The Arione (Snake) saddle is perhaps the most iconic of Fi'zi:k's range its long, flat and slender design. The Arione is designed for riders with a high degree of spinal flexibility, who don't rotate their pelvis when cycling; the long and flat design of the Arione provides the best kind of support for upright pelvic bones, whilst also allowing for easy re-positioning on the saddle. This Regular 130mm width saddle is designed for riders with a relatively high power:weight ratio and narrower hips.
The R3 level saddle presents a meeting point between comfort and performance. Lightweight K:ium alloy rails are paired with a composite glass co-injected nylon shell, for great shock absorption and support on a saddle that weighs just 200g. This saddle benefits from Fi'zi:k's Wing Flex technology which enables flexibility where the rider's thighs meet the saddle, to reduce chafing and improve comfort on rough roads. The thermowelded microtex cover is very durable, lightweight and easy to clean, with a classic black and grey finish living up to Fi'zi:k's reputation for producing stylish bicycle components, suited to pretty much any bike out there. Cris's personal saddle of choice for well over a decade, it's safe to say the Arione has a history with “Flat Harry” himself that long pre-dates this store, a mark of Cris's faith in Fi'zi:k and testament to the comfort his Arione has provided him over the years.
Fi'zi:k's Arione, Antares & Aliante saddles have been a cornerstone of Flat Harry's since the shop opened in 2015. Introduced in 2009 Fi'zi:k's Spine concept to categorise these saddles has undergone many iterations and as of 2016 is referred to as Spine Concept Evo, with the introduction of regular and large width versions of these saddles. Spine Concept Evo is Fi'zi:k's own system for matching their saddles with riders based on their physiology. It uses three basic saddle designs to accommodate riders with different spinal flexibility and offers regular and large width versions of these saddles for riders with different power:weight ratios. The Arione is for flexible riders with no pelvic rotation, the Antares for moderately flexible riders with some pelvic rotation and the Alainte for un-flexible riders who rely on lots of pelvic rotation to achieve a performance position. The regular width saddles are for riders with relatively high power:weight ratios and the wider saddles are for riders relatively lower power:weight ratios, as lighter, faster riders put less weight on their saddle and vice versa.
Cris has been a dedicated Arione rider for well over a decade now and more recently Miles has joined the ranks of Aliante riders. Their respective flexibility is reflected in their choice of saddle and Fi'zi:k's Spine concept Evo applies perfectly in these instances, both most comfortable on regular width saddles; however Spine Concept Evo isn't right 100% of the time. Whilst Fi'zi:k's refined saddle selection system is a brilliant starting point for choosing a saddle and quite often able to provide the correct saddle choice in a quick and simple manner; there's a lot of riders who deviate from the saddle supposedly best suited to their physical attributes. At flat Harry's we're exponents of high quality Bikefit and much like with Bikefit, the rules around Fi'zi:k's saddle system are there to be broken if necessary. Human bodies are unique and whilst catch-all rules may cater to the majority of riders, we pride ourselves on being able to help the minority, who don't necessarily benefit from conventional logic.
As such we stock a full range of Fi'zi:k test saddles in our store for our customers to try out, something we encourage greatly, in order to work out precisely which saddle it is that works for them. In doing this the Spine Concept Evo system is fantastic for establishing which test saddle to start with. As I said in the majority of cases the result will be the saddle that is supposedly going to best suited to you in Fi'zi:k's range, but saddles are highly subjective to the individual and in the instance that the suggested saddle is not for you, we will logically progress through the rest of Fi'zi:k's range, offering test saddle after test saddle, until you find the one you're happy with. We love Fi'zi:k's excellent range of saddles and once you find the correct saddle for yourself, we're sure you will too!