Repente Quasar saddle

€109 (approx £95), sellerepente.com

The Quasar is the cheapest road saddle from the boutique Italian brand (its top-end Aleena saddle comes in at nearer £285) and is the first in the range to use steel rails instead of carbon. Despite this, there is little to suggest that the Quasar is a budget product.

At 170g it is still competitively light, and the hull is made from a polymer reinforced with ‘long carbon fibre’ technology. Repente says that rather than use shorter carbon swatches, it adds long lengths of the fibre into the polymer resin, which ensures the saddle will not lose its rigidity and shape over time.