Weight Weenies

I've been riding a Fizik Arione for ages now, and have been mostly satisfied with it as it is generally comfortable, and allows some freedom to move around on the saddle according to what I am doing on the bike (climbing vs trying to close a gap on flats etc).

I recently built a new bike with a radically different set-up that ultimately rotated my body forward about 2 degrees for better aero. Thinking this might put more pressure on my wedding tackle, I built the bike with a Specialized Romin. And I'm pretty impressed with it. For general cruising, it is more comfortable than the Arione. However, when I go really hard on the flats and pull myself forward on the saddle, it gets a bit less comfortable. My overall set up also puts more weight in my hands, ordinarily I'd manage that with saddle tilt (the Arione gets set dead level), but to to balance weight in hands vs. nether region comfort, I've set it up so that the tail is slightly higher than the nose.

So to my questions
1) is there a general consensus on the appropriate set up for the Romin in terms of leveling (and how do you measure, since it has the high tail)?
2) is the general consensus that the Romin is a more than one position saddle or not?
3) if not, is there a specific Specialized saddle that offers a little more mobility of position front to back, as well as more rotational flexibility?

TIA

Mine are all setup "dead nuts" level.

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My 2 primary saddles are a Romin and a Toupe. I find the Toupe more comfortable but that's just me. It simply feels like it has a bigger platform that I can spread my weight out on. As for my Romin, I run it with the front portion level and the tail kicking up. Apparently that's the intended design and it works ok. While the tail is supposed to be for pushing back on while pedalling hard, like you I find that it just seems to get in the way when I want to stretch and slide back on the saddle.

I've got both romin and toupe.


1. Both are setup to be slightly tail high with the front level. I slide back sometime to use different muscles and for climbing.
2. The romin has a slight downward angle, which should allow you a slightly more forward and aggressive position while on the drops.
3. That could be the avatar, or maybe choose romin/toupe with more gel and a ti rails for more flex?

It too prefer the Toupe, it's more firm where I can just easy throw my bum around it and still get the same support and feel.

The Romin is more like a Fizik Aliante, in that it locks you into one position more than others. The toupe is a flatter saddle and lets you move around more.

I found this out the hard way.

I set my toupe up with a level across the nose, through the notch in the back. Seems to work well for me.

I'm currently testing a Fizik Antares, which also seems to allow for a decent amount of movement. But, I have been getting a good amount of pressure on the bits, since it lacks a cutout.

I really wish I could find a saddle with the same shape/padding level as an SLR... but with 142mm width. That would be ideal for me.

Ramjm_2000 wrote:Mine are all setup "dead nuts" level.

Dead nutts, thats is really a poor fit...lol

Level for me also, however not dead nutts. I recently moved to the Romin EVO more nose drop and more cut out near the nose. More comfort in the drops than the Romin Expert on my other bike.

I had Toupes in the past and the Romin works for my bum better, 143

Every bum is different

with any saddle, i try to locate where my sit bones are going to be. i put the edge of a level at that point and lay it across the nose of the saddle. that way, the amount of tail kick-up is irrelevant.

Unlike most others here, I have the nose of my Romin slightly raised. I found the raised tail tended to push me forwards too much otherwise. Everyone is different though.

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Briscoelab wrote:The Romin is more like a Fizik Aliante, in that it locks you into one position more than others. The toupe is a flatter saddle and lets you move around more.

+1, this is what my bike fitter told me. I have a toupe and love it, he wanted to put me on a romin because he could then control exactly where I was sitting relative to the BB at all times..

They both have a slight upward curve at the back to support the sitbones but the romin is more extreme. I find the toupe just right.