Fizik

I cannot overstate the positive impact this saddle has had on my riding. Experienced some saddle discomfort previously; had the same style of another brand saddle (traditional not 3D printed) on 4 bikes I ride; two road and two e-bikes. (Road and round town errand bike.) They seemed to fit well, and I was happy enough with them, but longer rides for me- 40-100+ miles- would cause saddle area discomfort. Thought that just went with the territory. Especially two day rides, such as STP, well day two was not fun with this setup.

Started with an Argo R1 on my primary road bike. I was not fitted for it, just guessed size wise with a 150 width. WOW. Makes me want to ride more. Now on all 4 bikes. (2 R1 and two R3). Saddle area pain during the ride and next day are a non issue. STP coming up Saturday, so I will put it to the test for the first time on a two day ride.

Other than the expense (they are not inexpensive, but frequently available on sale at BTD) this has been one of the big changes that change my riding going forward. Have been riding long enough to experience the onset of indexed shifting, clipless pedals, comfortable and safer helmets, disk brakes, tubeless road tires and now this saddle. All of these are, for me, non-incremental improvements to my experience on the bike. This saddle, while perhaps not for everybody, has made me a better, more comfortable, less fatigued, and less distracted rider.

I love Fizik shoes. I have 3 pair of Vento Stabilita, 2 pair of Vento Ferox Carbon, 1 pair Vento Powerstrap Aeroweave, 2 pair of Terra Powerstrap X4, 1 pair of Terra X5, 1 pair of Terra X3 and the new Aeroweave X. ALL of those shoes above are 43 and all fit identically. The Vento Proxy in 43 that I own has a TON of volume in the forefoot and the single Boa simply cannot close that up. Length and width are spot on to all my others. But the volume is simply too much. These were clearly built on a high volume last. Sizing down won't work IMO. I had to add a thick insole to make the shoes fit like all the others. Not ideal, but works ok. These shoes are the only pair of Fiziks I own that doesn't have the little rubber gripper dots in the heel which keeps the heel firmly planted in the shoe. I know that all sounds bad. But, they are built very well, have incredible ventilation, are reasonably light and if volume is what you need then they might very well be the ticket. Just be aware that if you have any of the other pair of Fiziks like I listed above, these will NOT fit the same.

This tape is tacky and provides good cushioning, if that's what you are looking for then go for it. After a handful of rides, I don't think this bar tape is for me. I realized that I just don't like tacky tape.

All the other reviews are spot on, install is pain. There is some stretch to the tape, but it's hard to work with. The tape even started to degrade as I was making wrap adjustments. Maybe this tape would be better without a glue strip.

I was hoping that this saddle would make so my hind end wasn't sick of the saddle after 50 miles of riding, sadly no joy on that front. It's no worse than two other saddles I've tried on this bike, but it's not much, if any, better than a Specialized Power Comp Pro or a Selle Italia X3. I'm starting to think that my tail is going to be ready to stop sitting on any saddle after 50 miles of riding in a day.

On the plus side, it's got that spider web look so admired by cool biker boys, so I can pose as a cool kid.