Selle Italia Monolink--reviews, thoughts?

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hasbeen
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Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:17 pm

by hasbeen

So now that they have been making these a while what is the consensus? Has anyone actually felt like it made a difference? It makes some sense to me especially since I have always gotten some chaffing from saddle rub but I cant tell if the Monolink would be of any help at all.
Looking for some real world reviews as I havent come across much discussion on it. Maybe I missed it though.
Casati Vola SLi and Dolan Preffisio
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=108931" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
btompkins0112 wrote:
It has the H2 geo......one step racier than a hybrid bike

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

I want one it offer silly offset as well. I weighed a seat at 160g. Not too bad.

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hasbeen
Posts: 531
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:17 pm

by hasbeen

That is one aspect I had a question about. Does it offer more setback than a traditional post, like say, 30mm?
Casati Vola SLi and Dolan Preffisio
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=108931" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
btompkins0112 wrote:
It has the H2 geo......one step racier than a hybrid bike

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Rick
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Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 4:30 pm

by Rick

Might be a marginal improvement.
But the prices are just obscene.....no way it costs that much to make or is it worth that.
I predict it will be forgotten as another innovation that we didn't really need and was killed by marketing hubris.

indywagon
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:53 pm

by indywagon

I used one for a couple months last year and it DOES do what it claims - reduce friction and contact with the inner thighs. I thought the saddle/post connection was really solid and a great design. The only reason I'm not still using it is I prefer the slightly more narrow design of the S-Works Toupe. And as I recall, that 160 gram weight is accurate. I did have two knocks on it though: I had the "Flow" model with the center cutout and I thought it was fairly useless - nowhere near as pressure-relieving as the Toupe, and the white cover material showed wear spots pretty quickly.

Good luck,
Chris

scott_racer
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

by scott_racer

My new Merida Scultura Team came with merida's PRC brand Monolink post (rebadged Selle Italia's post) and SLR. It didn't offer as much setback as a Ritchey Superlogic 1-bolt post and standard rail SLR.

Post was around 165g if I remember correctly. Didn't weigh the saddle.
Start flat out ... then pick the pace up halfway

Sam
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by Sam

I recently got a Flite Flow Monolink combined with the (entry level) Monolink Mx seatpost. I do agree that it does what it claims. Not so sure about the figures regarding how much energy it saves though.

I've basically used the same Fizik Arione saddle for ten years now and it is very different to that. You really sit on your seat bones with the Flite saddle compared to the Arione.

Fiddling and finding the optimal position is a bit of a pain as the two bolts on the Monolink seatpost can be tricky to manage. Micro adjustments are impossible. You have to loosen the wedges and start over to get it right.

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Starter
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by Starter

Thought I'd zombie this thread for two reasons... One, these are legitimately inexpensive now compared to 2012, when they were still fairly pricy, and two, well, I just got round to actually getting some, so now I have something to say about them, ha ha...

Both saddles cost me $99 a pop. I picked up a new Flite Monolink Flow on Craigslist, and a non-cutout Flite Monolink from Cambria Bikes. For proper retailers, Cambria represents the cheapest I've seen the regular Flite Monolink stateside, and an outfit called Bikeman in Maine sells the Flow version cheapest, at around $122. I've seen the Flite Monolink Flow combo set (with the alloy seatpost) for $143.75 from Pro Bike Kit USA.

For a seatpost I'm using a Ritchey Superlogic Link Flexlogic. It comes with the standard Link reversible two-bolt clamp, but Ritchey also sells a Selle Italia Monolink clamp for $19.95. Unlike the Selle Italia post which apparently gave Sam (post above) some issues, I didn't find micro-adjustments difficult at all. The Ritchey clamp is a 3-bolt, triangular design, with the bolts running horizontally, from side to side. The bottom two bolts keep the clamp on the post's curved top which features a "lip" the clamp grips. The top bolt clamps the Monolink rail. You adjust the saddle's setback and angle while the clamp is loose, just barely tightened. When you've found the correct position, you pinch the clamp together with one hand and tighten the bolts down. There was no inadvertent changing of the desired saddle angle while tightening, which can happen with some clamps.

