July 2024
Saddle shopping
19/07/24 22:33 Filed in: Gear
I am often asked how one finds the best saddle to put on a bike. I wish there was an easy answer. Many brands offer a variant on the "ass-ometer" that measures the distance between the sit bones in order to select the appropriate width amongst a single saddle available in multiple widths. But that still doesn't tell you which model to pick in the first place. Both Specialized and Trek offer a few saddles to pick from, in various quality levels and in multiple widths. The sitting gauge will tell you which width, but not if the saddle itself is suited. There is often little guidance about how the different levels might affect comfort either. The carbon rails are MUCH stiffer than the titanium rails, with the steel rails in the middle. Carbon shells are very tunable, so not necessarily stiffer than a nylon shell - but different shell materials in the same model of saddle definitely impact comfort. And softer is not better for everyone.
There is one rule that has enough research behind it to use as an actual rule: saddle flatness is related to rider flexibility. A flexible rider is capable of moving around on the bike and therefore requires a flat saddle to move on. An inflexible rider benefits from being locked in place. A saddle-shaped saddle helps keep the pelvis at the bottom of the "bowl" and works best with an inflexible rider.
How flexible? For Fizik it is a very low bar. If you can't reach much past your knees, you are a Bull - an inflexible creature - and you should have the saddle-shaped option. If you can reach past your ankles, then you are a Snake - a flexible creature - and you should have the flat-topped option. In between you are semi-flexible and should have a slightly curved saddle - the Chameleon option. For a while they even produced three seats called Bull, Chameleon and Snake. These were variations on the three saddles they've had for 20+ years: Aliante for Bulls, Antares for Chameleons and Arione for Snakes.
Another complication is that different levels of saddles have different types of foam, different rail materials and therefore sit quite differently across the models. The top-line carbon rails are very stiff. The next level titanium rails are very flexible. Steel rails are in the middle. Nylon shells have some give to them. Carbon shells generally have very little give.
This takes me to the second rule of comfort: the longer you plan to ride in one outing and the more often you plan to ride, the less plushness you want on the seat. This also goes a little bit with the position of the torso. If you ride sitting up, you need a wider/softer seat. If you look like one of those "Tour de France guys" then you must have a narrower/firmer seat.
Examples:
Fabric offers all their saddles in different rail materials, different flatness profiles for the same plan shape and different foams across the different profiles. I test rode a steel-railed Fabric saddle and thought it was OK. I purchased a titanium-railed one and never quite gelled with it.
Fizik R5 and R3 level saddles have nylon shells. The R1 and 00 levels have carbon shells (which I believe are different between the two as well). The 00 is extremely light, and extremely stiff. It doesn't ride like an R3 (on titanium rails) or an R5 (on steel rails), which are themselves subtly different due to the rail flex.
Specialized also has each saddle at different price points by virtue of the materials used in the seat and rails. I've liked one level of Specialized saddle but not liked an otherwise-identical variant. The whole of the saddle matters.
And now many companies have a 3D printed variant. The plan and profile shapes are the same, but the foam and cover are gone in favour of a plastic lattice. Specialized offers 3 models in 3D printing, two of which can be had with carbon rails or titanium rails. Fizik offers perhaps 4 models in 3D printing, again with carbon or titanium rails. And also with or without a groove up the middle for the Antares at least.
Around 20 years ago I was selling lots of the Fizik Arione to people and most liked it. It seemed to only disagree with people who sat too upright or were too inflexible. I used Arione from about the time they were released until quite recently. The problem is that there is a new model which is not nearly as accommodating as the old model. It lacks the flexible sides that Fizik called wingflex. This was actually some slots cut in the shell where the pedalling leg brushes the saddle (allowing movement in the "wings"). Wingflex was also the death of all my Arione saddles - eventually one of the slots would crack into the shell and then all support was gone. The new saddle should last better, but it lacks the comfort for me of the older model so it doesn't really matter how long it lasts!
The prompt for writing this was my journey on trying to find a replacement seat. I bought a saddle from Trek with the 30-day comfort guarantee. It didn't pass the comfort test and went back to the shop. It was close, but not close enough.
