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review
Bontrager Aeolus Pro Saddle£199.99
VERDICT:
Well made and versatile saddle that's comfortable for racing and training
Reasonably light
Comfortable for all kinds of riding
Well made
Short rails can make saddle packs a struggle to fit
Weight:
169g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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- Appalling
The Bontrager Aeolus Pro Saddle is a unisex, race-oriented perch aimed at those who prefer an aggressive riding position, but it works just as well for longer, more relaxed rides. I found it easy to adapt to and female friendly.
I tested the 145mm width, and while at 170g it's not the lightest of saddles, it's light enough for all but the most particular hill climbers. For me it's a whopping 50g lighter than my usual (and now discontinued) Bontrager Ajna Elite saddle.
Going from a reasonably long-nosed saddle to a short one, I was slightly apprehensive about the fit. Comfort is of course subjective, but if you like to ride in the drops, the Aeolus Pro is a good choice – I soon realised I needn't have worried.
The short nose did mean I had to fit this slightly further forward on the rails than usual, which limited space behind it for saddle packs.
Performance
As this is a racing saddle, I thought it befitting to pop it onto my new bike and take it on a road bike time trial. Whether I was down in the drops or on the hoods with my elbows bent I felt comfortable and, unlike with other saddles – where I constantly need to reposition myself throughout a ride or big effort – I felt really stable. There was limited pressure on my soft tissue.
The cut-out did an excellent job here, and even with minimal padding it created no soreness after a fair few hours. Just to be thorough I tried it on a few different bikes, and found it just as comfortable with the riding positions on my cross-bike, road bike and the old road bike condemned to the turbo trainer.
I can't speak for other genders, but as a rider with female genitalia I avoided any hotspots or soreness throughout the entire testing period with this saddle – and that is a first for me.
I also like this saddle's compatibility with Bontrager's Blendr accessories, which makes fitting lights to the rails easy.
Value
At £199.99 this is a considerable investment, but it looks fair against those with similar performance and weight. For instance the PRO Stealth Curved Team Saddle – another easy-to-live-with short-nosed option with roughly the same weight – has inevitably gone up since we reviewed it and is now exactly the same at £199.99.
If weight is everything, the recently reviewed Bjorn Probka Saddle is made of cork, carbon and magic, and weighs just 107g. Reviewer Stu found it extremely comfortable, but if you want less stuff you're going to have to pay to not have it... the Probka is £260.
If pressure relief is key, the SQlab 612 Ergowave R Carbon saddle is also £199.99, and as we found it's usefully lighter as well at just 130g.
Overall
The Aeolus Pro is a well made saddle that's reasonably priced for the spec, and – for me at least – proved very comfortable place to be throughout many hours of riding of many different styles: endurance rides, training sessions, indoor turbo and aggressive (read painful) time trials. It's a versatile, effective saddle.
Verdict
Well made and versatile saddle that's comfortable for racing and training
road.cc test report
Make and model: Bontrager Aeolus Pro Bike Saddle
Size tested: 145mm
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?
Bontrager says:
'An ultra-light aero road saddle with a full cut-out using the latest biomechanical research to minimise soft-tissue pressure while maximising power and sustained comfort.
'Aeolus Pro brings comfort, power and speed to road riders looking to dig deep and rotate further forward into a more aero position. This uber-light, race-ready saddle was tested and pressure-mapped with male and female athletes for the ultimate in proven performance. A shorter overall length with a wider nose and full cut-out ensure targeted support that eliminates soft-tissue pressure for both men and women.'
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Bontrager says:
inForm saddles are born of cutting-edge biomechanical research to maximise performance and rider comfort
Designed to support riders in an Aero Road riding position
Full saddle cut-out minimises soft-tissue pressure allowing for a more powerful, rotated position
Two sizes designed to align saddle with bone structure for both men and women and avoid soft-tissue compression
Oversized carbon rails for lightweight strength. Specific seatpost ear clamps required
Lightweight carbon-reinforced shell provides perfect balance of weight, strength and compliance
Minimal pro-level padding offers sleek a profile that shaves weight
Available Blendr accessory mounts to cleanly integrate rear light
Size 250mm x 145mm
Length 250mm
Width 145 mm
Rail dimensions Oval 7x10 mm (Oversized)
Cover material F-24 (soft-touch)
Rail material Carbon Fibre
Weight 170g
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
I moved the saddle across various bikes and there are no marks or signs of wear on the saddle or rails.
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
7/10
At 170g it's decent, if not outstanding.
