Which Saddle?

Are there any cheaper alternatives to a Brooks? For my girlfriend, want something that looks nice in a lady's-town-bike sort of way but don't want to invest too much money in something that may not get ridden very much and will probably end up living outside. I also don't have the bike in my possession and haven't measured my girlfriend's sit bones (...) so I have no idea how wide it needs to be, which is why I think something like a Brooks (that breaks in) would work well.

Spa cycles do their own, very similar - probably St John Street cycles too.

Looks good, review says it'll take 800km to break in though... now wondering if it's a bit sadistic to buy her a saddle that's going to be painful for that long! I'll have to think about it

Leather saddles don't live outside very well... if they survive being stolen they suffer badly in damp condition... and later need proofide to stop them drying which will be accelerated by excessive sunlight.
That said many a saddle has been rescued that I would have thought looked too far gone.

Aye I'm reconsidering... It depends whether I can convince her to keep it indoors or not I guess (we're long distance). Bought her cheap padded cycling shorts which is always a revelation for people who don't ride bikes very often so maybe I'll just give her those and consider swapping the saddle later on.

I have got my eye on a cheeky bargain on eBay, if I win it I'm going to be jealous as it'll be more expensive than anything I've got on my own bikes!

A bit left-field but have you considered something like a Rolls? Sort of classic looking, you can source an old one cheaply to see if she gets on with it, and a new one would look nice. I mention a Rolls as my girlfriend used it for a long distance tour, and preferred it to the saddle that came stock with her Giant Defy.

Incidentally, in prep for the same tour I tried out the Spa Brooks copy but didn't get on with it. Nice looking saddle, well made, etc. and it's obviously very personal but with a long breaking-in period, may put her off if not comfortable quite quickly.

My Spa Nidd has over 2K km on it, and hasn't noticeably softened, but then I found it pretty comfy from day 1; as with all saddles, alas, the only real way to find out if it will suit your behind is to suck it and see. Mind you, at about £40 for a saddle it's not going to break the bank - it might also be worth looking at the sprung version?

Regarding cut outs: is there any reason not to go for one?

In my mind, having a cut out can only be of benefit. But I'm probably missing something. Less contact surface area and therefor higher pressure overall maybe?

Refreshing water spray in damp weather.

I own a set of mudguards, for I am no amateur.

Style?

I believe that if you have a squishy enough undercarriage, the cutout can increase contact area, or at least the angles of contact. I've known people complain about being able to feel the circumference seam on the cut out of Spesh Toupe saddles, but this would have been about ten years ago. I've used saddles with cut outs without any problem, although I don't own any now.

is there any reason not to go for one?

Masochism

So I get on with the Specialized Toupe shape saddle, but love the look of the Selle Flite. Does anyone have a comparison before I plump for one? There are some 143mm wide ones on Planet X that look great.

Thinking of going back to Specialized Toupe. Does anyone know if the Specialized Toupe Expert has been discontinued? Can only see the Gel version online.

Also, have they improved the build quality of the Toupe? Years ago I had at least one crack and break and it seems that was pretty common.

I've been finding San Marco Ponzas very comfy recently but they are disgustingly cheaply made so the two I have are falling apart a bit. Could probably recover them myself but wonder if anyone knows of a similar shaped saddle? I think I like that its a 'sit in' saddle rather than a 'sit on top' if that makes sense?

Doesn't look a million miles away from a Specialized Romin.

Selling an Avatar & Romin here if anyone is in the market.

The best saddle I've had so far .has taking me 5 years trying around 10 diffrent saddles.

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Saddles I'm looking at at the moment:

For the mtb
Fizik Terra Alpaca:

For the road bike, I'm currently happy on Specialized Power but it's not perfect

Fizik Tempo Argo:

The new Fabric Line-s:

Anyone used any of these? They're all relatively new I realise.

I'm building up a bike for my girlfriend, what budget friendly women's saddles are there our there? She's a non cyclist (hoping to change that obviously!) So nothing too sporty or intimidating looking ideally!

Just swapped out a seatpost with a knackered clamp for a free replacement thanks to a helpful forumenger (thanks @wot). Thought the ride seemed quite harsh, but put it down to switching from an alloy to a steel seatpost. Got back from the ride and checked under the saddle (Charge Spoon) to see that the top of the seatpost bolt was protruding up beyond the top of the clamp and the saddle was resting down on it when enough weight was placed on it. Now off to cut about 4mm off the top of the bolt, which will hopefully make things more plush.

just look. like variations of specialized power

Has anyone had experience with Ergon saddles?

Any Pro Griffon saddle users?

I've been trying one out and seems I can only get a max of around 6cm setback on my Dolan Preffisio with an Alpina seatpost with a claimed 350mm setback. Seat tube angle is 74, so quite steep, but wouldn't have thought it would make that much difference. Surprisingly my position doesn't feel too bad, but the reach feels very short.

Is it just an unusual shape/ length? Or are the rails positioned much further back?