Selle San Marco Shortfit 2.0 3D Carbon FX saddle

The innovative Selle San Marco Shortfit 2.0 3D Carbon FX is extremely comfortable but comes at a very high price, although it's on a par with other 3D printed saddles.

If you don't have £365 to spend on a new seat, check out our guide to the best bike saddles for options to suit every budget.

> Buy now: Selle San Marco Shortfit 2.0 3D Carbon FX for £191.21 from Amazon

As we say with every saddle review on road.cc, comfort is subjective – what might be incredibly comfortable for me could be like torture for you – so it's always worth testing a few before making any purchasing decision.

The main selling point of this saddle is the 3D printed 'cover'. Rather than taking the traditional route of putting padding where it needs to go on the saddle base and covering it in leather or another material, the Selle San Marco's 3D printed cover is a lattice of interconnecting 'threads', with spacing varying throughout to alter the cushioning in different areas to provide optimum comfort and support.

I found it incredibly comfortable and supportive, which comes down to a combination of both the shape working well for my body and the makeup of the saddle.

I've been a fan of short saddles for a while, and here the length and the different cushioning zones of the 3D printed upper combine impressively well.

I was reviewing the L3 size, which has a length of 255mm and width of 155mm; the S3 is the same length but 15mm narrower.

As well as the different cushioning zones, the saddle has a central cutout to reduce pressure on the perineum, and this combination meant I was more than happy to take on adventures of any length.

This comfort doesn't come at the cost of putting power through the pedals, either – there were many times when I did seated efforts without noticing any loss in power over a regular saddle.

While a 3D printing process is used to make the cover, or upper, this is then attached to a traditionally made carbon fibre-reinforced nylon base. So although you may have a '3D printed saddle', you actually have a 3D printed upper and a 'normal' base.

There are two versions of the Shortfit 2.0 3D saddle, the Carbon FX on test, and the Racing, with the only difference being the material used for the rails. The Carbon FX's are carbon, while the Racing has stainless steel rails and is £45 cheaper (and 36g heavier). Let's be honest, though, if you're spending over £300 on a saddle, most people would pay an extra £45 to not have stainless steel rails.

Back to the upper, and in addition to allowing different cushioning zones throughout the saddle, the 3D printed cover also means there's no single sheet of material, allowing for more grip; all the little bits of silicone-like netting keep you from sliding around much more effectively than any traditional saddle I've used. And when it rains there is much less surface for the water to sit on, so there isn't much reduction in grip at all.

However, one thing that 3D printing doesn't improve is weight. At 191g, the 3D Carbon FX is by no means heavy, but it isn't exactly lightweight compared with other similarly priced non-3D printed saddles. The Cadex Amp that Tom reviewed recently hit the scales at a full 61g lighter, and the very cool looking Bjorn Probka is only 107g, and both are more than £100 cheaper.

It isn't really fair to compare this to non-3D printed saddles, though, and among its 3D printed brethren it's quite well priced, for the weight.

The Selle Italia SLR Boost 3D Kit Carbonio Superflow saddle, for example, is a little lighter at 177g, but £45 more, while the Fizik Vento Argo 00 Adaptive is 8g heavier and £35 more. The Fizik Vento Argo R3 Adaptive saddle is over £100 cheaper but 40g heavier.

Conclusion

So overall am I impressed by this saddle? Yes, very much so. It isn't the lightest, but the combination of comfort and power transfer is something I haven't really experienced before. This is an insanely expensive saddle and there is no getting around that, but if money's no object and you're looking for something eye-catching and comfortable then it is definitely worth trying.

Verdict

Innovative and amazingly comfortable saddle but at an 'early adopter' price