Help, my Fizik Arione is killing me!

[Cyclenon]

Hi there,

looking for some advice from anyone else that rides on a Fizik Arione.

Admittedly I have not had it for that long (week or so), but I'm finding it excruciatingly painful and uncomfortable to ride on. Seems to be very hard and with a "centre" point that just sticks out.

I'm at a loss to explain given the glowing reviews.
I'm coming from a Spesh BG Riva (on the face of it a lower end saddle) which was very, very comfortable.

Am I missing the obvious?

Many thanks.

 

[ColinJ]

See if this helps?

 

[User6179]

Hi there,

looking for some advice from anyone else that rides on a Fizik Arione.

Admittedly I have not had it for that long (week or so), but I'm finding it excruciatingly painful and uncomfortable to ride on. Seems to be very hard and with a "centre" point that just sticks out.

I'm at a loss to explain given the glowing reviews.
I'm coming from a Spesh BG Riva (on the face of it a lower end saddle) which was very, very comfortable.

Am I missing the obvious?

Many thanks.

Most cheap saddles with decent padding will be more comfortable , I use spesh bg from a old Sirus hybrid for 100 plus rides on my carbon bike , more money saddle wise usually means lighter with less padding , btw gel saddles are IMO not good

 

[Cyclenon]

Thanks for your replies.
Colin, I will try your suggestion and report back.

 

[Hacienda71]

Strangely enough the Fizik Arione is not a light or particularly hard saddle. My old Selle SLR xp weighed half as much. It is however quite long and flat. It needs to be well set up as Colin says, but when set up correctly offers the rider plenty of flexibility of movement. You can slide forward and ride on the rivet or slide back and ride for hours in comfort. Whilst all saddles are subject to personal preference and anatomical suitability, the Arione though does seems to suit a large percentage of riders. You only need to look at how many pros use them to see this. You can't ride on a saddle that is uncomfortable for 150 miles a day for a fortnight or more.

 

[derrick]

This will help, i tried the Fizik Arione and did not find it very comfortable. http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/categ...oduct/review-specialized-toupe-team-10-37593/

 

[David5416]

I had exactly the same problem until ColinJ offered his expert advice, i have lowered the front of the saddle so it is perfectly horizontal with the back slightly raised. I have only used this on my good bike on the turbo as of yet but i have no more pair in the proverbial.

 

[zacklaws]

I used to use a Fizik Arione and found it very comfortable but not ideal for long distance, but when I had a bike fit, I found that in practise it was not the saddle for me. Fizik Arione's only come in one width, and it was too narrow for me, and the Fizik Aliante was recomended to me as it was a wider saddle. On film whilst riding on the Arione with the correct height, my hips were rocking from side to side as I pedalled as my sit bones were not sat on anything, but on the Aliante, I was rock steady and in use find it better than the Arione and 24 hours in a sadlle is a doddle now.

So bear it in mind with an Fizik saddles they are designed for different riders, as the models only come in one size, its a case of getting the model for your size and not thinking its a good saddle because of the name, reputation etc, Arione's are 132mm and Aliantes and Antares are 142mm. Sadly though when you buy a saddle, its not often published the width size.

 

[ColinJ]

I used to use a Fizik Arione and found it very comfortable but not ideal for long distance, but when I had a bike fit, I found that in practise it was not the saddle for me. Fizik Arione's only come in one width, and it was too narrow for me, and the Fizik Aliante was recomended to me as it was a wider saddle. On film whilst riding on the Arione with the correct height, my hips were rocking from side to side as I pedalled as my sit bones were not sat on anything, but on the Aliante, I was rock steady and in use find it better than the Arione and 24 hours in a sadlle is a doddle now.

So bear it in mind with an Fizik saddles they are designed for different riders, as the models only come in one size, its a case of getting the model for your size and not thinking its a good saddle because of the name, reputation etc, Arione's are 132mm and Aliantes and Antares are 142mm. Sadly though when you buy a saddle, its not often published the width size.

I'd assumed that my bum was on the large size, but it sounds like there are men around who are significantly wider than me!

I hadn't realised that those other saddles were wider. Yes - if the widest part of an Arione (or other saddle) isn't wide enough, then no adjustment will ever make it comfortable! The opposite is also true. If you are on the small size, then a wide saddle is unlikely to suit you.

24 hours in the saddle! Are you doing super-long audax rides now zack?

 

[jazzkat]

Hi there,

looking for some advice from anyone else that rides on a Fizik Arione.

Admittedly I have not had it for that long (week or so), but I'm finding it excruciatingly painful and uncomfortable to ride on. Seems to be very hard and with a "centre" point that just sticks out.

I'm at a loss to explain given the glowing reviews.
I'm coming from a Spesh BG Riva (on the face of it a lower end saddle) which was very, very comfortable.

Am I missing the obvious?

Many thanks.