I'm currently trying out an out-of-production Trek seat. If I like it, I cannot get another one. Which makes liking it a risk! But I'm getting quite desperate to find something comfortable. If this one passes muster, it really just postpones the inevitable of finding a wholly new saddle I can put on several bikes. There are certainly a LOT of options out there.
There is one rule that has enough research behind it to use as an actual rule: saddle flatness is related to rider flexibility. A flexible rider is capable of moving around on the bike and therefore requires a flat saddle to move on. An inflexible rider benefits from being locked in place. A saddle-shaped saddle helps keep the pelvis at the bottom of the "bowl" and works best with an inflexible rider.
How flexible? For Fizik it is a very low bar. If you can't reach much past your knees, you are a Bull - an inflexible creature - and you should have the saddle-shaped option. If you can reach past your ankles, then you are a Snake - a flexible creature - and you should have the flat-topped option. In between you are semi-flexible and should have a slightly curved saddle - the Chameleon option. For a while they even produced three seats called Bull, Chameleon and Snake. These were variations on the three saddles they've had for 20+ years: Aliante for Bulls, Antares for Chameleons and Arione for Snakes.
Another complication is that different levels of saddles have different types of foam, different rail materials and therefore sit quite differently across the models. The top-line carbon rails are very stiff. The next level titanium rails are very flexible. Steel rails are in the middle. Nylon shells have some give to them. Carbon shells generally have very little give.
This takes me to the second rule of comfort: the longer you plan to ride in one outing and the more often you plan to ride, the less plushness you want on the seat. This also goes a little bit with the position of the torso. If you ride sitting up, you need a wider/softer seat. If you look like one of those "Tour de France guys" then you must have a narrower/firmer seat.
Examples:
Fabric offers all their saddles in different rail materials, different flatness profiles for the same plan shape and different foams across the different profiles. I test rode a steel-railed Fabric saddle and thought it was OK. I purchased a titanium-railed one and never quite gelled with it.
Fizik R5 and R3 level saddles have nylon shells. The R1 and 00 levels have carbon shells (which I believe are different between the two as well). The 00 is extremely light, and extremely stiff. It doesn't ride like an R3 (on titanium rails) or an R5 (on steel rails), which are themselves subtly different due to the rail flex.
Specialized also has each saddle at different price points by virtue of the materials used in the seat and rails. I've liked one level of Specialized saddle but not liked an otherwise-identical variant. The whole of the saddle matters.
And now many companies have a 3D printed variant. The plan and profile shapes are the same, but the foam and cover are gone in favour of a plastic lattice. Specialized offers 3 models in 3D printing, two of which can be had with carbon rails or titanium rails. Fizik offers perhaps 4 models in 3D printing, again with carbon or titanium rails. And also with or without a groove up the middle for the Antares at least.
Around 20 years ago I was selling lots of the Fizik Arione to people and most liked it. It seemed to only disagree with people who sat too upright or were too inflexible. I used Arione from about the time they were released until quite recently. The problem is that there is a new model which is not nearly as accommodating as the old model. It lacks the flexible sides that Fizik called wingflex. This was actually some slots cut in the shell where the pedalling leg brushes the saddle (allowing movement in the "wings"). Wingflex was also the death of all my Arione saddles - eventually one of the slots would crack into the shell and then all support was gone. The new saddle should last better, but it lacks the comfort for me of the older model so it doesn't really matter how long it lasts!
The prompt for writing this was my journey on trying to find a replacement seat. I bought a saddle from Trek with the 30-day comfort guarantee. It didn't pass the comfort test and went back to the shop. It was close, but not close enough.
I'm currently trying out an out-of-production Trek seat. If I like it, I cannot get another one. Which makes liking it a risk! But I'm getting quite desperate to find something comfortable. If this one passes muster, it really just postpones the inevitable of finding a wholly new saddle I can put on several bikes. There are certainly a LOT of options out there.
3D printed saddle - part 3 (off road)
06/07/24 16:12 Filed in: Gear
Back in October 2022, I wrote about saddles and wanting to try a 3D printed saddle.
And then in November I wrote how I'd found one on sale and purchased it for my commuter bike.
In April 2023 I reported in after 30 hours of use that it wasn't doing it for me.
