Review: Roma Ecole circle/star quilt A/P pad

Posted on June 21, 2017 by the_everything_pony

You’ve seen these pads in a few of my posts, and I’ve had them for around 9 months now, so I figure it’s a good time frame to give them a review.

So far, I’ve really enjoyed these pads. What caught my eye first was the wick-easy feature. Amber sweats buckets all the time, so I was hunting for saddle pads that would help wick away moisture to keep her cool and bumped into these. You can see the brownish-gold tint on the underside that marks the moisture-wicking fabric. I like that that fabric is light, and is also not white on the underside of their white pad.

I currently have 3 colors: hunter green/navy and gold and white with light blue/royal piping. I of course love matching and love fun colors, so their huge variety of colors works for many people. Although I just got white, hunter and navy so not really crazy colors here… I really like the way the pads wear; they wash up well. Just look at this white one:

The white one washed up well after Amber sweat like crazy in the previous pic. This was done in an HE washer tho with color-safe detergent, so I think in a regular washer it would’ve gotten a little cleaner. The black is from my half chaps, but over all the pads are doing very well.

I also really like the contour of the spine. Another A/P pad I have doesn’t have this contour, and it does not fit Amber well. Her back is too wide, but with the contour on these pads being front AND back, it allows the pad to sit much better under Amber’s saddle.

The only strange thing is that if you look up the navy and hunter green pads, the pictures (as seen above) show gold threads all throughout the pad. I bought the green one and the white one together, and my sister got me the navy one for Christmas. But the navy pad doesn’t have the stitching in gold all over the pad like the green one. Strange. I do wish the navy had the gold, but I never returned it because I didn’t want my sis to go through the hassle. Plus ~~I didn’t have to pay for it~~ it was a gift, and regardless I still like the pad. (Still love that top photo tho)

So far, I’ve noticed their wicking feature to work. It doesn’t leave them cool to the touch and no sweat, but I noticed on the edges of the pad where the air could get in it left her less sweaty and looking more comfortable than a few other pads. Plus, they dry in a snap. I can leave it out for 5 minutes after a pretty sweaty ride and it’s already almost dry. I do very much enjoy that because, you know, whatever’s easiest. They’re not very thick; perhaps a little lighter than many quilted pads, but definitely not as thin as a baby pad. By the way, in case you’re wondering, I took a seam ripper and removed the billet straps from mine. The pads do come with them, but since my saddle is a monoflap there is not reason for me to keep them. They just get in the way.

These pads are very easily obtained via Amazon for around $35. Most of the colors have Prime, so you can save on shipping and grab a few from there. They’re super fun to match, and I’m still loving using them. I give them 4 out of 5 stars.