Thanks for tuning in
today we're going to be reviewing Velo's
latest Senso Ray
bicycle saddle.
Here we have Velo's latest addition
to the Senso
bicycle saddle product line. With the
Senso product line they're really trying
to bring
the latest and material sciences and
performance at a much lower cost.
If you're not familiar with Velo
especially in the US
you should be because actually one of
the largest saddle producers in the
world
and you've likely ridden with one of
their saddles but under a different name.
So they produce a lot of saddles for
other companies and more recently
they're trying to expand in the US
market
and expand their saddle range to attract
more people. So with this
the Senso Ray, it's a high performance
saddle at a really affordable price
point.
Now packaging wise it is really nice, it's a
cardboard box with this reflective logo
on here.
You have the website on the side and
then not much else so
basic information here on the side. This is a
stubby nose saddle with
standard width 142 millimeters and this
is the
titanium rail variation. Let's go ahead
and pop this out and go over the specs.
The retail price on this is 85 dollars so
quite cheap, it is
impressive to see at such a
low price point. It has titanium alloy rails
and you only have one size variation and one
color variation which is this black.
You also get their concealed design so
you see the base
and the top cover, there's actually no
visible edge and it goes underneath.
It's a nylon base with a polyurethane
cover
so it looks quite nice, you get a
little channel relief here to
relieve some of the pressure when you're
riding. As I mentioned this follows
the current trend of stubby nose
saddle so quite a bit shorter than your
traditional saddle which gives you a
little more
flexibility to switch between aggressive
position and less aggressive position with
more comfort. Now let's take a look at
the weight of the Senso Ray saddle,
this is a titanium alloy rail variation.
This comes in at 242 grams and this is
consistent with the Selle Italia
titanium rail version and other saddles
we've tested here.
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Now let's take a look at the fit and
finish of the Velo
Senso Ray saddle. Now as reviewers it's
always really fun
to get the latest gadgets and the top
variations of
products for manufacturers, but with the
Senso Ray we're really excited to see
a high performance saddle an affordable
price. The 85
retail price is really accessible to
most people and then unlocks a lot of
the performance you see with more modern
stubby saddles.
Graphically it's pretty nice you get
these little lines here
they're white and black so it's subtle
but not too busy.
It extends on the other side as well, you
get the Velo logo on this side
on the middle and then Senso Velo on
this side.
So it's pretty subtle at certain angles
it just looks like a black saddle
and the base is a semi-gloss gray and
what I like about the saddle is that the
base actually extends a little bit
further back. It
gives it really clean look, this also has
what they call
Atmos shaping and with this design
the upper and the base are actually
melded together with no visible seam.
You can see it's really clean,
the advantage of this is it looks more
premium and it's a lot easier to clean
so if you go through dirt or mud
it won't really get trapped anywhere.
It's easy just to scrub this off and
clean the base
off. What's also interesting to see here
is they just say patented on the bottom
instead of adding
the pantent number which I thought was a
requirement.
Also I pointed out that the base here
for mounting is really wide, this is
two inches
so you get a lot of flexibility when
you're mounting it. Overall it feels
really well designed at 242 grams this
is not the lightest saddle on the market
so it has a little bit of weight to it
but I think it has really high
performance appearance.
The foam on here is pretty firm
so you can see as I push down on it that
has good shock rebound almost like a
memory foam so you see
it takes about a second for it just to
release the tension. You have variable
density as well so on the front
feels a lot softer as you go to the
back it gets a little firmer
and you get this nice pressure relief
channel. It's not a cut out
but it's enough that it's actually
pretty comfortable on the road.
Now let's do a little comparison with
the Senso Ray and other saddles on the
market.
What I have here is the older version of
the Selle Italia Flite
saddle that's really popular ever since
it was introduced in the 1990s.
The big thing to compare here is just
the fact that the stubby nose saddle
trend we have on the market really chops
off quite a bit of the saddle. So you can
see
if I line these up you lose a lot of the
front it also trims out the back if you
line up where the
rails are. It's also interesting that the
flexibility that the Velo saddles give
you.
You can see you get a wider range
between those stop marks so
the two inches gives you a lot more
flexibility when you're mounting.
Now if we compare this to the newer Selle
Italia Boost variation,
you can see they're both stubby nose
saddles look quite similar.
I believe this style is about 150 so a
lot more expensive compared to the 85
dollars here.
I think Velo's done a really good job
providing the high performance
appearance the high performance stubby
design
and the titanium alloy rails for a lot
lower cost.
If you compare this to Velo's more
premium offering, this is the Angel TT
the women's variation.
You can see the padding on the Senso
Ray is quite a bit
thinenr so you can see it's a
firmer saddle while this one's softer
and thicker.
You don't get the Y-cutout or
their
ArcTech rail design. You can see
this simply comes in at a less deep
angle while this one has a little twist
to it for a little more
shock absorption.
Now let's go over the pros and cons for
the Senso Ray saddle.
What we like about the saddle is the
attractive price at only 85 dollars
you have a very budget-friendly saddle
that has a lot of high-end features.
With the Atmos shaping it's really
easy to clean the saddle if you go
through dirt
grime or water you can just wipe away the
base. As there's no visible edge between
the
cover and the base. Also with the stubby
nose design and the pressure relief
center channel it's really easy to
switch between different
saddle positions, whether you're riding
aggressively or more upright.
Some of the cons of the saddle is the
fact that there are no size variations
it's only available in this color and
this size. Also there's a saddle that may
not be
in the store or your local bike shop but
they can order it as they have a wide
distribution network.
Finally the dimensions are not
printed on the saddle that's a feature
we like
on the Selle Italia saddles. It makes it
easier to identify them
so if you ever need to replace it in the
future it's a lot easier to do.
Taking everything into account we'd give
the Senso Ray a 9.1 out of 10.
It's an affordable high performance
saddle with a lot of high-end features.
You don't typically see at this price
point.
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