Centre strips in various colours(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The sticker colour needs to match the saddle colour exactly(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
This pair of workers uses dentist's tools to clean off the excess glue(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
This block is used to keep the rails aligned while the glue is still soft. It takes a day and a half to dry properly(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Done - job's a good 'un(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Next, affix the rails. You'll need this machine(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
First, apply your glue(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Now it's time to glue on the carbon rails(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
That's looking better(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
It's done so very efficiently and quickly(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Excess material needs to be trimmed(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The glued saddles go back onto a conveyer belt(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
This is used to protect the carbon Twinflex part of the saddle from the heat of the oven(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Making sure everything is glued on properly(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The glued saddles are warmed up in an oven to soften the Microtex(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
This pair fit three covers in about the time it took to line up this shot(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Now the saddles get left to dry(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Carbon rails about to undergo quality control. Every single one of fi'zi:k's carbon rails get this treatment(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Preparing the boxes(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Team edition saddle boxes ready for their products(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The packaging begins(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
It's good(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Checking the alignment(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Inserting the rails(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The metal rails are also glued on but using more pressure(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
K:ium titanium and manganese rails(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Here are some Mobius rails used for the top end Arione 00. They don't have ends to glue, which cuts down a time consuming step(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
If not, they end up in these boxes(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Checking to see if it's OK(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Stress testing the rails(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Two by two workers fit the covers onto the bases(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A layer of glue is applied to the base and one to the cover. They are then put on a conveyer belt and left to dry for an hour and a half to allow the glue to absorb into the foam and fabric. Another layer of glue is then applied to the cover. Just like gluing on a tubular(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The saddle bodies get cleaned before the covers are put on to ensure they're dust free(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The cutting machine and operator(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The centre strips are also cut out(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The cutting machine. Don't put your hands in please(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
And the cover itself after being cut(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The shape that's used to stamp out an Antares cover(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Entering the cutting room(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Rolls of Microtex. This is the stuff that f'iz:ik use to cover their saddles. (Image credit: Jeff Jones)
This is the main room in the factory where fi'zi:k make their saddles. 500,000 of them each year.(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
This finished product is earmarked for Garmin pro David Millar(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A carousel full of saddle boxes(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
There's a Willy Wonka element to this room(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A peek inside the design room(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Every place of work needs a foosball table(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Some of the saddle covers are hand stitched, others are thermally welded(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Foam backed bases ready to go. It takes a day for the glue to dry after the backs have been put on(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Nicolo from fi'zi:k shows us the foam backs that have already been put onto the carbon bases by a machine. We didn't see it in operation today though. Different saddles use foam that varies in softness(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The factory floor(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A laser cuts thin slices out of the cover to give it that Arione look(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The perforated cover(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Voila - it now looks a lot more like a saddle cover(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The two halves are pressed together(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Peeling the backing strip off(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The cover with glue strip(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A strip of glue with backing tape is then applied to the material(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The thermo welding process starts here. A worker thins the edges of the fabric where it will overlap(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The underside of the stitched Aliante cover - very neat work(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
An Aliante cover post-stitching(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The to do box(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Outside the Selle Royal factory in Vicenza where fi'zi:k saddles are made(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Fi'zi:k are the biggest producers of racing saddles in the world, making a staggering 500,000 saddles each year in their factory in Bressanvido, in the northern Italian province of Vicenza.
What's even more impressive is that they do it without using much in the way of mass production machinery, preferring to rely on their modestly sized workforce of 40-70 people, mostly women and shared with parent company Selle Royal, to carry out the delicate task of creating high performance racing saddles. This ensures that quality and aesthetics are top notch, even if it does add to the prices.
Fi'zi:k rotate their saddle production each day, so while today might be the Arione, tomorrow could be devoted to the Aliante or the Tundra. That's all dependent on demand and is carefully managed to keep efficiency high.
We followed the production of the Arione and Aliante saddles, which you can see in our image gallery on the right.
