Selle Italia SLR Kit Carbonio Review
By Corey Whalen
Nov 3, 2005, 10:34

At first sight, this is one of the most beautiful saddles that I've ever seen. Having been directly in the bike industry for more than 6 years, I've seen a few. Although it is not the lightest saddle that Selle Italia produces, I managed to drop more than 100 grams off of the old saddle that was on my bike for more than 3 years. My sample weighed in at a very respectable 148 grams.

Selle Italia SLR Kit Carbonio saddle. Photo copyright Roadcycling.com.

My favorite feature of this saddle is the titanium rails. In addition, they are wrapped with carbon on the leading and trailing sections to add to the damping features already existing in the titanium. There is also a section of carbon fiber padding on the back (directly under the tail bone), and that seemed to come into play as well while riding. Other companies use a cutout section in an attempt to alleviate the pressures experienced by many.

Another thing I noticed was the SLR Carbonio was just a bit narrower than my previous saddle. However, that was not the factor that affected my ride the most. It was the fact that the SLR was approximately 2mm shorter than the previous saddle. This lowered the position on the bike. An adjustment was needed in the height of the seat post.

After logging several hundred miles on the SLR Carbonio I would say that it is a great saddle. It is comfortable, very light, and definitely smoothes out the ride. It exceeds what I expect from a saddle and the durability lends confidence to it. Selle Italia’s name equates to function and quality. I would add that it also equates to comfort in the SLR Kit Carbonio.