Fizik Arione 00 Versus Evo saddle

Fizik has gone with the whole 'less is more' ethos with its Arione 00 Versus Evo saddle. Stripped back to a mere 167g with minimal padding and lashings of carbon fibre, it is still surprisingly comfortable with a great balance of stiffness and flex. You're going to have to pay for such performance, though.

• Pros: Impressive comfort for something so minimal, awesome styling
• Cons: Eye-watering price, takes a bit of bedding in

Fizik's '00' range is its showcase of what is achievable in terms of design with top end materials. The Arione 00 Versus Evo has a shell made from high modulus carbon fibre which is unbelievably stiff considering how thin it is, with the central channel literally just about a millimetre thick. Even the main sections either side of the channel are just 4mm thick too.

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Though the whole shell feels stiff, it does a decent job of allowing just enough flex to take out any harshness or road vibration. This is helped by the Mobius carbon fibre rail. Rather than having two rails plugged into the front and rear of the saddle, the Arione 00 uses a single rail which makes up a complete loop around the base of the saddle. It adds stiffness front and rear but allows the shell to flex around the sides, so the saddle can move with you a little as you pedal.

It looks cool but does make the fitting of some saddle bags a bit of a faff.

For pressure relief, most saddles use a cutout in the middle but Fizik has gone for a different approach with the Versus Evo models; there is an Arione Open model, if that's what you are after.

The Versus Evo has two sections of padding either side of the central channel. They are firm and did take a little bit of breaking in over the first hundred miles or so. When softened up, the padding offers plenty of comfort while the edges next to the channel maintain their firmness and shape to stop sagging and maintain that pressure relief.

When it comes to saddle shape, Fizik designs its range around the Spine Concept, which takes spine flexibility and pelvic rotation into account. They are split into three categories: Snake for the most flexible of riders, then Chameleon, then Bull.

The Arione is part of the Snake range with its flat profile, and is ideally suited to hard and fast riding especially in a flat backed racing position.

Three to four-hour rides were carried out in plenty of comfort on my own race bike, and I really enjoyed the balance of plenty of stiffness under heavy pedalling efforts and shock absorbance when the road surface was far from ideal.

The Arione's 299mm length gives you plenty of area to shift your body weight around on; for instance, when climbing I like to push myself further back to the rear of the saddle as I am more efficient.

At £324, it's one hell of a lot of money for a saddle, but for high-end products like these, value for money is very rarely high on the list of reasons to buy. A similarly constructed carbon fibre saddle (albeit with some modularity) is the Repente Aleena 40, which costs £295.

Or there's Rapha's Pro Team Saddle at £295; you get a full-carbon shell and rails, although I don't think it has quite the aesthetics of the Arione.

> Buyer's Guide: 13 of the best high-performance saddles

If you wanted the Versus Evo design of the Arione but without the 00 price tag, the standard version costs £189.99 (we tested the Antares version here); you only get a carbon-reinforced shell and standard carbon rails, but it is only about 20g heavier.

On the whole, the Arione 00 Versus Evo is one of the best race saddles I've ridden. If you're happy to shell out the extra over the non-00 version you won't be disappointed; I'm not sure I could justify it.

Verdict

A showcase for what is achievable in terms of performance and comfort, but at a price