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Alpitude Navene Ultralight Carbon Short-Fit Saddle for XC & Gravel Weighs Just 72g!

Alpitude Navene ultralight 72g short-fit carbon gravel bike saddle, made in Italy
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From deep in the Dolomites, Alpitude lays up a new ultralight full-carbon Navene saddle with a short-fit, extra reinforcement, and new engineered flex for gravel and XC weight weenies. With weights as low as 72g, Alpitude developed the Navene to withstand the toughest off-road conditions whether you’re a full-tilt racer or just looking to lighten up your ride.

Alpitude Navene short-fit ultralight carbon off-road saddle

Alpitude Navene ultralight 72g short-fit carbon off-road XC gravel bike saddle, made in Italian Dolomites
(Photos/Alpitude)

Alpitude calls the short-fit Navene the latest in their ultralight ‘naked’ carbon saddle line-up. As a follow-up to their ultralight split Gardena road saddle, the new Alpitude Navene shares a similar short fit, but now, reoptimized for more demanding off-road riding and racing conditions.

Alpitude Navene ultralight 72g short-fit carbon off-road XC gravel bike saddle, made in Italy, angled top

It’s a project that Alpitude has developed over the past 3 years with a couple of pro Italian racers – Lorena Zocca & Mirko Tabacchi – who between the two have won more than a dozen national championship titles between them in XCO, XCE, XCM, CX, Gravel & eMTB. The idea was always about creating one of the lightest possible and stiffest race-ready saddles, but also making it flex at the back where it needs to for comfort and durability.

They even teased us with the Navene last autumn. But now, it’s officially ready for consumers.

What’s new?

Alpitude Navene ultralight 72g short-fit carbon off-road XC gravel bike saddle, made in Italy, reinforced side details

The most obvious difference compared to the Gardena is the connected tail of the new off-road saddle, said more to prevent snagging your shorts when hanging off the back on steep descents, rather than increasing strength. But those biggest durability & robustness improvements are harder to spot. Like wider reinforced edges all around the Navene to make the saddle stronger overall, but especially more impact-resistant.

Alpitude Navene ultralight 72g short-fit carbon off-road XC gravel bike saddle, made in Italy, updated construction details

More precision attachment of rails to shell and tougher reinforced carbon rails to handle bigger G-out forces while in the saddle. In the end, there’s about 10% more weight in the Navene vs. the Gardena. But at the ultralight levels of an unpadded, full carbon saddle, that only amounts to just a 7g difference to make this off-road-ready.

Tech details

  • full carbon construction, handmade in Italy
  • available in three finishes: large 3K Twill, tighter 1K weave, or UD
  • 245mm long short-fit design optimized for off-road riding
  • 130mm standard or wider 142mm options
  • 7×9mm oval carbon rails, max 6Nm rail bolt
  • 95kg max rider weight
Alpitude Navene ultralight 72g short-fit carbon off-road XC gravel bike saddle, made in Italy
  • designed for XC, gravel, and road riding
  • 72g for 3K x 130mm wide or 75g for 3K x 142mm
  • add 5g extra for either UD or 1K finishes
    (all weights claimed +/-5%)

Alpitude Navene saddle – Pricing, options & availability

Alpitude Navene ultralight 72g short-fit carbon off-road XC gravel bike saddle, made in Italy, top

Alpitude’s all-new ultralight carbon Navene gravel and cross-country mountain bike saddle is available now directly from Alpitude for 320€. For that price you get to pick your ideal finish – 3K, 1K, or UD – and 130mm or 142mm widths.

Alpitude Navene ultralight 72g short-fit carbon off-road XC gravel bike saddle, made in Italy: UD, 1K & 3K weave finishes
UD, 1K & 3K weave finishes

Alpitude keeps some size & finish combos in stock, while others are made-to-order, with an approximate 2-week leadtime. And global shipping adds 12€.

Alpitude.cc

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9 Comments
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Tom
Tom
1 month ago

anybody who does All Mountain/tough technical riding would be insane to run one of these – you don’t know pain until you’ve been center punched in the lower abdomen or worse yet, your johnson, by the back end of your saddle. This thing might very well perforate you.

Bumscag
Bumscag
1 month ago
Reply to  Tom

I’m only 82kg and I’ve broken every carbon rail saddle I’ve tried riding XC.

Hard pass here.

tech9
tech9
1 month ago
Reply to  Bumscag

Ha! I am only 65kg and have also broke all 3 of the 7×9 carbon rail saddles I’ve had.. Never Again. Was glad when specialized finally started making the power mirror with steel rails.

FritzP
FritzP
1 month ago

Why do so many of these forward set (ala Power) saddles have so much tail sticking out the back? Seems like a waste and unnecessary weight.

JTC
JTC
1 month ago

These look nice but I would think they would be slippery to sit on – adding a thin layer of leather like material for lycra traction might be helpful.

Last edited 1 month ago by JTC
Geoff
Geoff
1 month ago
Reply to  JTC

Yeah maybe some padding, metal rails

Rik
Rik
1 month ago
Reply to  JTC

If you’re in and out of your saddle as much as with XC racing I doubt extra traction is what you want. It’s only beneficial in destroying your way to expensive lightweight bib shorts.
But that may be personal preference, I sometimes wished my saddle was smoother when I sit back down just a bit to far forward.

TheKaiser
TheKaiser
1 month ago
Reply to  JTC

It all depends. You do see DH or TT riders adding stuff to their leather seats to further enhance grip, so saddle grip can certainly be desirable to some people in some conditions.

On the other hand, I’ve found unpadded slippery saddles like this one to be super comfortable for regular Road/Gravel/XC because the slipperiness eliminates any chafing issues, so if you have some wiggle in your pedal stroke that causes discomfort over time, these things can be great. It basically eliminates the need for chamois cream.

jonathan
jonathan
1 month ago
Reply to  TheKaiser

100%, I can’t stand frictiony saddles. The brooks cambium is the worst saddle I’ve ever used for that reason, and I love the classic Brooks because of how smooth the leather is.

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