 Seen this combo for a while but never been to sure if it's a good design or not. Some friends of mine have had troubles with the Raceface Deus design of clamp and although I know its a totally different design but it's still quite a new design compared to some of the more established clamp designs (i.e. regular 1 bolt and 2 bolt clamps). I'm now on the look out for a new saddle and reckon the post could do with replacing as it's getting a bit old now (so might be fatiguing). So it has occured to me to find out about this design and see how other people are getting on with it. What are your opnions of this design?
|
 |
 in my experience, it was a good solution to a problem that didn't exist. i liked the design, was secure, and was very easy to adjust the saddle.
A few people on here have snapped saddles, but the exact same setup (sdg alu post, + white i-fly) that i used, is used by a mojo rider, who has no problems, similarly, a lot of downhillers i know run a similar setup.
|
 |
 I've been using an SDG I Beam post and saddle for a year now. In the first few ride I had the seat slipping in the clamp, a local shop told me to reverse the clamp and since I did that I've had no problems at all. I like the seat comfort, its a very light combo and cheap at the mo from CRC. I will be buying another I Beam for my XC bike soon.
|
 |
 I tried the i-beam with an SDG Bel-Air and put it on fleabay after just one ride. It was brutally hard. It also turned out to be no lighter than a much more comfortable Thomson Elite and Spesh BG saddle combo, acc. to my kitchen scales. I didn't think the design looked particularly solid either, but that was just my subjective opinion.
|
 |
 I've seen a few of the saddles snap at both ends. Thomson Elite and a Bel-Air Ti for me every time.
|
 |
 Monkey Trick - I what way was it hard? Was the padding on the saddle not enough for your liking or has the post got no flex/give to it? A few broken saddles? I've known people to break the traditional railed saddles in just a few rides so i guess they are just other saddles, no stronger than other designs. I haven't broken a saddle yet. Anyone know how the saddle compares to the WTB saddles? They look to be a similar shape but how about to sit on?
|
 |
 It just felt really unforgiving. Maybe the design allows for no flex whilst the railed design absorbs some of the impact. I use a Bel-Air RL on my Five and it's fine but the Bel-Air SL felt really hard. Mind you, that was on a hardtail and the RL that I use has 5" of plush travel beneath it. I've got a WTB Pure-V Sport on my hardtail now and it seems fine. I went out racing on it and have no complaints. I don't pay much attention to saddles but the Bel-Air SL just didn't suit me at all.
|
| Edited: 03/11/08 21:36 |
 Very personal things saddles: you just have to give 'em a go. All the magazines reckoned the Fizi Gobi was the dogs bollocks, but I didn't get on with it. I've got the SDG Bel Air Ti, which I like. I also think the Charge Spoon is good too - my bruv has one on his Soul and I ride that quite often and it's fine. I've got a Thomson post, but Chris has Orange's own-branded Stalk post which seems fine. I regularly swap bikes with Chris on rides and his bike seems just comfortable as mine. It's a good test bed for saddle and post as in other respects our bikes are pretty much identical. I had a WTB Pure saddle for a couple of years on a previous bike and found that comfortable but pretty heavy compared with the Charge or BelAir. I did consider the I beam cos it was so light and quite cheap but I was scared by stories about the lack of comfort. As Mike said - it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
|
 |
 Anyone tried the SDG Formula FX saddle? It's supposed to have 3 points on contact from the I-Beam rail to the saddle base to simulate the idea of a railed saddle. Therefore giving the saddle some flex much like a 'normal' saddle. Anyone able to comment on this? It does sound like SDG have listened to rider feedback.
|
 |
 I flys and I beams seem to be on about every fourth bike at a DH race - they're light and appear to be strong for their price, and you don't really need to sit down so the fact they don't have any bum forgiving flex is not an issue. For XC they are a bit harsh...... as they don't have rails that can flex.
|
 |
Just bought myself a custom commencal meta 55 2009 from Merlin cycles,What a price!!! but need to know what would be the best seat to go with this bike,must be white! 
|
 |
 'Best?' What other criteria do you have other than white?
|
 |
 It just felt really unforgiving. Maybe the design allows for no flex whilst the railed design absorbs some of the impact. I use a Bel-Air RL on my Five and it's fine but the Bel-Air SL felt really hard. Mind you, that was on a hardtail and the RL that I use has 5" of plush travel beneath it. I've got a WTB Pure-V Sport on my hardtail now and it seems fine. I went out racing on it and have no complaints. I don't pay much attention to saddles but the Bel-Air SL just didn't suit me at all.
I use a wtb pure v sport on my HT, very comfy. I found the saddle that came with the HT was not very comfy, However my Full suss came with the same saddle and i have no probs with that, it's the 7.5 of travel that helps i think. But interesting how the same saddles can vary so much fom bike to bike.
|
 |
 You'll just have set it up properly on the one then 
|
 |
 Just bought myself a custom commencal meta 55 2009 from Merlin cycles,What a price!!! but need to know what would be the best seat to go with this bike,must be white! 
SDG FX in White... Thats what I've got on my meta.
|
 |