31 8月 2025
Heather Jackson won the 2025 Unbound XL aboard the PRO Stealth Team Saddle, underlining that performance and comfort can go hand-in-hand, even on the notoriously tough gravel roads of Kansas’s Flint Hills.
The best saddle to enable the liberating joy of cycling is the saddle that suits your body and your riding needs best. Figuring out exactly which saddle that is can be time-consuming. When you find it, there is no need to change it up just because you are doing a massive ride or race. Take the 2025 Unbound XL champion and new course record holder, Heather Jackson, for example. She raced aboard what is essentially a road saddle, the PRO Stealth Team.
Heather Jackson opted for the PRO Stealth Team Saddle, which falls within the PRO Road Saddle lineup for her assault on the 350-mile Unbound XL course. Photo by Linda Guerrette.
Designed to aid competitive and elite cyclists get into and maintain an aerodynamic position comfortably, the PRO Stealth Team Saddle is one of PRO’s most popular road saddles. Jackson’s elite triathlon background and her position in the extensions of her gravel bike’s cockpit meant that the aggressive posture her saddle was built to facilitate was utilized to the fullest. This allowed her to cover the 350 miles of the Unbound XL course efficiently in an astonishing time of 20 hours, 57 minutes, and 57 seconds, nearly 90 minutes faster than the previous course record.
Jackson’s winning time of 20 hours, 57 minutes, and 57 seconds took nearly 90 minutes off the previous course record. Photo by Linda Guerrette.
Conventional wisdom may suggest that a saddle with more gravel-specific padding, like the PRO Stealth Offroad Performance Saddle, would have served Jackson better. When it comes to big rides and important goals, sticking with what you know works is almost always the best course of action. While changing your cockpit, especially to add time trial extensions, will change your position on the saddle, if you are comfortable when testing your set-up, there is no need to change your saddle unnecessarily. The confidence of knowing you have put in the hours in training, without a problem, should inspire you to trust your equipment.
Hailing from an ultra-distance triathlon background, Jackson is accustomed to long-distance racing in the time trial position, which allowed her to perfect her cockpit and saddle setup for Unbound XL. Photo by Linda Guerrette.
If you are unsure, however, you should make use of the PRO Saddle Selector to help narrow down your choices and find a saddle that will suit your needs best. Remember all PRO Saddles boast a 30-day Money Back Guarantee, allowing you to return a PRO Saddle for a full refund should it prove not to be the right saddle for you. To browse the full range of PRO Saddles, visit: www.pro-bikegear.com/jp/saddles.