits at least one MTBiker: me. :)
My weight is 132lbs. This saddle was real tough on my butt for about 12 days, and after that my rear end stopped aching.
The saddle is light, it's flexy enough to absorb small vibrations like... like a carbon handlebar. I don't know if I would be the same happy if I had this saddle on a hardtail though. According to my kitchen scales, it's 185 gr.
I bought it at Performancebike in July 2004. I am very happy with that saddle.
However a much comfier (and heavier) Selle Trans AM was so painful I had to sell it... What I'm trying to say is, a saddle has to match your butt, and no review will tell you what's right for your rear end. But this saddle did fit at least one butt. It is worth every dollar I've paid. 5 Chilis for that.
Weaknesses: Hard Long break-in time Embroidery is poorly located and extremely painful after prolonged use. EXTREMELY PAINFUL!!!
Bottom Line:
This saddle took me 8 months of frequent use to break in. Until it was broken-in, it was very hard and very painful. On bumpy terrain, it caused perrenial bruising.
After break-in, the saddle is usable, but the raised embroidery which spans the entire length of the saddle is located in such a way that it causes painful rubbing on any ride lasting more than 45min to an hour. This results in saddle sores, despite the liberal use of Chamois Butt'r and high-end bike shorts.
The saddle is very light, so for crits, short track, uphill TT and the like, it would be fine. For training and prolonged use (or longer races), I'd rather sit on razor blades, since they'd be lighter and the wounds would heal faster.
Similar Products Used: SSM Era Pro Fizik Aliante Fizik Dolomiti
Bike Setup: This saddle is now on my road bike, where it continues to be painful after prolonged use, and causes bruising even on rough roads.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Rene Hoepelman
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Beach
Date Reviewed: July 10, 2005
Strengths: Stiff
Weaknesses: Hard
Bottom Line:
I bought the USPS team version because I liked the blue color. Seems to goes nicely with my Trek Fuel 100. I really only bought the seat becasue at 160g it was more then half the weight of my Sele elite gel saddle and I needed to lose 1/4lbs to bring my bike under 27lbs and it worked.
The seat is very stiff great for getting up those tough short climbs but this is by no means a saddle meant for mountain biking. This seat belongs on a road bike. Consider yourself warned, because your Balls wont like you anymore and beg you to go back to gel.
Weaknesses: serious pain and numbness on longer rides 1hr+
Bottom Line:
This is a follow up to my previous review. I don't know what I was thinking when I said this saddle doesn't cause pain. I rode it on a couple of shorter rides - 1 hr or less - and it seemed OK. So I gave it a good review. However, I was in a 26 mile 2hr race after that and it absolutely abused me. I couldn't wait to finish the race. My very important parts were numb for 4 days. Needless to say I won't ride it again. I wouldn't recommend this saddle to anyone that rides longer than an hour and plans on having a family. I wanted to mulch it and burn it after that race.
Submitted by
troy young
a Weekend Warrior
from robinson, IL USA
Date Reviewed: May 13, 2005
Strengths: extremely lightweight. very cool looking.
Weaknesses: NOT for people who don't have a racing physique. rips/scuffs very very easily.
Bottom Line:
I'm gonna review this for the bigger size people out there. I found this saddle on sale, and thought I'd try it out.
If you have the build of a pro racer (very thin) this saddle will probably work. if you have a couple extra pounds on you .. look elsewhere. I have a bit of extra padding on me (nothing crazy) , and this seat will NOT work for anyone like me. my rides are usually 1.5 - 2 hours, and this seat literally makes me want to climb off and push the bike home after about an hour on it. I lose performance, strength, etc. because i'm worrying about how much more butt pain I can take. I'd say if you're 190 + , don't go with this saddle.
