I ride a gravel bike mostly on paved streets in the hilly parts of Portland. I tried several saddles (dozens over the years) and a friend suggested I take a look at the Brooks Cambium saddles. I got a C-17, and for my anatomy, it's a big flat area that accommodates my sitz bones just fine, but it just wasn't comfortable. I finally found a description of what makes the C15 different ' it's made for people riding in a more forward position (45'). Though I don't race or ride in a crouch, this saddle fits me well: it doesn't put my weight on my hamstrings. The weight rests to the inside of my hamstrings' attachment, so riding is far more comfortable, and my riding posture isn't tweaked by the saddle design. And the carved portion actually prevents pressure on those nerves. Finally!
I was hoping that this saddle would make so my hind end wasn't sick of the saddle after 50 miles of riding, sadly no joy on that front. It's no worse than two other saddles I've tried on this bike, but it's not much, if any, better than a Specialized Power Comp Pro or a Selle Italia X3. I'm starting to think that my tail is going to be ready to stop sitting on any saddle after 50 miles of riding in a day.
On the plus side, it's got that spider web look so admired by cool biker boys, so I can pose as a cool kid.
I had a fox transfer dropper post (2024) on my specialized epic Evo and this dropper would stick periodically even though it wasn't that old and weathered. I could have gotten a One Up, Wolf tooth, PNW but decided to bite the bullet and get the RockShox AXS as I had the previous model on my other bike. Such a game changer! Easy to install and integrates well with the SRAM APP as I have the transmission derailleur. You do need to buy a dropper post remote though. I got the SRAM pod (left side) and you can configure this on the SRAM APP as well. I'm loving this axs dropper post!
So I have tested multiple of these saddles, I tested the adaptive 00 argo vento, regular 00 argo vento, regular r1 argo vento and now the adaptive r1 argo vento and the r1 models have a different shape than the 00 models. On the 00 models, there was just something about them that no matter which width I tried, they didn't feel right and I had assumed that the r1/3/5 models and 00 model were the same shape however they actually are not as I was comparing their images on Fizik's website.
The 00 models have a wider front half in the 140 and 150mm width versions while the r models have overall a slightly more refined shape... the rear wings taper inwards a bit more compared to the 00 models, the 00 models are more smooth in terms of going from the wings to the tip. Additionally, the 00 adaptive models have extremely firm 3d padding while this is similar to the adaptive TT saddles fizik provides, very squishy (though the TT ones are slightly more squishy).
If you are someone who likes a wide front half of the saddle, the 00 models MIGHT work for you however you are paying a heck of a lot more for something that is a lot firmer and in my opinion a lot less comfortable compared to the r1/3/5 versions. I really like this saddle, I was actually going to write off adaptive saddles because of the 00 model of this however I decided to give this a try when I realized the shape is slightly different compared to the 00 model and this is much, much better.
Keep in mind from a bike fitting perspective, these saddles grip you very well so too much saddle tilt on this thing, while it will hold you in place you will start to chafe uncomfortably after about an hour or two.
