Fizik Tritone 6.5 Carbon Braided Saddle
The Fizik Tritone 6.5 Carbon Saddle takes the celebrated design of the Tritone 5.5, widens it by a crucial 10mm for wider riders, and slaps on carbon-braided rails to save weight and improve ride quality. It maintains the Tritone's design advantages of vastly improved comfort and enhanced aerodynamics. Overall, it's a pretty sweet piece, and we think you'll agree.
First, we'll point out the super low weight, vibration-absorbing 7x9mm braided carbon rails that save 30g of weight over the Kium-railed version of the same saddle. Next, we'll drawn attention to the carbon-reinforced nylon shell, which is light, flexible yet supportive, and further aids in shock absorption from the road. Those are some very smart features right off the bat.
The Tritone addresses aerodynamics with its peculiar shape. Whereas taller, pointed noses on most tri/TT saddles allow riders to scoot forward for better positioning in the cockpit and over the crank, this is also detrimental to efficient biomechanics and comfort, as more weight becomes focused on a smaller area of the rider's "undercarriage" and the rider stays higher than necessary in profile. The Tritone's nose is both shorter, lower, and wider than these other saddles, allowing riders to position themselves lower in the cockpit, while still being forward enough to comfortably assume their more aerodynamic "cruising" position. The ultimate result is a saddle design that is rapidly spreading through the triathlon community as the advantages of this approach become evident.
A Front Transition Hook under the saddle's front makes up for the lack of a long nose for a fast grab-and-go during T1. The carriage kit hanging off the back is similar to Fizik's saddle bag option on road saddles, letting you easily attach two bottle cages, CO2, an inflator device, and a spare tube. The saddle is a UCI legal 24 centimeters long.