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review

Spa Cycles Aire Leather Saddle

9
£45.00

VERDICT:

9
10
A great saddle that's well worth trying
Weight: 
610g
Contact: 
www.spacycles.co.uk

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Spa Cycle's Aire Leather Saddle is part of Spa's range of own-brand leather saddles that's been making waves recently at a fraction of the price of a Brooks equivalent.

That's not to say that the Spa offerings are just cheap clones; go back a few decades and you'd find other saddlers making saddles to the same basic template, it just happened that Brooks was the last man standing as the world moved on to vinyl, plastic and various flavours of artificial leather.

Not so long ago, a leather saddle was almost as quaint as spats or a handlebar moustache and you could pick up a Brooks B17 for about £25, which seemed ridiculously cheap for a quality Made-In-Britain heritage product. Roll forward nine years and moustaches are hip, tweed rules Britannia and every bugger has an artisan pork pie and bottle of home-made ginger beer in their wicker basket as they tootle about pretending to be in the Famous Five.

Leather (along with other ancient tech like wool and steel) is back and popular again. Brooks haven't been slow to ride the retro-wave and have cranked up their marketing, branding and prices accordingly. It's hard to begrudge them a chance to capitalise, but it has meant that what was an affordable option for long distance comfort has now become an expensive accessory and that leaves a gap which Spa has been canny enough to fill.

In an ideal world I'd just tell you about the saddle, but I know that what everyone wants to know (including me) is:- 'how does it stack up against a Brooks?' After all, the Aire is almost identical to the Brooks flagship model, the Swallow, both being narrow racing saddles with the sides joined underneath to help maintain tension and prevent the saddle from splaying out. It also has bag loops.

The Aire has chromed steel rails, very shiny, and weighs 594g, 100g more than the chrome Swallow, largely on account of the extra thick leather. With Spa also moving into titanium frames, you have to wonder if there might be a titanium railed Aire in the pipeline.

The leather on an Aire is very, very thick, much thicker than on my Swift, and has a matt finish, in contrast to the shiny top on a Brooks, which makes it much less slippery during the initial breaking-in phase.

It also has a bonded sheet of material on the underside, which I presume helps with weatherproofing and might also provide a bit more stretch resistance. As per tradition I threw away the complimentary nose-bolt spanner (once you've started to mess about with the nose bolt, you've probably managed to knacker your saddle already) and slapped on a good dollop of Proofide.

Spa don't give a whole load of information about their saddles, other than to say that they are made from Australian cowhide. At a guess I'd say that the slightly wonky Engrish on the instruction label hints at far eastern construction and build quality is very tidy throughout.

First impressions are of a very, very hard saddle. The super thick leather feels like wood and sounds like it when you knock on the top. I'm one of the lucky people who are blessed with a Brooks friendly backside, so I wasn't too worried, but I did wonder how long the breaking in would take.

Past experience says that a Brooks will start to form the characteristic sit-bone dimples after a few hundred miles and I wondered how long the thicker leather of the Aire would take. So far I've put just over a thousand miles into the saddle, including some long audaxes of over 200+ miles, and the top is only just starting to give when you push hard on it. There's a hint of spread around the joining plate but no sign of any dimples forming on top.

I'd guess that although the leather is much thicker than a Brooks, it's a bit softer. I'm not quite sure what implications this might have for longevity. I suspect that it might sag a bit more rapidly than a Brooks and possibly not last quite as long, but without waiting ten years to write this review it's be hard to be sure.

It's certainly very comfortable, even after 15+ hours of riding and given the price I wouldn't turn my nose up at one, even if it turns out not to have the legendary Brooks longevity (which is also a function of rider weight and mileage).

I was very impressed with the Aire. I shouldn't have been too surprised; Spa are well known in audax and touring circles and they'd be doing themselves a serious disservice if they'd just sourced some cheaply made rubbish.

What is surprising is that they have managed to bring it in for just £45 which is astonishing value for money. For comparison, the Swallow is listed at £131.93 which is almost three times as much.

