Flite 1990 reissue: how close to original?

[Climb01742]

I've been through some saddle hell recently. The best solution I've found is going back to an original Flite ti I have. But I have only one. So I'm curious, how closely does the reissued Flite 1990 resemble the original? Feel the same? Same exact dimensions? Has anyone ridden them both??

Thanks a lot.

[eBAUMANN]

the reissue is not as good, IMO.

maybe its the years of break-in that most vintage flite's have, but the saddle just feels different somehow.

the foam padding used is definitely different, and is even different between vintage flites, which can be differentiated by the different color "selle italia" logos in the middle of the rear of the cover. the red logo flites has a superior foam that seemed to stay softer longer compared to the white logo flites that always seem to be kinda dried out and hard feeling.

also the rail shape is different on the re-issue (not slanted), making the overall height and look of the saddle different from the original.

in closing - i am not a big fan of the re-issues.

[weisan]

Climb pal, sorry to hear of your predicament.

With my recent behind the knee issue, somebody had commented how perhaps certain changes to my body cause me to sit in the saddle different than I used to. I wonder if that's your situation.

I used to ride flite gel solely for a long time and now it's just S-toupe only. I might have an old flite gel still sitting somewhere in storage. If you think that will work, I will gladly send it over.

[8aaron8]

I would reiterate the statements ebaumann made, I have both and the reissue is definitely not the same.

[Matthew]

Maybe all of mine are older but mine feel the same to me. I have tried a few saddles and always go back to the Flite. Right now on one bike I have a model from Serfas that I like a lot. Has a small cut out too, but not sure it really helps much. My advice would be to give a new one a shot as it will most likely be the closest to what you are looking for.

[cinema]

I really like the reissue. Foam breaks down over time perhaps people are partial to that. I do find less padding to be better in general. I've ridden both and they're both comfy I just felt like the new one was stiffer and newer. Which is probably because the older one had been used for decades. The dimensions seemed the same but I always felt like I needed a slightly different angle with the reissue which is probably because of what has been mentioned about the saddle rails