Specialized Toupe Pro Saddle

Pros

Ergonomically designed to protect your soft regions.

Cons

None Really

Review

Specialized, Toupe Pro Saddle


Erectile dysfunction . . .. Apparently a lot of cyclists were and are having this issue. Lucky for them, Specialized and Dr. Roger Minkow saw a solution and brought us the "medically tested and scientifically proven" BG saddles. Dr. Minkow and the guys from Specialized worked for a number of years on testing saddle shapes, contours, cutouts and applied this to how they effected the blood flow to your 'under regions'.

According to what we've read and experienced from time to time, your 'average' saddle puts a lot of pressure on certain nerves and arteries. We researched a heap of studies and according to them this is what causes 'erectile dysfunction'.

Theory behind the Saddle:

BG saddles aim to give you some room at the two main areas where you become 'compressed'. Alcocks canal (not just a clever name) and the pubic symphysis. The V-shape in the back of the saddle removes pressure from these arteries, as this is where most riders spend most of their time. When riders get aggressive and move forward on their saddles Specialized has also left a cut away in the nose of the saddle to also remove pressure from this area maintaining at least 50% of normal blood flow.

Specialized has also managed to keep all of this science comfortable for your posterior by producing three different sizes depending on your pelvic width. What you will notice with Specialized saddles is that they are flat, firm saddles that are customisable to each rider. Of course you will need to go to your LBS Specialized dealer for a correct, and customised fitting on their “Assometer”


After riding a wide variety of saddles available on the market right now our expert testing staff at BikeRoar wanted to offer our people a better resource on what was available on the market currently. To do this we decided to ride this saddle for more than one ride to really gauge how good it is.

The Specialized Toupe sits at the top of the Specialized line of racing saddles - not surprising for 155 grams, a tough, light Micromatrix cover and hollow titanium rails.

The Marketing Blurb:

'This minimalist road saddle features a tuned flex shell for a compliant ride and patented Body Geometry technology.'





The Ride:


Specialized has designed a saddle that is firm, with a small amount of flex, that is designed to ensure you can ride longer, more efficiently, faster, and healthier.

Our test ride of this saddle was held under various conditions. As you might know a saddle can feel different on a flat ride as opposed to a hilly ride so we put it on our indoor trainer where we are forced to sit in the same spot for hours on end, spend very little time standing on the pedals, and have little else to think about how comfortable we were, or not!


We rode the saddle for months and without boring you too much with the blow-by-blow details, the saddle is a winner – We can report that the saddle suited 3 of our testers with no numbness issues. The saddle saw a tiny bit of wear by way of some of the graphics rubbing off, but this is pretty normal for any saddle to experience.


Overall feeling:


The Toupe is a good-looking saddle and comes in a variety of colours to suit your ride. Yes, this is a flat, hard saddle, and yet amazingly comfortable saddle that no matter how long I sit on it keeps my butt happy which is the most important aspect.