PRO Stealth Carbon Saddle Review: Built for Aggressive, Dynamic Riding

With its wide, shortened nose and almost flat profile, the PRO Stealth Carbon saddle is designed to support an aggressive, dynamic riding position, with your hands in the drops or on the aero extensions. Beneath its minimalist look, it still offers a fair amount of comfort.

By Guillaume Judas – Photos: @3bikes.fr

In the highly competitive saddle market, manufacturers take several approaches to offer solutions suited to different types of riding, because the ideal saddle for everyone has yet to be invented. To sit well on a saddle, you have to account for pelvis width (and therefore the distance between the sit bones), your overall posture and thus how your weight is distributed across the other contact points, the pedals and the handlebars (a relaxed rider tends to sit more upright and put more weight on the saddle), and of course the type of surface. That is why the dozen or so major brands sold in shops offer different models, with different shapes and even different widths.

Designed in collaboration with World Tour riders, the PRO Stealth Carbon is a saddle built for performance, whether on the road, in time trials or in triathlon. To encourage a low position on the bars and make it more comfortable, with your hands in the drops or on the extensions, the idea behind short-nose saddles is to tilt the pelvis forward and reduce friction between the thighs. A shortened saddle, which also incidentally makes it possible to get around the UCI rule on minimum setback, theoretically limits how far you can move on the saddle (a more or less forward or rearward position that you would adopt depending on the terrain). That is the case for many models that favor a fairly fixed position, but not the PRO Stealth, first thanks to its fairly flat profile, and then thanks to a nose width well above average (almost 5 cm versus 4 cm or less).

On the PRO Stealth, you can move well forward on the saddle to grip the handlebars from underneath, while still feeling genuinely stable support between your thighs.

Soft covering

Among its other features, the Stealth Carbon has a carbon shell and rails, so it has a wide central channel to relieve pressure on the perineum, and a cover designed to limit both friction and sliding. That is a balance that is often hard to find. The EVA foam padding is minimal, but enough to offset the stiffness of the shell. The saddle looks spartan, but in fact it is quite comfortable on the road once you find the right position.

The very slight flex of the shell comes only from the very wide central cutout, a flex limited by the two carbon “bridges” that connect the two side edges. This unusual spacing, combined with thin padding around it and therefore not very pronounced edges, makes this saddle less likely to cause pain than other models of the same type. While the central channel relieves the perineum, its rims often cause us other discomfort or irritation because the weight shifts onto the sides, which is absolutely not the case here.

With its particular dimensions, the PRO Stealth also stands out for the positioning of its rails, which sit fairly far back. So be careful when adjusting setback, as you may find there is not enough adjustment range.

To find the right setback compared with a traditional-length saddle, there is no choice but to measure the theoretical hollow of the saddle with calipers, the point where the width of the seat is 70 mm. Here it sits 10 cm from the nose, compared with 9.5 cm for a Specialized Power or 15 cm for a fi’zi:k Arione, for example.

As with most saddles of this type, you feel best with a few degrees of forward tilt, whether in a low position or sitting up. Despite our concerns, you do not slide forward, but you also do not feel squeezed when holding an aerodynamic position. When you sit up, for example to climb a long hill or to ease off for a few kilometers, you can shift slightly back and take advantage of the wide flare as a mini backrest.

When you sit up, for example to climb a long hill or to ease off for a few kilometers, you can shift slightly back and take advantage of the wide flare as a mini backrest.

Offered in two flare widths (142 mm and 152 mm), the PRO Stealth is in fact not designed to be used along its full length. That is exactly why, with this type of saddle, you need to revise not only your dimension references but also your tilt. The slightly raised flare, wider than we are used to, locks us in place, yet to our great surprise we ride the nose very comfortably and without sliding in a speed-seeking position. It does, however, offer a bit more freedom than other saddles of this type on the market, notably thanks to the width of the short nose.

Dynamic comfort

Even after several hours in intense heat, the support and comfort of the PRO Stealth do not waver. Of course, at first glance the saddle is not soft and has little padding. We would not recommend it for off-road use or on very rough surfaces. It feels firm under your seat, but without causing sudden pain or squashing sensitive areas when you hit potholes, for example. We immediately appreciated the width at the front of the saddle and the sense of support it provides. You feel no squashing or pumping while pedaling, just the impression of becoming one with the bike. You quickly forget the central channel, which causes no injury or irritation at the edges. We lent the saddle for a session to a friend who suffers from minor urinary problems and who had them at the end of his rides. Even though he found the saddle “hard” at first, he had no urinary problems after 100 km, something that had not happened to him in a long time.

The PRO Stealth Carbon is thus a model you can describe as comfortable, but only if it is intended for dynamic riding, and if you take the time needed to find the right settings. It is aimed at riders who often ride with their hands in the drops, but also at triathletes who naturally adopt a low, stretched-out position on the bike, or even time trialists.

This saddle is of course compatible with other PRO accessories, notably small mudguards, frame plate mounts, or CO2 cartridges. It stands out for its lovely finish and light weight (174 g verified for the 142 mm width). There are two other versions, one with carbon rails at €179, and another with alloy rails, weighing 205 g and costing around €89.

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