For hard-core randonneurs on a budget or leather saddle virgins who want to try one without breaking the bank the Aire is just about perfect.

Verdict

A great saddle that's well worth trying.

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Spa Cycles Aire Leather Saddle

Size tested: Brown

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

"A classic racing saddle made from Australian cowhide on a chrome plated cro-mo frame."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Width (at widest point): 148mm

Length: 283mm

Weight: 594g

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Very tidy build quality. Leather is, perhaps, not quite up to the same standard as Brooks.

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10

Excellent - completely comfy even over a 400k audax and almost 18hrs of riding.

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

At just over 1000 miles it's barely broken in. Softer leather might mean it's less durable, but even if it only lasts half as long as a Brooks, it's only a third of the price.

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
6/10

You buy these for comfort on long rides, not weight. Extra thick leather adds weight compared to a Swallow.

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
10/10

Doesn't seem to mould itself the way a Brooks does, but has softened noticeably over the last 1000 miles and is very comfy indeed. Even on a 400k audax it was comfortable right to the end.

Rate the product for value:
 
10/10

Almost a third the cost of a Swallow. Superb.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Flawlessly.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Comfort, quality and incredible value for money.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

Top notch old-skool saddle for an amazingly modest price.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 42  Height: 5' 8  Weight: er....85kg

I usually ride: Kona Dew Drop, Dawes Century SE, Carlton Corsa  My best bike is: Guess SC1 scandium

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, Audax and long distance solo rides

 

Add new comment

6 comments

Avatar
DingDongBell | 7 years ago
1 like

I've ridden with the Brooks B17 and Professional saddles for years and love them to bits. On my 60th, however, I treated myself to a Ridgeback Panorama Deluxe Touring cycle from Spa Cycles in Harrogate and, having just read the Road.cc review ordered a Spa Aire in black with the bike.

The leather is certainly thicker and the saddle more rigid than that used on the Brooks range and it took around 500 miles for the Aire to become truly comfortable riding in padded bibs and unpadded cycling trousers.

I ride between 100 and 200 miles per week and am currently doing an 80 mile training ride each Sunday - again, sometimes in padded bibs and sometimes in unpadded cycling trousers (Endura Urban).

This is one fabulous saddle and will certainly outlast me and it is right up there with the top end Brooks saddles.

For those of you with aspirations on a great touring bike you can do far worse than the Ridgeback Panorama Deluxe which Spa Cycles is doing for only £1275. A true classic.

I weigh in at 195cm and 120kg so if this gear can withstand me it can withstand anyone.

This, by the way, is a personal view and I have no connections to any manufacturers or suppliers mentioned other than as a customer.

Having now clocked over 2,500 miles this year on my Spa Aire I can say that it remains the best £45 I've ever spent on bicycle components. This month we'll be riding the Pru RideLondon 100 and I'm looking forward to finishing just as comfortably as when I started.

Avatar
froze replied to DingDongBell | 3 years ago
1 like

Now that you've had this saddle for 3 years since you wrote you comments what do you think of compared to the Brooks? 

One of things I noted in the review was the author said the leather is thick, which you confirmed, and he was riding a lot more miles before it dimpled over the Brooks, which you also mentioned, but then the reviewer said the leather may not last as long?  Wouldn't thicker leather last longer then thinner leather of the Brooks?

Also what weight rider would be comfortable on this saddle?

Avatar
Hood4Good | 11 years ago
0 likes

Isn't it too heavy?  22

Avatar
Rob Simmonds replied to Hood4Good | 11 years ago
0 likes
Hood4Good wrote:

Isn't it too heavy?  22

Too heavy for what?

Avatar
barongreenback | 11 years ago
3 likes

Engrish?

Lacist!

Avatar
John_the_Monkey | 11 years ago
0 likes

Great review. As much as I love my B17, these look very nice, and I've no chance of affording a Swallow at current Brooks prices.

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