After mounting both up, I noticed immediately how much more flexible the Flow version is. It conforms much more under weight than the non-Flow. For me, this is not a good thing... One of the things I like about the newer Flite design is the 145mm width, and under rider weight, the Flow version seems to deform into a much narrower saddle... It felt just a bit wider than my 131mm SLR (standard rails). Worth noting, I'm not particularly heavy... And while I certainly felt this deforming and narrowing of the saddle when I was on the bike, I was able to actually see this by crouching behind the bike and pressing down firmly on the saddle wings... It doesn't take a lot of weight to deform. The wings go down, the middle goes up, and voila, you have maybe a 133mm saddle with a domed top. The non-flow version shows some flex too, but no where near the same amount. It's about standard for a saddle with a carbon composite shell. The top remains fairly flat when weight is applied. Worth noting that coming off a 100% carbon shelled S-Works Toupe, most saddles feel pretty flexy to me.

Both saddles came in under their claimed weights, with the Flow weighing 179g (vs 180g claimed) and the non-Flow at 182g (vs 185g claimed). Although the Flite Monolink weighs some 22g more than the old S-Works Toupe it's replacing, the Ritchey Monolink clamp is 14g lighter than the standard Link reversible two-bolt clamp, making the total difference between post with S-Works Toupe and post with Monolink Flite just 8g.

Because of the deforming issues, I'm not going to ride the Flite Monolink Flow. For me, there's no point... I know what saddle widths and shapes work for me lately, and 133mm or so with a domed top does not. Once I have some miles on the regular Monolink Flite, I'll post a ride report.
Oof.

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Rick
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by Rick

Reviving this thread because I am in the middle of another period of saddle experimentation, and I noticed some really good prices on Monolink components, so I picked up a SLR Team Edition "friction Free" and a Deda Carbon post, both monolink, of course.

Seatpost: 158 gms (27.2)
Saddle: 163 gms
Cane Creek 27.2 to 31.6 shim, which I needed: 51 gms

So the whole setup was 46 grams heavier than the Pro Turnix Carbon with 31.6 Ritchey Carbon 1-Bolt post I was replacing.

First ride: Am am impressed. I can actually feel the reduction in rubbing in the inner thigh from the narrower nose. It might be psychological, but my legs did feel a little "freer". My first impression of the saddle was that it was more rigid than what I am used to, but on further riding I noticed it had excellent damping and soaked up the larger bumps impressively. It might also be that I went from a 31.6 carbon post to a 27.1 carbon post, but somehow the Monolink combo seemed more "damped" over big bumps while actually more rigid when not being stressed much. Comfort was very tolerable for my short (30 mile) ride.

As usual, I can't really decide if it is worth keeping until do a century on it. We'll see.

Update #1: Although Monolink setup and adjustment is very easy, it is a huge PIA to REadjust anything, because the locking wedges lock together so solid that nothing will move even with the bolts removed. (Yes, I lubed everything per spec and used a torque wrench). So you have to whack the saddle really hard to pop everything free and then start over again from scratch. As I mentioned, it is easy to setup again, but there is no "microadjusting". You better have some measurement reference points marked so you can get back to the relative positional adjustment you want to achieve. I have been through this numerous times now, and I can see no easy way to "adjust". It is always "start over".
Another issue: The top adjusting screw was a little short. So it actually stripped out the threads in the aluminum "mating clamp" after a couple adjustments (YES, I am using a torque wrench). I was tempted to return the seatpost, but that would also be a PIA, so I just fished through my spares and found one slightly longer so it extends all the way through the clamp. The extra threads allowed it to work and torque to spec, so I am continuing to use it.

Saddle: I am convinced that the "friction free" aspect of the design is a benefit. How much ? Probably just feels a little better. The jury is still out on whether the SLR actually fits my anatomy adequately. At this point it is "tolerable" but not super comfy. I am experimenting with tilt angles.

UPDATE #2: I terminated this experiment. My crotch was just getting too sore. The Monolink is a good idea, and the friction free aspect seems to be a noticeable benefit, but the SLR just doesn't fit me. I might experiment with the standard rails converter and some other saddles, but this one is a no-go.

richard@lbrc.org
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by richard@lbrc.org

My saddle just snapped in half!

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