The Selle Royal LOOKIN Handmade Moderate (there’s also a lighter, LOOKIN Handmade Athletic) is 285mm long, 155mm wide and weighs a quite portly 318g. The rails are lightweight manganese steel, while the mesh and leather-like cover sits on top of Selle Royal’s ‘Royalgel’ filling, which they claim reduces pressure peaks by up to 40 per cent.
This gel means there’s much more give than with the Selle Italia SLR, but the LOOKIN isn't one of those overly padded gel saddles that are so deep you need to adjust your saddle height and that can cause hotspots on a longer ride. It would suit the rider who likes a fair bit of padding between their sit bones and the saddle’s hull, and who has a more upright riding position, such as on a bike with a flat bar or a road bike with a taller head tube.
You can’t feel any seams when you’re riding, the stitching is neat and the construction quality is first-rate. The LOOKIN has two hard plastic bumpers to prevent damage to the vulnerable sides of the saddle and it also features Selle Royal’s Integrated Clip System, which is designed to take dedicated lights and saddlebags.
This article was originally published in Cycling Plus magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.