Selle Repente PRIME saddle review

Selle Repente is the newest brand to jump into the crowded Italian bike saddle market, but a few months with their PRIME saddle leads this reviewer to think that they have staying power.

How does one review a saddle, really? You can talk about the construction, the rails, the cover, adjustability, weight and so on, but when it comes right down to it, the fit of a saddle is a very personal thing and I’ve had more than enough experience to know that one rider’s dream saddle can be like a knife up the privates for someone else.

Take my long love affair with Selle SMP saddles as an example. With a lot of time spent tweaking position and angle, those very unconventional saddles worked really well for me for a lot of years. But ask Padraig over at Red Kite Prayer about Selle SMP and he’ll express a profound dislike for them.

The opportunity to review the Selle Repente PRIME (196€/$220) came at just the right moment. Thanks to an extremely rainy winter and spring, I was spending a lot of time on the trainer. As I was ramping up my time, the old reliable Selle SMP was causing some uncomfortable hot spots. I had been through two other saddles when the Repente PRIME showed up for review.

The Tech

The base of the 165 gram PRIME uses Tepex, a carbon fiber fabric held in a thermoplastic matrix. The structure offers and exceptionally high resistance to flexing under load, together with a very low weight. Unidirectional T700 carbon fibers are used in the rails as well, further keeping the weight down.

The seating surface itself is polyurethane foam wrapped in water-based microfiber fabric. Like previously introduced saddles from Selle Repente, the covers use the Repente Locking System (RLS) which allows the user to swap covers without unmounting the saddle.

The Ride

I’ve been using the PRIME on my Niner RLT 9. I started the season on the trainer and moved to road rides with some chunky gravel patches thrown in there for good measure.

I’ve found that the generous center channel has kept things comfortable and cool and the carbon fiber base is flexing nice (not excessively) under my 200 pounds, definitely softening the blow from the rough roads around the headquarters.

Like any saddle, it took some manipulation of fore/aft position and seat angle to get everything dialed in correctly. Once I got the position nailed however, rides in anything from race bibs to jeans has proven to be hot-spot free.

I got the All White version of the PRIME and it has been easy to keep clean and unlike other white saddles I’ve had, has not picked up color from other fabrics.

The Looks

The PRIME is a slim, racy looking saddle that would look good atop most any road or mountain bike. As noted, I got the All White version of the PRIME. It’s also available in a solid black version (called the All Black), Titanium Arrow (gray stripes on white) and Ghost Arrow (gray stripes on black).

For those who don’t want a center channel Selle Repente makes the SPYD which is dimensionally the same, but gains 10 grams as a result of the extra base material and fabric.

The Conclusion

If you’re looking for a new saddle, you can safely bypass the Italias, the San Marcos, the Concors and the SMPs and try out Selle Repente. The name may be new but they are making saddles well worth your hard earned dollars.