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I've been running SDG I-beam saddles on my main bikes for years now, but having recently got a Gravity Dropper I need a new saddle. I've currently got a Charge Spoon on there, stolen from my commuter, which I find very comfortable, but I'm looking for something a bit lighter. Which brings me to my question: at 17st in kit, am I too much of a biffer to consider anything other than cro-mo rails? Also any suggestions of saddle? The Spoon/Scoop Ti seems an obvious choice. Also thinking about a SDG Formula FXR as that's what I had an I-beam version of, but open to other suggestions
Check out the Peak from Superstar, similar shape to Bel Air but lot less £
Looks a little bulky, certainly seems good value though. I'm not a massive Superstar fan though, haven't had the best of experiences with their products.
I've just snapped the ti-rails on my SDG Bel-air, and replaced it with a Cro-mo railed version.
(went via a Charge Spoon, which I found rather narrow and uncomfortable)
Could not feel any difference in weight. IMO the main gain of ti is from absorbing road buzz.
I'm a lot lighter than you and have broken two ti rail saddles but the chromo Spoon that replaced the second ti saddle (also a Spoon) is still going strong despite all its stitching having worn away and the cover faded from black to almost beige! I have a chromo Scoop on the new bike and that's very nice too.
It's going to vary... Like, I mostly use Charge Knives, which are ti, and nicely flexy and that. But I've got one weird Knife with cromo rails, which is also nicely flexy, and weighs pretty much exactly the same. No idea what that's all about but it doesn't really seem to matter at all in that case. No doubt other saddles will have bigger differences.
Hmm, sounds like Cro-Mo is the way to go. From what I gather, it doesn't make much difference in weight with the Charge saddles, but Ti is almost a 100g saving for SDG saddles. I guess SDG use lighter Ti, but they're probably not as strong either. Looking like a Cro-Mo railed Charge at the moment. At least they're nice and cheap.
At 17st theres no point buying lighter kit for your bike. No offence intended.
I know what you mean Scruff, but I tend to disagree. A lighter bike will still be lighter when I lose some more pounds. As long as the lighter stuff is strong enough, I don't see any reason not to consider weight as an important factor when buying stuff. I'm no racer, and probably never will be, but I enjoy riding a lighter bike more than a heavier one (all else being equal).
Gone for Cro-Mo Charge Scoop.
I'm a long time Spoon user and have been really happy with the Scoop I got recently.