I'm 190lbs and this seat is extremely comfortable for me. The Specialized seat that came stock on my '04 Stumpjumper can't compare in comfort with this seat. Dispite not having much padding, I experience very little discomfort on my tail bones. The Specialized seat, which had more padding, would get uncomforable in the crotch area on longer rides. And I experience no discomfort in my groin area since the seat is more narrow in the front section...prevents the rubbing. I'm sold on it so much I have ordered another one for my road bike which I use primarily for training and triathlons. It's not cheap but for a feel that's this good it's worth it.
Bike Setup: '04 Turner Burner w/ Manitou 3-way swinger, FSA wheels, Marzocchi Marathon SL fork, FSA K-force carbon seat post and flat handle bar, FSA stem, FSA Mega EXO crank, SRAM X0 grip shifters and front/ rear deraileur, IRC Mythos XC tires
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Dennis Pedersen
a Racer
from Santa Ccruz, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: March 1, 2005
Strengths: Very light weight (160 grams), pretty comfortable, causes no numbness, decent price.
Weaknesses: May be too firm for some riders' tastes.
Bottom Line:
I have two of these now, because they are the best saddles I've ever tried. One is the basic Aspide, the other is the special Aspide FX Pepperoncini version with flame graphics and hollow Ti rails (130 grams) and slightly more cushion.
I got the FX for my road bike, and I've ridden lots of long rides and races on it, including 100+ mile rides. Amazing comfort, though it sometimes causes a little numbness if I remain seated for a long time. Keep in mind that a saddle that feels good on short rides can often really pound your butt on a long ride, so this is testimony to how well these saddles are designed.
I got the regular Aspide for my MTB, and it is firmer than the FX, but is still comfortable on long rides and races, and is still the only saddle I've ever used that has caused absolutely *NO* numbness, ever. First time I sat on it I worried a little, but no need; it's a great saddle.
People think a bigger saddle is more comfy, but the saddle really needs to fit to your sit bones (so the points of the pelvic bone rest on the seat), and you don't want it chafing your inner thighs with too much material there either. Specialized has the right idea with their new multiple-width saddles, because saddles really should be like shoes. One size does *NOT* fit all. Following Specialized's sizing technique, the Aspide (at 130 mm wide) would fit riders with sit bones about 70-100 mm apart. If you're wider than that, I'd probably get one of the new Specialized saddles sized to fit you, instead of an Aspide.
Similar Products Used: WTB SST 98, Vetta TT, various Specialized Body Geometry, various Terry,
Bike Setup: 1998 Specialized Stumpjumper hardtail (20,000 miles!), rebuilt with all-new LX.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Steven Wright
a Cross Country Rider
from Melbourne, Vic, Australia
Date Reviewed: September 28, 2004
Strengths: I purchased the Gelaround version of the Asipde, and it is a very sleek product. The gel padding has a nice feel to it and the saddle feels nice and light, but strong. It seemed to be the sort of saddle that cound be used for road and commuting along ashphalt bike paths.
Weaknesses: When I initially set up the seat on the bike, I found the saddle became uncomfortable after 15 km of a 20 km commuter ride that I do 3 to 5 days per week. After putting up with the discomfort for about 10 days, I went back to the bike shop and we readusted the position, and the seat was OK. On 60km longer rides, my bottom (around the sitbones) became painful but nothing too bad. I then went on a 130 km ride and found that about 1/2 way through, I had serious pain in the sit bone region and this was limiting my performance, and when I got home, I found that the skin in that region had been broken and was very painful. I had my seating position checked, and everything looked fine, so it looks like this sadle doesn't suit me.
Bottom Line:
The seat was not cheap and was causing me discomfort way too early for long distance riding. It may be a very good seat for shorter sprint type rides.
Similar Products Used: Generic saddle supplied on my 2004 Giant Yukon
Bike Setup: 2004 Giant Yukon, modified for commuting with 2005 Shimano LX crankset and road cassette. Replaced the steel handlebars with Easton aluminium bars.
Saddles are definitely a personal thing. This saddle is a degree or two more comfortable that the Flite saddles I have used over the years and three or four degrees better than the Specialized Body Geometry. I am only in the saddle at most two or three hours, works as advertised.
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