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
9/10
For the first time in many saddles, this didn't need much getting used to. I use a Bontrager Ajna Elite on my road bikes normally, but even with the Aeolus' shorter nose and longer cutout, it was instantly comfortable – and stayed that way even after hours of riding.
Rate the product for value:
5/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Excellently. I did not suffer from any soreness, pain or numbness throughout various types of rides.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
I found this genuinely comfortable, and it suits my geometry nicely. It was still comfortable after hours of use too.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The rear feels a little wide on the 145mm version, so a little bit of adjustment from my usual fit was needed.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
As a race-oriented short nosed saddle it has plenty of competition, particularly around the £200 mark – it's reasonably priced for what it is.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
I found this an easy-to-adjust-to saddle that doesn't require breaking in, and it's a lightweight racing option that also works nicely on longer rides. The shortish rails mean attachments will be limited if you run it quite far forward, though.
About the tester
Age: 29
I usually ride: Bianchi Oltre XR1 My best bike is:
I've been riding for: 5-10 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, sportives, general fitness riding, mtb,
Rebecca has been writing about bikes for four years, after a typically ill-timed career change pre-pandemic. She's been riding bikes since she can remember, and fell back in love with them after realising it was faster, cheaper, and more fun than getting the bus to work. Nowadays she enjoys all kinds of bikes, from road to eMTB and is training her border collie pup to become a trail dog.
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12 comments
"I can't speak for other genders, but as a rider with female genitalia"
A "rider with external genitalia visually similar to those commonly associated with people identifying with the gender role coded as 'female'", please. Or, perhaps, "woman".
Amazing how we have to tiptoe around words now.
Imagine all the wasted man-hours are about to be wasted because of our effort to address people correctly. Or maybe all the wasted ALivingAnimalDefinedByTheAcademicCommunityAsHomoSapiens-hours if want to be more inclusive
But there are even more savings to be gained! Simply drop the Mr, Mrs or Ms (see what we did there?) and hey presto, 3 - 4 characters saved every email / letter AND a more level playing field!
Probably nowhere near as much time as that wasted by people commenting on forums about how terrible the world has become just because they can't use the language they want because, in general as a society, we are becoming more enlightened and see it as important to not deliberately offend people.
Its amazing how addressing someone in a respectful manner under the terms they wish to be addressed which used to be called good manners has been weaponsided and polticised by a bunch of reactionaries who are frightened of change and tolerance.....
In fact they are so frightened of having to show basic respect courtesy and tolerant to other people they had to invent a code word called "woke" that they could use pejoratively. But hey the first step to treating other people like shit is putting them in an out group. As cylists you'd think we'd recognise that.....
I'm rather fond of a quote I saw on Twitter a few years ago when having pronouns in one's bio became a thing: "Pronouns: I couldn't care less what you call me but some people will so try not to be a dick about it if possible."
Presumably a considered choice of insult used there too?
Cultures change, language changes ... who doesn't have usages which they consider foolish, vulgar or plain naughty; meantime "if you can't say anything nice say nothing - and take to social media".
Good manners is fine, and to be encouraged. At the risk of sounding "some of my best friends..." about it, I have trans colleagues who I am perfectly content to refer to by their preferred pronouns: it's just a word, and there's no need to be a prick about it.
But, there are brute facts that language doesn't erase, and facts matter. How my colleague presents herself or what she wants to be called has nothing to do with how we do our job, still less on her value as a human. But, she simply is not a woman and where that's relevant she shouldn't be treated as one. I don't know which is less likely, but she shouldn't be allowed to compete in a women's sporting event and she shouldn't be sent to a women's prison.
The "person with female genitalia" nonsense, as well as being eye-rollingly clunky, muddies those waters when they are perfectly clear to all except a tiny proportion of the itself-tiny intersex population. It's concerning and uncomfortable that the religious, reactionaries and worse are stoking this, and I loathe the threats they pose to (among others) non-heterosexuals and people who don't behave in sex-specific ways, but on the facts alone they're not wrong.
One of the problems is that the 'facts' are largely down to the definitions used and the definitions of 'male' and 'female' aren't rigorous and end up being based on guesswork for some intersex conditions. The problem is trying to shoe-horn all humans into two specific types when there's a lot more complexity than that. The edge cases may be few and far between, but they do demonstrate that a lot of the so-called facts are mainly opinions.
I have this saddle and like it, no problems fitting my fairly small Castelli saddle pack. Don't make the same mistake I did and try to fit it to a clamp meant for round rails, it has flatted oval rails so needs a matching clamp.
Given the comments above, I wondered if "my fairly small saddle pack" was a euphemism.