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Xc bikes - what are your choice light saddles, stems, seatposts, bars, grips?

31K views 155 replies 41 participants last post by  tangerineowl 
#1 · (Edited)
I am building a lightweight xc bike (2016 scott spark 700 premium in size small) with mostly off the shelf parts (no $$$ boutique, or questionable ebay parts).

Through my searches and experiences, i have found a few go to parts for my bikes, including:

- seatpost: deda superlaggera rs seatpost - 176g (150$ crc, canadian prices)
- bars: kore 710mm carbon flat bar - 160g (150$ crc)
- stem: wren stems (40-90mm) ~ 70-90g (have yet to use but plan to order) (50usd)
- grips: esi racers edge -50g (20$) ritchey superlogic foam grips at 9g are tempting, but they are hard to get...
- i am currently on a xtr groupset kick for pricing (derailer and shifter, and xtr race brakes do the trick as i can usually get them at less than 200$ each.
- the e13 trs race casette with 511% range (9-46) and 303g!!! (I just got one on sale for 290!!!).
- looking to get a fox 32 sc 100mm fork (3lbs, for 0.5 lbs weight savings!!!)

i tend to put this stuff on most of my bikes as appropriate. Where I struggle is saddles. I want something in the mid 140’s width. I currently have a specialized romin evo sworks on order (~140g, but 300$!!). Anything lighter is usually super narrow, super expensive, or questionable ebay/china.

Thoughts on saddles and some of your personal go to parts would be appreceated.
 
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#97 · (Edited)
I am going to add to this post another promicing choice for bars and seatpost. Darimo Carbon. Hand made Italian (edit... actually spain). Lots of custom options.

700mm bars are about 87g. Stiffer than schmolke (spelling?) and other bars that are 50g heavier. The reviewers ran a 700mm bar for a full xc race season, and a 740mm bar in endeuro. No problems apparently.
https://www.velochannel.com/test-longue-duree-du-cintre-darimo-33801

And here is the seatpost. 31.6x350 is around 85g also! Also quite stiff apparently.
https://www.velochannel.com/test-de-la-tige-de-selle-darimo-t1-a-87g-33831

Pop the text in google translate and boom!

I plan to order the set and shave 130-135g off of my mt zoom bar/deda superlaggera seatpost combo.

most carbon bars are in the 190g range. This paring is like getting the weight savings of a bar swap... and then getting a weightless seatpost.
 
#98 ·
I am going to add to this post another promicing choice for bars and seatpost. Darimo Carbon. Hand made italian. Lots of custom options.

700mm bars are about 87g. Stiffer than schmolke (spelling?) and bars 50g heavier. The reviewers ran a 700mm bar for a full xc race season, and a 740mm bar in endeuro. No problems apparently.
https://www.velochannel.com/test-longue-duree-du-cintre-darimo-33801

...
Always interested to learn about other brands, but you have me a bit confused from the start of your post.

The article says that Darimo is a Spanish brand, based in Valencia. Not sure how we get to "hand made italian". :)

Next is the piece around stiffness, esp relative to Schmolke. There's no side-by-side tests in that specific article, so maybe you saw that elsewhere? I'd be curious to check that out.

Also stiffness [cough] isn't necessarily a key selling point, especially on the seatpost side.
 
#103 ·
Yeah. I don't want to be the test mule for that particular component.

If the new Syncros Fraser iC weren't coming in a heinous yellow, I'd just bite the bullet on that for a nice bar/stem combo. Unfortunately, it seems that every -25 degree stem out there weighs a ton.
 
#109 ·
Wren stem, Tioga under cover carbon saddle, next 725mm riser bar, grips...what actualy feels good. Tried esi chunky grips and other foam grips but they are a PIA to install/remove and feel like ****...I'll live withe the 70g penalty. KS lev integra 125mm dropper, will go KS LEV Ci next time.
 
#117 ·
I've been tempted to try the BXT bars as well; I swapped my kids (tall kid) mtb frame to a BXT carbon frame, I can't find anything wrong with it, and my shop guy looked it over and thought it was quite good. Based on that I bought a pair of the BXT seatposts (217g claimed) off ebay for $19ish, both for my kids road and mtbs, he's light but I've ridden both those bikes too and they've been good/cheap/light 2 bolt posts. They're both 31.6, I would have been less brave trying a 27.2. I think the Chinese carbon bits are quite a bit better than a few years ago. But... still scared to try cheaper cockpit parts, decent stuff is not all that much more; Uno stems seem quite good, my $80 eXotic bars from discobrakes are still great.
 
#119 ·
Yeah, there's an element of risk. I did a test on the bars - I set up some wood blocks a few inches high, laid the bars on them, and stood on the center. There were no noises, and the bars were stiff enough for my satisfaction.

Wrapping carbon in a tube shape is pretty basic. It's one of the simpler parts you can make from carbon on a bike.
 
#120 ·
Yeah, there's an element of risk. I did a test on the bars - I set up some wood blocks a few inches high, laid the bars on them, and stood on the center. There were no noises, and the bars were stiff enough for my satisfaction.

Wrapping carbon in a tube shape is pretty basic. It's one of the simpler parts you can make from carbon on a bike.
You probably just did more QC than the manufacturer. :)

Hope that test didn't introduce any micro-fractures. (Geez, I'm soooo pessimistic, sorry!)
 
