Tested: Repente Latus & Prime Italian Made Saddles

In this review we look at two new saddles from Repente, an Italian company that is attempting to create innovative saddles in a range of styles. They are doing a few things that are a little different to standard, but good acronyms and marketing don’t necessarily translate into a good product. In this review we’ll look at a few of these features, and importantly, see how the saddles go on a real bike under a real bum.

REPENTE LATUS M:

A definite trend in saddle design in the last few years has been shorter and wider saddles. The Repente Latus M fits in the moderately “short and wide” camp. The shape of the saddle is noticeably different to a standard shape. In particular, it is quite wide and flat at the rear of the saddle. It sits at a width of 142mm and length of 240mm. For those wanting even wider, the Latus CL is 152mm wide!

There is a defined channel along the centre of the length of the saddle, and a slight concavity when viewed from the side. All of the saddles in the Repente range boast fairly impressive weight figures. The Latus M is a miserly 140g. This featherly figure is made possible due to extensive use of carbon fiber reinforced polymer.  

The body of the saddle is continuous carbon fiber, cured in an autoclave in order to achieve a high quality finish. Autoclaves are the domain of high quality carbon fiber products, the carbon fiber is cured in the matrix in a pressurised oven rather than the more economic in-mould curing.  

The benefit is that the product is usually higher quality, particularly with fewer porosity defects. Undoubtedly, this would add to the manufacturing costs for Repente, but also shows that they are quite commited to producing quality products. 

The rails are carbon fiber and are coined with the marketing term: “multi sectional rail” (MSR). These consist of a combination of cross-sections to contribute both rigidity and flexibility. A suitable comparison would be the way manufacturers use twisted chainstay profiles in cabon road frames to sepecifically engineer compliance in the rear end of the bike. In this case, the saddle rails twist and flatten towards the end to give a little more compliance, it also provides a greater surface area to provide bonding with the main body of the saddle.

Based on the appearance of the wide rear of the Latus M, I didn’t think this saddle would suit me, however I actually found it very comfortable on both short and long rides. 

There was enough compliance to make it comfortable and I found myself rocking forward on it during hard efforts but without discomfort. There is no doubt that saddle comfort is a very personal preference, but the Latus M was a winner for me. Combined with a super competitive weight, this saddle finds itself in competition with the top end products such as the PRO Stealth Carbon.

Repente PRIME:

The Repente Prime is more traditonally dimensioned saddle than the Latus, at 132 wide and 275mm long. It is immediately evident that the Prime includes a generous cutout along the centre. As is generally the case, the intent of the cut out is to decrease the pressure on the perineal area. The need for a cutout like this varies from rider to rider. 

The Prime uses a base material coined as ‘TEPEX’ and this refers to the thermoplastic matrix into which the woven carbon fiber of the main base is laminated. This is a very stiff and reasonably light structure; indeed the Prime weighs in at 160g. This weight is fairly impressive given the other key feature of the Prime (and a few other saddles in the range): the “Repente Locking System (RLS). RLS is allows the entire top portion of the saddle to be removed and replaced when damaged or worn out; or to switch padding styles or colours.

There are three pins in the top that insert and lock into the base to secure the parts together. During testing there was never any discernable movement between the top and the base. The specific shape of this saddle was a little too rounded for 
my body, but despite this, it was still reasonably comfortable on a range of rides. Certainly the cut out style will make this a very suitable saddle for some riders. 

I was impressed with both of these saddles. The quality of the finish was excellent with some nice little decals and attention to details. The weight, performance and comfort was what you would expect from a top end saddle. 

The price of  each saddle is top-end too though, with both of these models priced at well over $300. Repente offer some saddles in the $200 range for those wanting something a little more affordable.

All in all, the Repente range is reasonably diverse but targetted at the cyclist willing to pay for the quality and specifications of these italian made, aesthetically pleasing saddles.

For those wanting to diverge from the regular saddle brands, they offer excellent performance at the spec sheet is very good to; they are definitely worth a look, or a sit perhaps.

Repente Prime:

RRP: $349

Distributor: Acium Sports

COATING: Water-based microfiber

FOAM PADDING: Polyurethane foam

PADDING SUPPORT: PA12 Carbon Reinforced

SUPPORT STRUCTURE: TEPEX® Carbon

DIMENSIONS: 275 mm x 132 mm

WEIGHT: 160 g

MANUFACTURED: Made in Italy

Repente Latus M

RRP: $389

Distributor: Acium Sports

COATING: Water-based microfiber

FOAM PADDING: Super lightweight EVA

PADDING SUPPORT: Unidirectional carbon T700

SUPPORT STRUCTURE:Unidirectional T700 – 1K

RAIL: UD Carbon Fiber T700

SADDLE RAIL CLAMP: 7×9 mm

DIMENSIONS: 240 mm x 142 mm

WEIGHT: (± 5%) 140 g

MANUFACTURED: Made in Italy