Astute Skyline Pilarga SR saddle review

Fully handmade in Italy with a carbon reinforced nylon base and softer almost rubberised sections to kill vibration, the Astute Skyline Pilarga SR saddle is full of innovation. The padding underneath the waterproof and soft touch microfiber covering is a type of memory foam that supports the body incredibly well but retains its shape.

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The rails are solid Tivan, an alloy of titanium and vanadium aimed at deadening vibration. Etched measurement grading on one rail is a clever feature with no chance of the marks being worn off. The understated, almost all black look of the saddle mates well with any colourscheme.

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At 145mm wide the Pilarga version targeted my sit-bones far better than the standard Skyline’s 135mm width.

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You can often tell within the first half hour of a ride whether a saddle is going to work, the best thing about the Astute Skyline Pilarga SR saddle is it took nearly an hour before I realised I was on a new saddle! The padding is firm but yielding, the only thing noticeable is a slight raised area near the nose but it was not uncomfortable, just ‘there’. The rubber base, where the rails enter the body does an amazing job of softening any road feedback.

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