New Stracciatella technology unveiled by Selle Royal

Saddle producer Selle Royal has unveiled its new stracciatella technology, to be first applied to Lookin family of saddles. The technology will be implemented across all saddle ranges and aims to create a more circular and responsible production process.

Waste materials can be recovered from production and turned into granules for use in the foam padding of new saddles with the use of stracciatella technology. This leads to a significant reduction in waste during production.

Selle Royal Group was one of the first signatories to the shift cycling culture climate commitment, as tries as an organisation to attest to the Paris agreement. The company has committed to reducing carbon emissions by 55% by 2030.

The companies plan begins with detailed analysis of the companies environmental impact, resulting in the Groups first sustainability report 2021-2023. Stracciatella technology is one of the first key initiatives supporting these goals and targets.

Riccardo Losio, strategy & brands director of Selle Royal Group said: “For the Group and the brand, the Stracciatella product project makes our commitment to a more sustainable production model tangible and reduces the environmental impact of what we design and create. It will be a long journey, but we believe we are on the right path, motivated by a long-term vision toward a new industrial model that is now more necessary than ever.”

In-depth analysis of production cycles and its supply chains was driven by the companies belief real change can only come from data analysis. Selle Royal’s life cycle assessment (LCA) found 65% of saddle’s CO2 emissions are linked to raw materials. This inspired the company to switch to organic or recycled materials in its production.

PVC covers, PP/PA bases, PU foam. And Royalgel are difficult to recycle due to their mixed composition and complex materials. These challenges have been overcome with stracciatella technology which uses waste from product testing, machinery adjustments, production defects, and specific chemical reactions. The technology creates a new granular material allowing for reintegration into the production cycle as foam.

Matteo Mason, manufacturing & technology director at Selle Royal Group, who led the development of Stracciatella, explains: “It took years of trials and experimentation to achieve this result. Setting ourselves the ambitious goal of reusing this material with inseparable components, we took inspiration from other industries to attempt completely new processes never before tested in the saddle sector. These range from grinding these objects in their entirety to adapting existing production machinery, all while preserving comfort in the final product.”

Lookin and Lookin Evo will be the first products to be fitted with this technology. The partially transparent cover will now serve two purposes, both being a window to see the Royalgel and the Stracciatella. The essenza saddle will be part of this line for OEMs.

Lara Cunico, brand manager at Selle Royal, explains: “Although Selle Royal’s commitment to more responsible production is very serious, the message and style in which we want to communicate with our consumers should remain simple. When we first saw this new foam in our chemical lab, we immediately thought of the iconic ice cream flavor (Italians have a particular fixation on food). From this slightly ironic image came not only the name but also the visual and communication approach we chose to introduce this technology to the market. After all, Selle Royal stands for reliability and technological innovation, but also represents comfort, spontaneity, and accessibility— just like chocolate chip ice cream.”