Part of the 3 Action range, along with the Titanium Misy version tested a little while ago, the steel railed Arte Selle Misy AX 3 Action saddle here is cheaper, heavier and more padded.
Just to recap, the 3 Action idea is one that separates the saddle design into three parts. A raised rear for climbing, a flat section for the less lumpy stuff and a dropped nose for when you're head down giving it the beans.
In practice it all works rather well. Being able to ease back against the elevated tail when climbing provides a good solid platform to push back against providing power. It also relieves some lower back pressure.
The middle section has a cut-out to remove numbness and the slightly increased level of padding over the titanium version is much appreciated. The Misy is a comfortable saddle while the narrow nose is ideal for the larger thighed rider. The slightly dropped nose helps when you're really going for it taking a bit of pressure off of the sensitive bits as you're flying over rough surfaces.
The sacrifice of the extra padding and a change to steel rails sees an increase of 50g over the titanium but at 225g its still a relatively light saddle especially for its £39.99 price tag.
Day-long comfort is good with an ideal balance of padding - meaning it's supportive enough without being squidgy. A few 4-5 hour rides were carried out in comfort with no numbness or hot spots.
Build quality is okay but not quite up to the standard you'd expect for forty quid. The material is stapled to the saddle shell and in places it was coming away and puckered in others. Thankfully the man-made upper looks good from above and should prove to be pretty hardwearing.
Verdict
A decent, comfortable saddle with a pretty good weight, but average build quality.
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road.cc test report
Make and model: Arte Selle Misy AX 3 Action saddle
Size tested: Red
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 performance saddle on a budget.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
3 Action design which gives different positions for changing terrain.
If the build quality was better it would be worth the forty quid.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It's comfortable, looks good and the 3 Action design works.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The 3 Action concept.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Poor build quality.
Did you enjoy using the product? It was okay.
Would you consider buying the product? No.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? No.
About the tester
Age: 34 Height: 180cm Weight: 76kg
I usually ride: Ribble Winter Trainer for commuting, Genesis Flyer My best bike is: Sarto Rovigo
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,
Stu knocked out his first road.cc review back in 2009 and since then he's chucked the best part of seventy test bikes around the West Country, a couple of them quite literally! With three alloy and two steel bikes in his fleet he's definitely a metal man (that'll be the engineering background) but is slowly warming to that modern carbon fibre stuff along with fat tyres & disc brakes.
It's not all nostalgia though, after spending the last few years in product design Stu keeps banging on about how 3D printing is going to be the next big thing and he's a sucker for a beautiful paint job too.