Fizik Arione Donna women's saddle review

Fizik saddles comes in a wide range of profiles and as with the men’s version, the Arione has the flattest cross-section in their women’s specific range. Maintaining the men’s Arione shape, just wider at the back and slightly shorter the Fizik Arione Donna is a well thought out adaption of a the men’s version, catering for female anatomy.

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At 229g it is comparatively light for a saddle at its price point. For those looking to save more weight, there is a higher priced carbon railed version available, as well as a heavier manganese steel railed version at a lower price.

The saddle is long at 285mm, so that you can shift your position and weight on the bike and comes at a 147mm width to suit women’s wider sitbones. There’s a matt black microtex cover to stop you slipping around, with shiny black microtex thigh glides on the sides which should help reduce friction with the sides of the saddle.

A pressure relief channel runs down the centre of the saddle, which aims to relieve soft tissue pressure and increase blood flow whilst riding. When sitting further back on the saddle this worked wonders, possibly better than the cut-out design many brands favour.

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However, when adopting a more aggressive position on the nose of the saddle the channel seemed to be more of a hindrance as it flattened out slightly, creating a lump on either side of the nose, making it awkward to get comfortable.

We found the saddle slightly wider than personally needed, but with Fizik’s wingflex design we had no issues with legs rubbing on the side as we rode and our sitbones still felt supported.

See www.extrauk.co.uk for further information