Bioaktive are the part of San Marco that specialises in saddles for recreational riders. Their Sportive Blaze is a very similar shape to the Knife, but with a more prominent rear cutaway. While the central black section design might look like it’s a pressure-relieving channel, there’s no discernible difference in the amount of padding.
The finish quality underneath is good, the material trimmed neatly and with a lot of the staples hidden away under tidy plastic housings. The hull resembles the Charge’s and offers a similar amount of give. The 273g Sportive is carrying a bit more mass than the Charge Knife – but is much cheaper – and weighs about the same as the £85 Fizik Aliante Gamma. Again though, weight isn’t the most crucial factor for a saddle unless you’re an obsessive.
Throughout the saddle the Blaze has deeper and softer padding than the Knife, but while it’s not massively over-padded like some budget saddles, it’s certainly more suited to cyclists who like a bit of plushness under their posterior. Some of our testers were concerned about the quite prominent stitching running along the top of the Blaze, and when you ride the flex in the hull forces the sides of the saddle down and brings the central section up – and there were occasions when we were able to feel the stitching through Lycra shorts.
