Selle SMP Cycling Saddles Review | Part 1 | 2018
Do you love everything Italian, well then we have a treat for you. Albabici (http://www.albabici.com/) sent us 2 very cool Selle SMP Cycling Saddles to test out.
In this review we are going to showcase Selle SMP Cycling Saddle’s “Test Me” program.
Selle SMP History
Selle SMP was founded by Martino Padova in 1947 in the northern town of Padua, Italy. In 1979 the company moved it’s operation to Casalserugo, Italy and by 1995 production reached 5 million saddles. Quite an accomplishment.
In 2006, Martino passed and his sons Franco and Maurizio continue his his place. In 2007 Selle SMP launched their first all carbon saddle.
Unlike many saddle manufactures that get their products from Asia, Salle SMP are fully manufactured and made in Italy.
Selle SMP Cycling Saddles Review
One thing that sets Selle SMP apart from many saddle manufacturers is their “Test Me” program where you can test ride the Selle SMP saddles prior to purchase without any obligations. They recommend 4-5 rides to get the feel of the saddle and to make the proper adjustments. To me this is a fantastic opportunity to test out really good saddles and see if they agree with you, something most people probably don’t even know about. I certainly didn’t.
Albabici sent us 2 “Test Me” saddles called the Blaster and Dynamic. The only real difference between the 2 saddles is the width. The Blaster is 131mm wide and the Dynamic is 138mm wide. According to Selle SMP’s saddle sizing chart, the Blaster would be for a man whose waist is 30 – 35 inches or women whose waist is 26 – 33 inches and the Dynamic would be for a man whose waist is 32-37 inches or women whose waist is 30 – 35 inches. Since I have a 30ish inch waist, the Blaster would probably be the better fit. Basically if you have a bigger bum/butt/buttocks, you would go with the wider saddle and in this case it would be the Dynamic.
Both the Blaster and Dynamic fall into Selle’s minimal padding line of saddles. Selle saddles consist of 5 categories including
- Carbon Fiber
- No Padding
- Minimal Padding
- Standard Padding
- Padding High
They also have 3 categories of saddles
- Professional
- Triathlon/Time Trial
- Tourism/Recreational
For people who are serious cyclists, most would opt for the Professional Carbon Fiber – Minimum Padding saddles. More recreational cyclists might opt for Standard Padding or Padding High.
Obviously weight weenies would look for the lightest saddles which would be the Carbon Fiber ones. At 130 grams , the Selle SMP Full Carbon and Full Carbon Lite are sick light and look stunning.
Another neat feature of the Selle SMP saddle line is the wide range of color selection. Most saddles have at least 3 colors to choose from with many saddles having 10 or more.
Setting up the saddle for me was pretty straight forward, but for those that have questions, Albabici website has a great writeup on Selle SMP Saddle Selection and Saddle Adjustment.
Bottom Line | Selle SMP Cycling Saddles | Test Me Program
Let’s face it, saddles can make or break an enjoyable ride. Having a great saddle that fits and is comfortable makes you forget about it, which is what you want.
The Selle SMP “Test Me” program is pretty much a no brainer. Test the saddles out, if you like them, buy them and if you don’t, move on, but I have a feeling many people will really enjoy the ride.
Check out Selle SMP saddles on their website (http://www.sellesmp.com/) or from Albabici (http://www.albabici.com/).
Also stay tuned for Part II of our Selle SMP Review, when we return the test saddles and get a chance to ride what we have chosen.
