Toupe shaped carbon saddle. Piece of s...

[ToffieBoi]

Hello everyone.

I had to cut my ride early today because of my new, super light cheap saddle.
I bought it from aliexpress like everyone else here.
It was my 3rd ride today, only 80km old saddle got cracked from various places.

I only was riding on tarmac and hit a small patch, thats all.
I heard the cracking noise and its gone.

Here are detailed photos;




Yes, I know it is only $35, cheap Chinese saddle but I am only 65kg weight and don't torture the saddle...

So, what you guys think?
Can I fix the rails, maybe with epoxy glue? Or I shouldn't ride it, since it can cause serious damage later?



edit:
Sorry for huge photos. I changed them.

[martinko]

I bought it from aliexpress like everyone else here.

I wouldn't be so sure.

[ToffieBoi]

Okay, my bad. I bought it from aliexpress like most of people here...
Can you tell me where else I can buy the same, so I will buy it next time there

[toride]

It doesn't look like a prob with the rails to me, it looks like where the lugs that carry the rails are bonded to the saddle itself, I had a similar prob with a cheap Chinese carbon I use, basically the bond that should fix the end of the rail to its lug at the back of the seat started to creak, in time the rail un-bonded its self and is now loose so the rails slide in and out of the shell, its never got any worse and actually makes the saddle flex slightly.
It sounds worse than it is. (in my case)

[NiFTY]

$35 for something brittle that could impale your gonads if it failed? Really? And you want to repair said easily fractured item yourself and keep riding? Really? Planning on having kids or ongoing sex life? Buy something from a real manufacturer. Do not repair yourself.

[Butcher]

FYI, I had that happen to a Selle Italia C64. Same situation, shorter ride. Pulled into a RiteAid [24hr Pharmacy] and the lady said I could not bring my bike into the store [I was carrying it over my shoulder]. Obviously when she looked at the frustration and anger in my face, she backed down. I bought some tape [broken carbon is sharp] and road to my destination.

[Kayrehn]

Please spare yourself the pain and spend money on the real stuff if you're dead set on being vain. Weight weenie is not cheap usually, and for good reasons. If you really can't justify that money for a carbon saddle, use something else like 90% of the population.

[Butcher]

So, Selle Italia C64 is cheap? Wow, I wonder what an expensive carbon saddle is?

Either way, cheap or expensive, stuff breaks. I do not think 160lbs was the cause of my failure, but I know, if I was out of the saddle, it would not have broke. The planets all aligned in my case, all in the wrong order for me.

Could of been aliens too.

[Kayrehn]

Sorry, that post was directed to the OP. Stuff can break any time like you said butcher, but the OP trying to repair a cheap carbon saddle that broke, that isn't the best thing to do. If my S-works toupe breaks, I wouldn't consider a repair myself.

[ToffieBoi]

So, Selle Italia C64 is cheap? Wow, I wonder what an expensive carbon saddle is?

Either way, cheap or expensive, stuff breaks. I do not think 160lbs was the cause of my failure, but I know, if I was out of the saddle, it would not have broke. The planets all aligned in my case, all in the wrong order for me.

Could of been aliens too.

I blame ghosts
I was at home before this ride with my mother. She said, like billion times "be careful", she does not do it much mostly. Also asked me if I took my cleat covers to walk. She never does.
I believe she "felt" something will happen today on the ride and she was thinking that I will have to walk back home
Luckily just a crack on the saddle, nothing worse...

Anyways; maybe people didn't understand me well, and it is my fault because English is not my native language...
I didn't open that topic to complain you people about my saddle, or about how Chinese people manufactured it.

I only wanted to open it because it would inform maybe even one person so they will know about this saddle. Just for information
It is what forums for, right? Sharing information and experiences.
It is also nice that I had some feedback about other expensive carbon saddles too...

In my case, I put my 220 gram Romin Evo Expert back on the bike as originally planned. I was going to put carbon one just for weighting and photos and use my regular saddle for my rides.
After first test ride, I realised this saddle also really comfortable so I wanted to give it a shot.

[gitsome]

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR IN LIFE.

Lesson best learned as soon as possible.

[martinko]

Personally, I would not try to repair it. It is broken almost everywhere - front and back of the rails, left side in center of the shell (last photo). If you repaired it with glue, then it may fail somewhere else (right side of the shell, who knows?).

[stevec1975]

Wouldn't trust Cheap Ebay Carbon for Wheels or Saddles.

Smud for Saddles and Farsports for wheels has worked out well for me, both are (relatively) cheap compared to more mainstream products.

[BikeAnon]

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm running one of these saddles.

So far 600 miles with no issues. I also grabbed mine from an ali vendor ($32). I'll be sure to inspect that spot regularly.

I will say, though.... I bought mine to see if I could tolerate an all-carbon saddle. I can, and it's fine. If it ever gave me a second's thought that it was unsafe, I'd toss it in the bin and buy a genuine one, now that I know I like them.

[ToffieBoi]

No need to quote above

I believe your saddle will survive much more.
I think the main problem is the epoxy glue they use to fix saddle and sails together.
It should be a bit elastic to not crack and also strong enough to keep everything in place.

I guess, because they don't care about much the production process, they use different amount of glue on each saddle, also maybe different glue, or room temperature causes different products like this.
I have a bad batch (or normal batch) and you have one from a good batch it seems.
Enjoy your saddle


Thanks guys for the messages. I also decided not try to repair it.
I saw some other photos of the same saddle, cracked in many different places so I don't trust it anymore.