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review
Saddles

Selle Royal Seta Sport women's saddle

5
by Lara Dunn
Tue, Oct 01, 2013 07:28
0
£34.99

VERDICT:

5
10
Light, looks good & a very reasonable price, but just too firm for comfortable long ride use, particularly on the drops.
Weight: 
256g
Contact: 
www.extrauk.co.uk

Designed to be a female specific performance road saddle, the Selle Royal Seta Sport looks the part and comes in at a very attractive price too. It's also available in black so a match with any bike is pretty much guaranteed (these things are important).

However, at 157mm wide it's quite broad for a road orientated seat, and more akin in width to touring or recreational saddles. This would be OK if it were blessed with the sort of enhanced comfort of a touring type saddle, but instead it has the narrow nose, firm support and slightly flared rear of the dedicated performance option.

In use, the width wasn't ideal, but would be OK in a sporting position for those with broader sit bones (it's always best to get fitted for a saddle to find out what width you personally should go for, for your sort of riding position).

The main issue I had with the Seta was that although the rear flared area carried an indentation for pressure relief, the profile of the main body was very uniformly flat rather than gently curved downwards, meaning the firm nose area was extremely uncomfortable in any sort of stretched forward position. The pressure relief channel was very shallow, and could have done with being a bit more pronounced, while the padding at the sit bone area was supportive but somewhat on the unforgiving side.

Verdict

It's a lightweight saddle, looks good and comes at a very reasonable price, but ultimately, it's just too firm for comfortable long ride use, particularly on the drops.

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Selle Royal Seta Classic Womens saddle

Size tested: White

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Aimed at women looking for a performance saddle.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

157mm wide

270mm long

Weight- 256g

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Well made but the finish quality and plushness of materials seems very slightly lacking.

Rate the product for performance:
 
4/10

Over firm in the main body and over broad at the rear for most performance-led use.

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

Pretty bomb proof.

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
9/10

Very light indeed, particularly at this price.

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
4/10

The fairly flat profile of the main saddle area and nose, and the over firm padding at the sit bones make this uncomfortable on long rides, particularly when riding on the drops.

Rate the product for value:
 
6/10

Would be really great value if the cushioning and nose profile were tweaked a little.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Performed OK, but some comfort issues that were hard to ignore.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Style, weight, price.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Hardness of cushioning, flat profile of nose and main saddle body, width.

Did you enjoy using the product? Not really.

Would you consider buying the product? Not in its current form.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Probably not.

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

A great price for a well made saddle, but could do with more forgiving support, a better contoured nose and less width in the rear.

Overall rating: 5/10

About the tester

Age: 37  Height: 1.65m  Weight: 67kg

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, general fitness riding, mtb,

 

Selle Royal Seta Sport women's saddle
women's saddles
Lara Dunn

Lara has been riding bikes for longer than she'd care to admit, and writing about them nearly as long. Since 2009 she has been working as part of the road.cc review team whilst championing women's cycling on the side, most notably via two years as editor of the, sadly now defunct, UK's first and only women's cycling mag, erm, Women's Cycling. 

Believing fervently that cycling will save the world, she wishes that more people would just ride a bike and be pleasant to each other. 

She will ride anything with two wheels, occasionally likes to go fast, definitely likes to go far and is always up for a bit of exploring somewhere new and exciting. 

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