Then I put the Arione back on the commuter and the 3D saddle on my Ibis Ripley (because the Fabric saddle I thought I liked on that one was hurting my butt).
Now, more than a year later I can report on the 3D printed saddle on the Ibis.
In short, it is fine.
The complaints I had about it as a road bike saddle where it had only a few millimetres of fore-aft adjustment for a supported pelvis do not apply on the dirt. I'm always standing and sitting and shifting my weight and hitting bumps. With all that going on, the cushion it provides and the support it offers both seem adequate. I have little doubt if I went and ground out 4+ hours on smoother trails that it would fail. But that's not how I ride the Ripley. It is 1-3 hour blasts around in a forest and for those, it is fine.
I still want to try another 3D printed saddle on the road. Fizik Antares is not the best model for me in the conventional construction style, so there is no reason to think it would be the best model for me in the 3D printed style. Fizik recently announced the Aliante in an Adaptive (Fizik's word for 3D printed construction) model. That leaves my Arione as the only road saddle from the trio of long-term models not to be produced in Adaptive. Also, I realise that the model I have is "Versus" which means it has a big groove down the middle. There is an Antares Adaptive that is not Versus - lacking the big channel. That might well be better too. I've always found a hole or a groove squashes too much under my weight. What is fine for a 70 kg average cyclist is not necessarily fine for a tall/heavy guy like me. Finally, there is the newer short nose style Argo in Adaptive build to try.
Plus all the Specialized 3D printed saddles.
Not to mention the less well known brands and the fact that Selle Italia now 3D prints saddles too.
Hopefully there will be a part 4 at some point.
And then in November I wrote how I'd found one on sale and purchased it for my commuter bike.
In April 2023 I reported in after 30 hours of use that it wasn't doing it for me.
Then I put the Arione back on the commuter and the 3D saddle on my Ibis Ripley (because the Fabric saddle I thought I liked on that one was hurting my butt).
Now, more than a year later I can report on the 3D printed saddle on the Ibis.
In short, it is fine.
The complaints I had about it as a road bike saddle where it had only a few millimetres of fore-aft adjustment for a supported pelvis do not apply on the dirt. I'm always standing and sitting and shifting my weight and hitting bumps. With all that going on, the cushion it provides and the support it offers both seem adequate. I have little doubt if I went and ground out 4+ hours on smoother trails that it would fail. But that's not how I ride the Ripley. It is 1-3 hour blasts around in a forest and for those, it is fine.
I still want to try another 3D printed saddle on the road. Fizik Antares is not the best model for me in the conventional construction style, so there is no reason to think it would be the best model for me in the 3D printed style. Fizik recently announced the Aliante in an Adaptive (Fizik's word for 3D printed construction) model. That leaves my Arione as the only road saddle from the trio of long-term models not to be produced in Adaptive. Also, I realise that the model I have is "Versus" which means it has a big groove down the middle. There is an Antares Adaptive that is not Versus - lacking the big channel. That might well be better too. I've always found a hole or a groove squashes too much under my weight. What is fine for a 70 kg average cyclist is not necessarily fine for a tall/heavy guy like me. Finally, there is the newer short nose style Argo in Adaptive build to try.
Plus all the Specialized 3D printed saddles.
Not to mention the less well known brands and the fact that Selle Italia now 3D prints saddles too.
Hopefully there will be a part 4 at some point.
28 accessory mounts
03/07/24 22:30 Filed in: Gear
The second generation Trek Checkpoint SL is ready for many things. And bike packing is definitely one of those things. I'm not personally interested in the bike packing experience - if I were going camping from my bike I think I'd get a BOB trailer and put everything in it. But there is no harm done in the frame having numerous options.
Three mounts down each side of the fork, plus one at the crown and one at each dropout, two on the top tube for a bag, three under the top tube for a larger bag (or a tool mount - though the Bontrager tool fits in the bracket under the door that resides behind the main water bottle mount), water bottle mounts on the down tube (3 on top, 1 underneath) and the seat tube (only the 1) and then various rack and mudguard mount points - 28 in total.
