Some bits of cycling kit are pretty straight forward to test and you’ll get some decent quantitative results relatively quickly – how many seconds does it take for an electric pump to inflate a gravel tyre, what’s the battery life of a bike light on full beam, how many grams of carbohydrate does an energy bar contain etc. Saddles however, do not fall into that category. Assessing whether a saddle offers that perfect combination of comfort and support is incredibly personal and one rider’s dream perch could be another’s pain in the arse. Olly breaks out his lab coat and tries to be subjective in our latest bit of gear testing.

At 161g, your first impression when you pick up a Pro Stealth Team (PST) saddle is likely to be just how incredibly light it is. It’s more than 100g lighter than my normal gravel bike perch (a Fizik Argo X5). Obviously once it’s fitted, you won’t be able to feel that weight difference, but in percentage terms it’s huge. The PST saddle is described as “a short-length, high performance, road saddle; designed to help riders hold and maintain an aggressive, forward, position.” That might sound like it’s aimed squarely at road cyclists and aspiring racers, so the question must be – does it work in the gravel world and how comfortable is it on day-long rides, rather that short, sharp races?

The PST saddle is offered in two width fittings – 142mm and 152mm. There’s a useful video here which explains a simple way to figure out what width saddle you need. The one I tested was a 142mm. The saddle is constructed from “carbon reinforced polymer, with lightweight EVA padding, a smooth PU cover and carbon rails.” EVA, Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate, is “an elastic copolymer that combines the properties of plastic and rubber, making it soft, flexible and tough.” PU, polyurethane, is “a versatile polymer that combines the flexibility of rubber with the toughness and durability of plastic.” So, the bare bones of the saddle are designed to be flexible and tough, which sounds like an ideal combination. The 9mm diameter carbon rails also generally considered to offer the Goldilocks characteristics of comfort and strength. The saddle is described as having a “short length, wide nose design” with a “broad anatomic fit recess.” The latter in particular ensures that “flexible riders can tilt from the pelvis into a deep, pursuit style position, while ensuring that they do not experience discomfort from any impingements on blood vessels or nerves running though the perineal region.” The chances of a gravel rider needing to assume a “deep, pursuit style position” is, I suspect, pretty unlikely, but a design which reduces discomfort in the perineal region is something all cyclists would likely appreciate.

The shape of the Pro Stealth Team saddle is strangely almost an exact replica of my existing saddle of choice - a Fizik Argo X5. Shorter saddles, with a wider nose are becoming increasingly common, but you only appreciate quite how dramatically saddle shapes have changed when you compare the 2025 PST saddle to an older design (dating from 2018) from the same manufacturer. Apart from the difference in shape, the PST saddle also offered one other unique feature – a set of built-in mounting points for compatible saddle accessories. PRO produce a “direct-mount” seat pack which can be bolted directly to the PST saddle for example. Although I won’t be using that (as they’re not being imported into the UK at the minute), I will be using these mounting points to attach a small rear-facing action camera in a future piece of Gravel Union editorial. 

Depending on which particular brand of seatpost you use, you might find that the carbon rails of the PST saddle don’t play nicely with the clamp mechanism of your seatpost. This was the case for my Canyon VCLS seatpost and meant I needed to purchase a different clamp set (shown above right) before I could properly mount the saddle. Fortunately the different clamp was relatively inexpensive, but just bear this in mind when budgeting for your new saddle. PRO offer a 30-day money back guarantee on this saddle, so if you do buy one and then decide it’s not the right shape for you at least you will be able to get your money back. That obviously won’t apply to any seatpost upgrade you need to make though….

In order to test the PST saddle properly, I figured I should try it in a variety of situations and on different duration of rides. To this end, I’ve done everything from two-hour urban night rides which deliberately took in as many cobbled streets as I could shoehorn in, day-long gravel/mixed-surface rides out in the hills, half-day road rides and the ultimate test of a saddle’s comfort – an indoor training session which included an FTP test. I also used the saddle with a variety of clothing – everything from my thickest winter tights to a pair of high-end lightweight summer shorts. For a couple of the nightrides, the outside temperatures were so cold that I wore a pair of MTB trail trousers over the top of my winter tights. If anything was going to highlight anomalies with saddle comfort, then an extra layer of clothing (with all the additional sets of seams and stitches) would definitely do it.

Solely based on the overall shape, or at least, how similar it was to my existing well-fitting Fizik saddle, I was pretty confident that the PST saddle was going to be comfortable. Fortunately, my assumption was accurate and I found the PST saddle to be exactly the right shape form the word go onwards. Despite hammering it over a wide variety of surfaces and lengths of ride, the PST saddle provided the Goldilocks combination of comfort and support. On each of the tests, no matter how much time I spent in the saddle, I finished the ride without the sensations of discomfort that can sometimes be the case. 

There is a hell of a lot of luck involved when trying out a new saddle for the first time. You can do all the research in the world before you buy and it might be perfect, or it might be a recipe for walking like John Wayne for days afterwards. Fortunately for me, the Pro Stealth Team saddle was the perfect fit. It’s definitely not cheap, with a RRP of £199.99 (or equivalent), but with a combination of light weight, comfort and good looks, it definitely wins my “happy bottom” award!

You can find full details about the PST saddle at the PRO website.