Forza Team Issue 2012 Saddle

Forza – or 4ZA – is the standalone accessories brand of Belgian bike manufacturer Ridley and it has just got widespread UK distribution through Todays Cyclist. The Team Issue saddle is the first Forza product we've reviewed on road.cc and it's a really good start.

The saddle is about as flat from front to back as you'll find. If you're familiar with the popular Fizik Arione, it's as level as that. There's no wave in the shell and barely any rise towards the rear.

Of course, whether you find a saddle like that comfortable comes down to individual preference – there's always that proviso in any saddle review – but I like that shape and I know that plenty of other people do too.

The nylon base is 285mm long and 145mm wide, which is about normal for a race/performance-style saddle. It's hard to give dimensions for the nose – where do you measure it? – but I'd say that at about the halfway point it's 48mm wide if you want to compare that to your current saddle. Again, that's about average.

One of the main things determining a saddle's comfort for me is the profile of the nose from side to side. If there's a pronounced hump, forget it. This one isn't super-flat; you couldn't balance a ball bearing on there (hey, everyone has to have a hobby) but it's certainly towards that end of things.

The base comes with a reasonable degree of flex to dampen out the effects of pock-marked roads. In the central area where some saddles have a cutout section, there's a 3/4-oval shaped slit that's filled with a squidgy elastomer material to provide more give without the need for more padding. Does it work? It seems to; with a middling amount of foam over the top, I found the level of flex spot on.

The cover is Microfeel which is a synthetic material that's pretty hard wearing. Selle San Marco, for example, use something very similar. You can move about on it easily enough but you won't slip and slide when you don't want to.

The rails are titanium and they seem perfectly capable of handling everything they need to handle. They come with markings that help you micro-adjust your position.

Forza claim a weight of 155g although ours was 184g. That's still respectably light for a saddle, especially for a mid-priced option. Overall, you're getting a really good deal here.

Verdict

Lightweight racy saddle for those who like a flat perch