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I am destroying too many saddles...need strong non-pig-like saddle suggestion

5K views 68 replies 37 participants last post by  Bent Wheel 
#1 · (Edited)
SDG saddles ti and cro-mo rails last me 3 to 5 rides before the saddles collapse into my rail mount Thomson seatpost. The rails either get bent (usually at the rear section (even when I clamp within the limits of the marking on the rail) or if the rails don't get bent, they sort of fold inward and collapse into the seat. The seat then sags rearward.

I have a graveyard of 5 SDG saddles with broken and bent rails. The others I've thrown away or sent back.

I've wasted WTB (higher end and lower end saddles) and SDG, total damaging about 12 in the recent past.

Help me. I'm only 155 lbs.:madman:

Is I-beam the only option for me?
 

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#4 ·
When they go they snap, usually leaving sharp material behind to mangle your man bits... not to say traditional saddles can't, but usually they just bend.
This guy's doing something wrong, there's no way you can go through saddles this often and not be doing something weird.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I usually find the rails bent after I go on a routine ride that involves various drops to flat or near flat. I don't have my seat post slammed all the way down, nor do I have it XC high either, and my rear has no signs of protest after the event. I do some kick drops on the drop offs that when I land, my bottom ricochets off of the saddle but, again, it doesn't hurt me so I figure it isn't that hard. Plus I'm not a big guy.

The LBS knows of my tendency to wreck saddles. They've offered to take 2 of the saddles back and then pulled out some behemoth of a seat that weight about 3 pounds and I said NO. It'd make my bike too top heavy. But I did notice on that seat which they called a DH seat that there was a special "S" type bend on the rail at the rear part.
 
#21 ·
hey've offered to take 2 of the saddles back and then pulled out some behemoth of a seat that weight about 3 pounds and I said NO. It'd make my bike too top heavy. But I did notice on that seat which they called a DH seat that there was a special "S" type bend on the rail at the rear part.
Yeah.... :cool:

I have broken one seat in my life and it was when I first started and did a wheelie drop on my xc bike with the seat too high. The seat didn't hurt, but the post sure did :p Lower that **** and absorb with your legs.
 
#12 ·
the problem isn't the seats...the problem is the rider and his riding errors....

you are supposed to absorb the shock/force of a drop with your legs...even if you have 10 inches suspension

do not sit on your seat when doing drops...if you can't do this then lower your seat or get a smaller seat...but the basic rule is.....

you sit on your seat + do a drop = figure broken seat
 
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#22 ·
+ 100%^. The only time your seat and ass should touch is on smooth, bump free ground. Any other time, you should be standing.

This reminds me of a definition of something, can't remember what. It goes something like: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Try something different this time!
 
#13 ·
Not to mention you state your backside doesn't hurt... but at your weight, to bend that many rails on seats... it has to be compressing your spine to some degree... with every impact. I'd suggest lowering the seat some more like the others. I'm no doctor but this doesn't seem right.
 
#14 ·
Well, this is a legitimate issue I'm having.

I should probably work in softening my landing by technique. I have tried though. Doing drop offs at speed never did this to my saddles, just when I started doing more the kick wheelie drops.
 
#25 ·
I bent 2 seats in my life, 1 going otb in a rock garden, and the saddle popped off the rails... it was weird.

The other when I was working on supermans, but my nuts took more of a blow than the seat... still bent the rails beyond use.

Now I'm getting into street and riding a hardtail. Try is sometime. I tried a 5 foot drop to flat. Bout tore myself a new butthole. But now I never seat bounce when landing anything (not that I ever did before). But I just worked my way back up to the 5 footer doing smaller drops to flat, focusing on leg strength when landing. Now I can do it no problem.
 
#27 ·
I used to bend seat rails a lot when I first started riding downhill since my legs were like noodles and I tend to sit a lot with my bum pounding on the seat as I go through rock gardens when I am tired.

As i band-aid to my lack of skills/strength, I started using saddles with 8mm rails which are MUCH stronger and are MUCH MUCH more difficult to bend (don't think I have managed to bend one yet actually). Unfortunately, most 8mm DH saddles are heavy and uncomfortable until I started using the Tioga Spyder D saddle.

The Spyder D was relatively cheap, strong, light and surprisingly comfortable for sitting and pedaling on flat ground but once on a DH track it would bump and bruise up my inner thighs badly if I am lazy and just sit through rough stuff. Because it really does punishes you HARD when you hit the saddle, it quickly trains you up to stop sitting or bumping into it while riding through the rough.

Now my riding is much more fluid since I my ass is no longer glued to the saddle and the 8mm rails really does give the saddle strength and prevent it from bending. At 175g, it is also one of the lightest saddle within its price range (if you really do care about weight).
 
#37 ·
sometimes you have to, you know, think out of the box and try something different. just remember, you made the post seeking a potential cause for multiple broken seats. you were probably looking for an answer that would result in product defect but the common feedback from many has been riding technique. change can take time, just takes practice...
 
#43 ·
I've bent few rails in my days of DH. When I get really tired on a run, I'll sit down and pedal on the "flat" parts of a trail. This will in time bend the rails because when you're going that fast, even a smooth stretch of trail will put considerable strain on the rails when seated. Now if you're doing this on drops, that's just odd. You shouldn't be contacting your seat on jumps and drops.
 
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