I use an Arione on almost all my bikes now.
I think I know what you mean about the centre point. It is more rounded shape than my previous saddle a Spesh romin which I found would dig in to me where the cutaways are.
I was measured for the Romin and it was fine for a while, but became progressively more uncomfortable, whereas I can easily do 100 mile rides on the Arione without discomfort of the nether regions.
The sad truth is that you've just got to keep trying different saddles 'til you find one that does it for you.

 

[Peteaud]

Swapped my arione for an aliente.

Much better

 

[zacklaws]

Yes, I'm hooked on long rides, a good days ride for me now is 200+, think longest I did last year was Chris's "Old 240" Audax from Sowerby Bridge in just under 24 hours, damm hard it was, said I'd never do it again, but rareing to go again. Did another 250 off my own back in 18 hours and it almost took me to Kendal in a circular loop from Beverley., it was mental, designed the route in about 5 mins, downloaded to the Sat Nav, did'nt really know where I was going and off I went. Done a few rides similar in same style.

And its all your fault getting me into Audax's along with getting a proper bike fit, one day a hilly 120 a day was hard, then after my bike fit, I've not found a limit to what I can do.

Planned a 460 mile ride in two days last year, sadly had a bad mechanical on the first day so lost a lot of time but still acheived, 170 miles, and spent night at Barrow, but still 60 miles short of my target. set off next day up West coast to Carlisle, then it was onto just West of Newcastle and turn South and home, but just as it got dark with about 90 miles to go, I punctured and with my bad eyesight, fixing it was out of the question as it was not a crisis, so spent another night in the bushes and rode home the next day the shortest way with a wheel with a cracked rim and a bald tyre, 428 miles in 39 hours riding time, 17 hours sleeping in the bushes and fixing my bike.

Trouble is its hard finding the time to fit 200+ rides in, but this years a fishing year and a bit of cycling for me for a rest, and next years riding and a bit of fishing. At moment though I have had to take voluntary retirement since December, so plenty of time, but racking up the mileage is expensive on parts etc sadly.

Soon be "Spring into the Dales", in training now for it.

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, I'm hooked on long rides, a good days ride for me now is 200+, think longest I did last year was Chris's "Old 240" Audax from Sowerby Bridge in just under 24 hours, damm hard it was, said I'd never do it again, but rareing to go again. Did another 250 off my own back in 18 hours and it almost took me to Kendal in a circular loop from Beverley., it was mental, designed the route in about 5 mins, downloaded to the Sat Nav, did'nt really know where I was going and off I went. Done a few rides similar in same style.

And its all your fault getting me into Audax's along with getting a proper bike fit, one day a hilly 120 a day was hard, then after my bike fit, I've not found a limit to what I can do.

Planned a 460 mile ride in two days last year, sadly had a bad mechanical on the first day so lost a lot of time but still acheived, 170 miles, and spent night at Barrow, but still 60 miles short of my target. set off next day up West coast to Carlisle, then it was onto just West of Newcastle and turn South and home, but just as it got dark with about 90 miles to go, I punctured and with my bad eyesight, fixing it was out of the question as it was not a crisis, so spent another night in the bushes and rode home the next day the shortest way with a wheel with a cracked rim and a bald tyre, 428 miles in 39 hours riding time, 17 hours sleeping in the bushes and fixing my bike.

Trouble is its hard finding the time to fit 200+ rides in, but this years a fishing year and a bit of cycling for me for a rest, and next years riding and a bit of fishing. At moment though I have had to take voluntary retirement since December, so plenty of time, but racking up the mileage is expensive on parts etc sadly.

Soon be "Spring into the Dales", in training now for it.

Brilliant!

The Old 240 route is one I like the look of. If I ever get back to full fitness, then I might have a go at the route one mid-summer day. I worked out that it would just be possible to do it in daylight at the end of June. It would mean averaging about 14.2 mph which would be very tough on that route, though doable.

Yes, SITD is coming up. I think I will start a thread about it soon. NB If you haven't already noticed - the venue this year has been shifted to Mytholmroyd Community Centre for some reason.

 

[zacklaws]

Hope to see you back on the road Colin.

Don't be mislead by that "Old 240" and do it in daylight even on the longest day, usually I do 200 in just under 12 hours, so I presumed, I'd do the "Old 240" in about 15 - 17 hours at the most, and could not understand why it has took riders around 24 hours to complete in the past, till I did it, and I still cannot understand why it took me so long, even more so as I do not hang about in cafe's as I always try to avoid them and find a shop to buy the Vittals and get a receipt for proof of passage, ram it all down the gobbler and I'm away in minutes rather than waiting for cooked meals etc. I think its down to being a hard route, and probably about having to endure about ten hours of rain off and on, plus a strongish wind that made it slow.

 

[byegad]

I was persuaded to buy a 'proper saddle', in my case a Brooks, and suffered for 1000 miles before I bought a much cheaper Body Geometry saddle which was comfortable from day one and still comfortable after some 15000 miles. Saddle 'fit' is a very personal matter and once I'd found the BG I bought one for all of my bikes.