#123 ·
I've bought 4 of the cheap no name carbon riser bars off ebay now. One of them was bought specifically to do some destructive testing. A buddy and I took the bar into the gym here at work, and we placed it one of the benches and we both put out full body weight on either end of a 640mm bar. No cracking or popping.

Then we went over to the Smith rack and slid the bar into one of the holes in an upright on the rack. It went in far enough to "simulate" the edge of the stem clamp. It took some serious "bouncing" on the end of the bar before it started to fail and even then the failure was "gradual" as in even after starting to crack it still took several more hard bounces before the carbon started to splinter and completely fail.

Your mileage may vary and who says the bar construction is consistent from one piece to the other, but it was good enough for me. I have 2 bars in service and another co-worker is using the 4th.
 
#125 ·
/\ I bought a 'Bontrager' 27.2 post off ebay about 5 years ago, I actually raced on it a few times, I took it off because the 1 bolt design allowed it to shift and 'nose up' by a lot towards the end of a race, -no more 1 bolt posts for me. Ironically my Scandium frame broke not long after. The post was stupid light, like under 180g, I gave it to a buddy and it broke during a race.
 
#126 ·
jimPac, I got the flat bars.

One reason I go for Chinese carbon is that the expensive, name brand carbon seatposts and saddles I've bought have broken pretty fast. I'm just not going to waste any more money on them. I've had better luck with bars but $18 vs $100 is too big to ignore.
 
#130 ·
Has anyone tried this seatpost:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Roa...rews-Seatposts-135g-UD-Matte/32822592827.html

It's $40 for a 151-gram 31.6x400mm seatpost with titanium mounting hardware, and there are 169 very positive reviews. It must be new, and suddenly hugely popular.

If you have this seatpost, have you tried it on a saddle with carbon rails? Does it hold the saddle securely? I've had this issue on another seatpost (BXT) with a similar mounting mechanism where it creaks vociferously with every butt thump.

Seriously, this could be a crazy deal.
 
#133 · (Edited)
I have one - at least a very similar version where the only difference is the carbon cradle. this one (edit: the link you posted) is better, since it has an extended support for the saddle rails. I have the 31.6x400mm and the actual weight is quite close to the stated weight - 175g if I remember correctly. (edit: my seatpost has the more usual "half-moon" cradle which does not have any extra support for the seat rails; everything else is the same as the one you linked).

Installed this in February on my trail/race bike (kona hei hei) and still going strong. defintely a great deal especially with the improved design. Hope it is more helpful than the reviews above :)
 
#134 ·
I have one - at least a very similar version where the only difference is the carbon cradle. this one is better, since it has an extended support for the saddle rails. I have the 31.6x400mm and the actual weight is quite close to the stated weight - 175g if I remember correctly.
Installed this in February on my trail/race bike (kona hei hei) and still going strong. defintely a great deal especially with the improved design. Hope it is more helpful than the reviews above :)
Do you have a link? I'm a strong believer in better saddle rail support. Would definitely go the extra 25 grams for that.
 
#147 ·
Just got a $30 rigid carbon saddle to try out. It weighs 88g on my scale and looks just like the pictures:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/201...cycle-seat-cushion-for-bikes/32812377039.html

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ROC...For-MTB-Road-Fold-Bike-Front/32791496529.html

I ordered the Rockbros brand, I don't know why, maybe because I've grown sour of BXT customer service recently.

Not much to say about it other than that it is rock solid and has basically no flex to it. It doesn't creak, doesn't bend, and I'm relying on my chamois pad for all possible comfort.

Saddle rails are a bit small, there isn't much room for adjustment. It looks like the rails are jointed to the carbon shell with epoxied fittings, although they've been sanded very nicely. I'm impressed, but skeptical about whether this whole raw carbon saddle idea will work for me.
 
#153 ·
I saw recently Gelu came out with a 40gm? saddle. I get the feeling the Gelu saddles are rather firm.

I've been watching Berk for a while but I'm a bit perplexed why the Lupina is so narrow. I wish it was 136-140mm.
The Berk Lupina (132mm) is 1mm wider than the Selle Italia SLR (131mm) and the San Marco Aspide (131mm). Besides, it's also available in 150mm.

Gelu saddles are narrower (122-126mm) and shorter (240-270mm).
 
#151 ·
Bump.

Looking for a saddle around 142mm and <200grams that's comfortable for long endurance races. Traditionally WTB rocket saddles suit me well but all their carbon versions are narrow. I've cracked a titanium rail before too so I'm reluctant to spend big for titanium rails, rather carbon. I'm also 85kg/190lb currently so any road specific 70kg weight limit saddle is off the list. I'm currently looking at a Gub MTB saddle that's about 230g, not super light but for the cheap eBay price worth a try.
 
#154 ·
I have a carbon railed WTB Silverado now but it's too narrow, thus far it's seemed plenty strong for the XC duties it sees though. I had a Ti rail snap on a WTB Rocket on my Enduro right, it was subjected to a fair amount more abuse. I use the Chromo railed Rocket on my enduro bike now, need something wider for the XC bike though.
 
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