Selle Italia Novus Kit Carbonio Flow saddle

£159.99, chickencycles.co.uk

Remaking things from the 1990s isn’t always advisable. Colin Farrell should never have touched the Total Recall remake, and well-known director Giulio Manfredonia should have left Groundhog Day well alone. But when it comes to saddles, it seems Selle Italia’s Novus is an exception.

‘The original Novus appeared in the 1990s and was made in partnership with engineers at Ferrari,’ says Selle Italia product director Piet van der Velde. ‘It led to developments in new materials, although the new Novus is made just by us. It features the same rear diamond shape, neck and side flanges, but we’ve incorporated small bumpers on the side for scuff protection, and a deeper scoop on the top.’

Van der Velde says this scoop aids riders who like to rotate their pelvis forward when achieving the desired position on the bike – something often done by those with slightly less flexibility – and quite possibly marks a new direction for future saddles, upsetting the traditional flatter top. ‘I used to race and I’d only really like my saddle when it was “broken in”,’ says van der Velde. ‘With the Novus you don’t have to wait.’