Here is some bling for those who like to stand out from the crowd. Troy Lee Designs (TLD) has been working with Selle Italia for the past few years, bringing us some fresh new looks to the otherwise boring black mountain bike saddle. This year, Selle Italia and TLD bring us the 25th anniversary”Pistone Bone” ($132 MSRP) to set the brave apart from the humdrum.
The SL TLD Pistone Bone is light enough for any type of riding at 230 grams but is still strong enough for extreme freeriding. The saddle’s backbone features 7mm diameter rails made from manganese and cromoly. To make sure the saddle isn’t too unforgiving, the shell features a mix of approximately 30% carbon composite / 70% ‘fiber glass’ matrix that “gives” in the bumps rather than staying bone-shatteringly rigid.
Underneath the super cool Lorica covered saddle, the padding molds itself to your behind over time, making for a perfect custom fit. I can easily see myself taking this seat off my FR bike and switching it over to my trail bike just because of that feature. Speaking of cool coverings, check out the graphics on this saddle. Totally awesome, totally Troy Lee. Selle Italia’s website has more great looking saddles in the TLD series of saddles including some like the SLR T1 that are almost too nice to ride.
On the trails (and on my trail bike), the SL Pistone Bone took just a short while to get used to because it’s a little different from my current saddle. In the end, the saddle did end up molding to my butt and with the 131mm wide base and 275mm length I found it just right. I set the saddle up parallel to the ground, making sure there was no pressure on the front end. The width was just perfect for me and felt fine without the hot spots that some saddles can create, especially in situations where pelvis spacing is way off. I could easily do 2 to 4hour rides on the Pistone Bone with little reservation.
On the FR bike there is not a lot of sitting but a saddle really can take a beating. Going off jumps and landing, the saddle gets banged around when your body weight bears down on it all at once. Some saddles can’t take that kind of abuse and tend to have their rails bend like a wet noodle. The SL thankfully did not. The covering even seemed to hold up pretty well to some of that abuse with minor scuffing along the sides (which only slightly detracts from the cool looks).
Overall, the Selle Italia / TLD Pistone Bone is a cool saddle with great looks and a comfortable feel. Light weight and strength blend together on this saddle for a smooth and comfortable yet bad-ass ride.
I would like to thank the folks from Selle Italia for providing this saddle for review.
