San Marco Era Arrowhead

#74 - selle san marco era arrowhead - (saddles)

After several different saddles with the cutaway design I finally settled on this one and have stayed with it for a couple of years now. Obviously, there is no perfect saddle for everybody, but this one seems to more comfortable than most without paying a big weight penalty.

I've ridden in rain and it has held up well. Haven't tried on on my MTB yet, as I'm afraid it might tear from a spill (too bad they don't make the same saddle with a Kevlar tail section).

My only complaint was slight creaking from contact between the saddle rails and the seatpost clamp. I wrapped some teflon tape around the rails and clamped it down again . . . silence. Another reviewer listed this, too, so it may be a structural flaw, but probably more of an annoyance than anything. I have two of these and only one of them creaked, however, so it may have to do with the type of seatpost clamp as well.

Strengths: I picked up the Era Arrowhead after the start of medical problems that necessitated the cut-out in this type of saddle. Overall, this saddle has been good to me in the few months that I've been using it, but (as with many or most saddles, I'd bet) it did require some level of adjustment, both on the seatpost and in the rider's posterior.

I typically take short recreational rides, generally not longer than a couple hours. After a couple of rides to adjust to the saddle's pressure points, this saddle is comfortable for (my) longer rides, although a quick stop to stretch after 90 minutes or so makes a big difference in saddle comfort.

The saddle shape is not overly flat, and has fairly generous padding and rear support for its weight. The cutout is comfortable, and in fact hardly noticeable in my experience. I have also found that the shape of this saddle has helped me to experiment in riding position a bit. E.g., the generous but not huge nose length opens up new possibilities up front.

This saddle is also relatively light (claimed 225g, I believe) for a recreational saddle, yet pretty affordable. It does not have the lightness of a racing saddle, but I'd guess it's a lot more tolerable for a more average rider. Durability so far has not been an issue.

As stated, I'm a recreational rider.I am male, weighing about 220 pounds (about 75 inches tall), so I put a lot of weight on the saddle. I ride a relatively small number of miles in a week, usually about 100.

In summary, I am surprised at how comfortable the era Arrowhead may be a number of hours. After about 3 months of use, however, I still find myself off the saddle for a few minutes every 90 minutes or more to avoid a serious interference.

Television & cable factbook

California lawyers

Antiquarian bookman

Bibliographic guide to East Asian studies

IEEE membership directory