Surprising as I have been using the Fizik Kurve Bull on my cyclocross bike since mid year and despite racing every Saturday and Sunday since the first of October, the saddle has done just fine - me not so much.

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Michael - The Anaerobic Threshold is neither...

It sounds like there were three or four people who have had Fizik Kurve Bull saddles that developed cracks in the carbon fiber base.

Can someone post pictures of the cracked saddles again or describe where the saddles cracked?

I have a Fizik Kurve Bull saddle and like it a lot. It's very comfortable.

Thank you.

I've been experimenting with the Aliante R3 and the Kurve Bull.
The longitidinal curvature of the two is nearly identical, as far as can be estimated by eye.


The R3 is about 138mm wide, while the Kurve is about 143mm wide (at their widest points).
The Kurve is about 4mm overall shorter, because both the tip of the nose nose and the rearmost section of the tail are less "pointy".

First of all, I had the R3 setup and have been using it a couple weeks and I find it quite comfortable. I had seen the Fizik setup video in which they recommend setting it up so that the first 75mm back of the nose is level, leaving the tail flaring up. I quickly realized that wouldn't work for me and so I reverted to my standard starting setup position, which is dead-nuts level nose to tail. That worked fine, giving good uniforms support everywhere when sitting in the "pocket". After the initial setup, I just go by the feel on the crotch and make microadustments by giving 1/2 turn tweaks to the bolts on the Thomson seatpost. I think I might have the nose down now, but by only 1-2 mm I can still slide a little forward and a little back for varying conditions and just for variety, but the curvature keeps 'reminding' me to move back to the sweet spot. I actually like that scheme. .

Going directy from the R3 to the Kurve:
1. The Kurve "feels" (in the hand) much softer than the R3, particularly the "wings" sections. They are very flexible. So I assumed I would like the "hard" tuner nose section more. But when actually sitting on the saddle I soon felt like something was not quite right. Even though the Kurve is actually wider than the R3 it felt narrower to my crotch. I speculate that it is because the wings are so flexible that they are contributing less real support. So more of my weight was concentrated toward the center. After spinning for about an hour I also started to feel like this was a saddle that I might not be very confident starting a century ride on. The nose was noticeably harder feeling than the R3.
So I played around with minor tilt adjustments, with no real satisfaction, and then tried the "soft" tuner nose insert.
I was very skeptical that the tuner nose would make a difference, but it did! It softened the transition region from the "pocket" to the nose just enough that the saddle started to feel pretty darned comfy!
I only have another hour of spinning since I made this change, so I can't be very overconfident, but Now I think I might be liking the Kurve as well or even better than the R3.
Part of this might just be that I WANT to like the Kurve better just because it really is so elegantly made. It is a real work of saddle-art.

I'll report back when I have more test time.

Curious if you've used the previous generation Aliante. I've had serious discomfort with the re-designed Aliante and wanted to see if the Kurve Bull is something I should look into.

For some reason my local Fizik dealer does not have test saddles, so I'm a bit hesitant to spend a ton of cash!

I have probably 7 of the previous versions of the Aliante, and have been buying extras off of eBay for spares. I too struggled with the price of the Kurve and really wanted to try it out. Finally Competitive Cyclist had them at 50% off during the TdF so I jumped. The saddle I received is the Kurve version 2.0 that supposedly will not break. I mounted it on a spare seatpost for quick changing if desired. Saddle was mounted a little nose down which didn't feel right and now level. 1st few rides it felt pretty stiff and has softened some since. Very comfortable for 40 miles and no numb nuts. Around mile 50 I start fidgeting around some as the sit bones are feeling it. Longest ride I have done with this saddle is 65 miles. This weekend I had a century, and changed back to the original Aliante. Not giving up on it. Kind of feels like you have suspension. Have about 500 miles now, but believe that it will break in some more. Oh yea, it has the soft nose piece.

Good, I'm glad to know it's not just me. I bought a saddle today to replace my Fizik Kurve Bull. It's...OK...Certainly not the holy grail of comfort all the reviews make it out to be. I will also say that I'm fat, and I got the Carbon railed version. Oddly, I'm not super uncomfortable really until after the ride. Then, in the shower, I realize how sore my soft tissues over my sit bones are. Start to be uncomfortable after about 40 miles or so...I don't think that's too much to ask for a saddle. Like you, I'm not totally giving up on it, but I got a Fabric Scoop Radius with the carbon rails and nylon shell to replace it. I have the Fabric Scoop Radius with the carbon shell and carbon rails on another bike, and I feel similar to the Fizik Kurve...Not awful, but not great either, and I think it is because the carbon shell on the scoop is really, really stiff. That's why I went with the nylon shell this time. We'll see!

Double post, sorry!

I have ended up switching over to the Kurve Bull on both my road bikes. It is pretty comfy, but I am not convinced it is the holy grail, just the best I have found so far.
I started with the AL railed version and started to really like it, so I got a carbon railed also.

If you notice, the shell of the carbon railed is carbon, while the shell of the AL railed version is something else: Kevlar ? (Fiberglass ?)
Anyway, the AL-railed/Kevlar version is more comfortable because it actually breaks in and takes a set to match your butt a little better. I can see the sit-bone depressions. The carbon version seems almost the same, and is flexible, but doesn't take a set (yet, anyway.)

So, having the luxury of having both versions, I notice that the dimensions and weights of the two shells are identical. So I just took the Kevlar shell and matched it to the carbon rails for my main bike and put the carbon shell on the AL rails on my second bike.

This saddle seems very sensitive to tilt angle, so as I rode I would just keep tweaking the nose up or down half a turn on my tilt adjustment screws. I think I ended up pretty close to level, nose-to-tail, or within a couple mm of that. I also ended up moving it pretty far forward so I am sitting about as far back on the saddle as practical.