When the bike is delivered each of these is filled with a black plastic plug. The plugs keep the threads clean and the hole closed, but with time they start to pop out of the holes in places. And the black plastic disc on each one is not the best look to my eyes.
So I succumbed to temptation and purchased a bunch of oil slick anodised titanium water bottle bolts. I discovered that a few of the threads were dirty - they had glue or other detritus from production in the threads so they had to be cleaned up before the bolt when in. Other than that the only other anomaly was that the fork bolts don't go in to flush, they stick out proud. I thought it might just be me, but I read that this happens to other owners so I guess it is just how they are. The suggestion is to run a presta valve nut underneath so it tightens down completely and doesn't leave a gap under the bolt head. I might try this.
I didn't replace all the locations with Ti bolts - where the water bottle cage was already mounted I left it (one of the bolts is quite long due to the shape of the storage compartment door). Where the fenders and rack were mounted, I also left the stainless bolts in place. I don't think these small Ti bolts are up to much more than a water bottle. Wow the bolts look much nicer in the frame than did the black plugs. The oil slick ano looks green at extreme angles of light, and more purple at more direct angles. The change is the nicest part - you never know what colours you'll get. I also left the two water bottle mount plugs under the down tube as they aren't really visible under there and just get covered in crud while riding.
I found a motorcycle shop here in Australia that does oil slick ano Ti bolts for motorbike fairings and the like - correct thread pitch and length for a water bottle cage. But at $12 each, 28 of them carries a big price tag (yes, I didn't actually require 28 since I didn't use a couple of them). I ended up with some specifically for water bottle cage mounting bolts from the US. They only ship within the US so you can go to Amazon if you want them here in Australia, for example. But the shipping is pricey. And the exchange mechanism built into Amazon seems aggressively pricey too. I ended up having the maker ship them to my sister and she reshipped them to Australia. Total cost was below $150 for 3 dozen bolts. I have enough left over to mount water bottles with bling bolts for years.
Three mounts down each side of the fork, plus one at the crown and one at each dropout, two on the top tube for a bag, three under the top tube for a larger bag (or a tool mount - though the Bontrager tool fits in the bracket under the door that resides behind the main water bottle mount), water bottle mounts on the down tube (3 on top, 1 underneath) and the seat tube (only the 1) and then various rack and mudguard mount points - 28 in total.
When the bike is delivered each of these is filled with a black plastic plug. The plugs keep the threads clean and the hole closed, but with time they start to pop out of the holes in places. And the black plastic disc on each one is not the best look to my eyes.
So I succumbed to temptation and purchased a bunch of oil slick anodised titanium water bottle bolts. I discovered that a few of the threads were dirty - they had glue or other detritus from production in the threads so they had to be cleaned up before the bolt when in. Other than that the only other anomaly was that the fork bolts don't go in to flush, they stick out proud. I thought it might just be me, but I read that this happens to other owners so I guess it is just how they are. The suggestion is to run a presta valve nut underneath so it tightens down completely and doesn't leave a gap under the bolt head. I might try this.
I didn't replace all the locations with Ti bolts - where the water bottle cage was already mounted I left it (one of the bolts is quite long due to the shape of the storage compartment door). Where the fenders and rack were mounted, I also left the stainless bolts in place. I don't think these small Ti bolts are up to much more than a water bottle. Wow the bolts look much nicer in the frame than did the black plugs. The oil slick ano looks green at extreme angles of light, and more purple at more direct angles. The change is the nicest part - you never know what colours you'll get. I also left the two water bottle mount plugs under the down tube as they aren't really visible under there and just get covered in crud while riding.
I found a motorcycle shop here in Australia that does oil slick ano Ti bolts for motorbike fairings and the like - correct thread pitch and length for a water bottle cage. But at $12 each, 28 of them carries a big price tag (yes, I didn't actually require 28 since I didn't use a couple of them). I ended up with some specifically for water bottle cage mounting bolts from the US. They only ship within the US so you can go to Amazon if you want them here in Australia, for example. But the shipping is pricey. And the exchange mechanism built into Amazon seems aggressively pricey too. I ended up having the maker ship them to my sister and she reshipped them to Australia. Total cost was below $150 for 3 dozen bolts. I have enough left over to mount water bottles with bling bolts for years.
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