San Marco ASPide TI

Price Paid:  $60.00 at Ebay

Favorite Ride:
Anywhere with hills or mountains

Summary:
I wanted to find a light saddle that can be used more than 2 hours.
I found an aspide for 45€. I thought the shape would be OK for me, altough I was a bit sceptical about the small amount of padding.
After some months I can say now that I am quite surprised with the comfort of this "minimalist" saddle. I can ride 4-5h without any problem. The shape is perfect for me.
I can understand that heavier cyclists do not like this kind of saddles, though.

Strengths:
-Comfortable shape (at least for my b**t and my 57kgs)
-Stiff but not too much
-Light
-Not the most important, but the design is nice and smooth.

Weaknesses:
-a bit expensive retail price (Have you noticed that: less material on a product = higher prices...) but you can find quite cheaper on internet.
-They could have added just few more gramms of padding where the bones sit,
-can't be mounted with every seatpost (the clamp may the middle part of the shell because of its particular shape))
-I have doubts about the lifetime of this product

Similar Products Used:
It's my first light saddle.
I have used various classics before that (An old "turbo", some other Selle Italia and the last was a fizik "pave" )

Price Paid:  $113.00

Summary:
San Marco Aspide FX 225 size: Needed a new saddle and was opportunity to remove big weight. Not as uncomfortable as said by here, it's even smoother than the one I had before despite gel system.

Strengths:
Lightweight (144g), good looking.

Weaknesses:
Price?

Similar Products Used:
SLR 135

Price Paid:  $110.00 at LBS

Bike Setup:
Bianchi 928 lugged
Dura Ace
Zipp 404's for race day
front wheel: Speedcific/DT Swiss RR1.1
rear: Mavic OP with PowerTap Pro

Summary:
I must say that I am pleasantly surprised by the comparisons in previous reviews to the SLR as that is what I have been using with good (but not perfect) success. I had been using the SLR gel flow with the cutout. Riding the trainer for any longer than an hour and a half would cause some numbness of the squishy parts. Never a problem on the road because of the intermittent standing,etc. I concluded that the gel was allowing me to sink into the saddle a bit during a long period of sitting, putting pressure on the perineal nerves. My fantastic LBS (Gran Fondo in Nashville, TN) only had an SLR in yellow, so I looked for a saddle with the same width and length as the SLR as well as the same general "flatness" across the top and along the length. The ASPide looked like a fit. 3 and 1/2 hour ride on the road on Saturday: no soreness, no numbness. 1 hour 45 on the trainer on Sunday: no soreness, no numbness. Plus it came in celeste with small Italian flag embroidery!

Strengths:
Firm, narrow = comfort
length and relative slickness of cover allows fore/aft movement easily

Weaknesses:
None yet, but haven't owned it long.

Similar Products Used:
Selle Italia Turbo (back in the day)
Selle Italia SLR GelFlow

Price Paid:  $0.00

Bike Setup:
Cannondale CAAD8, Campy Record 10, Mavic Ksyriums, Hutchinson Kevlar Pro, Thompson Masterpiece.

Summary:
I wanted a lightweight saddle but, didn't want to sacrifice comfort. This saddle leather and padding is very thin which understandably was hard the first time I sat down on it. I am 5'11", weigh 180 lbs., and the entire first week of riding it, my undercarriage was sore. However, I found that the more I rode on it, my body became accustomed to it, and it became comfortable. Every Tuesday, I ride ~60 miles a day with my buddies and I average ~150 miles a week.

Strengths:
Lightweight, body becomes accustomed to it, looks cool.

Weaknesses:
First week of "getting acquainted" was painful. ~ Three weeks, I was adjusted to it.

Similar Products Used:
Selle Italia Flite, Selle Italia ProLink Gel, Selle Italia Turbomatic 3

Price Paid:  $90.00 at EBay

Bike Setup:
Trek 5900, Dura Ace, etc...

Summary:
All the saddle disclaimers apply....everybody's different, etc...

While I was excited about getting this saddle, I have come the conclusiuon that it's the worst saddle I've ever ridden. It's probably not the worst saddle ever made or the worst for other people, but for me, all it was, was extremely painful. I actually bruised my sits bones on this thing and am still nbot healed two months after removing the saddle.

Strengths:
Nice looking...very racey

Weaknesses:
Terribly, terribly painful for me. Might not be for everybody, but if your sits-bones are not ready for this saddle, watch out.

Similar Products Used:
Terry Fly (Great saddle); Specialized Body Geometry (not-so-great saddle)