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I'm looking for suggestions as what to try next with the saddle on the road bike. I fully understand that saddles are completely personal but just looking for some ideas regarding what to try next.
What I've tried so far:
Fizik Arione: comfortable but the meat and veg go numb after about 20 minutes of riding. Worst time with this was after a 5 hour ride i stayed numb for 2 days - immediately took it off the bike.
Specialized Romin: Again, comfortable but got incredible saddle sores from it, regardless of chamois cream or shorts.
Fabric line Elite: No negative side effects as above but seem to get general arse ache from it and the build quality is terrible, the slightest bump sees is creaking all over the shop.
I get the idea that i need something that's not too wide in the nose and must have some sort of recess, the obvious choice would be the vs version of the fizik but i have been told that these aren't particularly great. Any ideas?
I'm getting on really well with a Specialized Power.
I am keen to try the power too, when I can bring myself to stump up the £100 or so!
I've always found ariones comfortable. I have a leather brooks on a touring bike and it's terrible. I keep hoping that it will break in but I'll probably end up getting another arione.
I suspect there is an element of saddles breaking you in rather than the other way round, which is why I find other saddles uncomfortable.
Can you find a shop who do trial saddles, my last saddle purchase I tried various Selle Italia and Fizik saddles before settle for the one I liked. Or at least try a manufacturer who do comfort guarantees of some kind, Spec and Pro do that I think.
I tried a few wtb saddles recently, unopened, on a stool!
WTB Volt 150mm wide won, comfortable to me anyway and reduced to £30 from £55 at crc.
Also tried A WTB rocket and a WTB pure.
WTB as they have a Handy arse width chart.
I tried a load before settling on the Spesh Toupe. I also went wider than I had done before and found it made a huge difference.
I bought a few saddles secondhand when I had a similsr problem.If you want to try one of these [img] 
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yours for the cost of postage,it's a Speecialized Phenom Comp, let me know.
The rest of your setup is probably ****ed if you find a saddle uncomfortable after 20 minutes of riding.
Oh,I've got a WTB rocket V and a Pure,if you want to try them,they're all sitting in my spares box.
The Charge/Fabric "Spoon" is a good start.
I find the flatter, less curved saddles work for me, so more weight is on the sit bones. I generally have Selle Italia saddles, but the Fizik Nisene is OK on one of my MTB's. You'll find a particular shape is better than a make.
It's trial and error though.
Another vote for the WTB Volt, I just fitted one to replace an unknown (writing worn off) WTB saddle from the last milllenium that was perfect for me.
I have no problems with the Spesh Phenom on my MTBs and cross bikes and Toupe on my road bike. Spesh do test saddles that you can borrow for a few days or so (at least that’s what my lbs does ).
Fizik Arione
I'm quite surprised a lot of new bikes seem to come spec'd with the Arione. Fizik recommend it for flexible "snakes" (i.e. those who can easily touch their toes.) Antares worked better for me.
Specialized Romin:
Something about Specialized saddles didn't work for me. Tried most of them (other than the power - which they didn't do at the time) but they all felt too hard.
Been back on an SLR for the past couple of years, seems to work well for me in my current position.
I tried an Arione in 05/06 but it crippled me so I bought an Aliante and found it much more comfortable. I have them on several bikes, some with carbon rails, some with metal rails.
SDG Bel Air 2.0 is a bit like a Romin but with more padding.
I have 130 Romins on my roadies and SDGs on the mtbs.
WTB Volt
Personally I'm a big fan of Selle SMP saddles, have Drakons on both my road and xc bikes and a 209 on my trail bike. Find a LBS that has test saddles, took me nearly 6 months of trying to find a shape that worked for me.
Something about Specialized saddles didn't work for me. Tried most of them (other than the power - which they didn't do at the time) but they all felt too hard.
Weird, I get the opposite. The Charge Spoon and the Fizik Gobi were like battering-rams compared to the most of the Spesh BG ones I've used. Although the Gobi (or my tolerance) got much better with use.
Saddles are such a personal thing tho...
Have you looked into testing a Brooks Swift, or a Cambium?
The comfiest saddle I've used, by far, is the cheapest one I own!!
Its the On One WTB special on Planet X - it's been less than £15 I think, but currently £21 - it's meant as an MTB saddle but I get on well with it on all my bikes….cheap enough for an experiment!!
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/SAWTBVTOO/wtb-volt-saddle-on-one-edition
Charge Knife on my regular bike is good for 100 mile rides with no pain.
Sdg Circuit mtn. Cheap on Canyon website just now
Ergon are pretty good.