Berk PROTO-TYPE Composites

[basilic]

saddle looks great, congrats.
Would you show the profile of the saddle left to right, how flat or dome-shaped it is?
About at the level of the sit bones. Thanks!

[Berk]

Hi, glad to hear that you like it! In general it's very similar to an Selle Italia SLR saddle.

Otherwise I already made another new prototype saddle shell - only 27.5g:




I calculated that the saddle rails should weight around 35g, and I'll have to experiment a bit more with those saddle shells. I'll make some new prototypes that will be a bit more reinforced (~35g saddle shell) and test them,..I'll keep you updated.

Otherwise there are still some small problems with the saddle rails moulds (it has to be a bit redesigned), but it will be soon redesigned and then hopefully it will soon go in process...I'll also make a wider (142mm) saddle shell at the same time when the saddle rails moulds will be made, I'll keep you updated!

[dwaharvey]

That's a work of art Looking forward to seeing this project move forward.

Are the rails going to be round 7mm (eg Dash) or eliptical (eg Selle Italia)?

[Berk]

Thanks for the compliments!

It will be completely round (7mm ) to avoid any possible problems with the clamping mechanism.

[NGMN]

Thats amazing! Boom!

[timj]

amazing work as usual and thanks for sharing detailed photos of the process! Very interesting stuff

[Berk]

No problem, I give my best to keep you updated as much as possible. And thanks for all your comments, really appreciate that! Otherwise any opinions, thoughts etc. are welcome and we can discuss it here.

In the next few days I'll design the wider saddle (I'll make it ~142mm) and hopefully also the moulds for the saddle rails will be then ok - it also has to be a bit redesigned. It's already the third time when we had to put our heads together with GorjupDesign to solve the problem, so in the next few days we'll meet again and hopefully finally made all the work that has to be done that it will work on the CNC machine...can't wait to make some more progress, I'll for sure keep you updated!

[trustbran]

Now that's lookin good!!! You surely have great work!

[addictR1]

berk.. that is really sexy. what width will you have it available in? 130, 143, 155mm?

[Berk]

Thanks!
I already have the 130mm mould, and I'll make also a wider saddle (~142mm).

[addictR1]

i have a small butt with wide seatbone.. go figures... but would like to see it in 155mm.

[Mattias Hellöre]

Why did you choose Innegra over Aramid/Kevlar?

[Berk]

I choose it because it has similar properties than kevlar, and when you cut/sand the composite product that has innegra (instead of kevlar) the edges won't "scuff" that much, if you know what I mean.

And it's something new - didn't saw yet any saddle that would use that fabric, I also really like the look of it. I also love to experiment with different materials etc.,..I'll see how it will turn out once I finish the first prototype saddles.

[Mattias Hellöre]

I don´t like sanding on kevlar at all, it will be bulbous and not cut clean with sand paper as you said. Cut it with scissors is OK but not sanding.

[Berk]

Kevlar really isn't nice to work with, there are also less problems with innegra while cutting/preparing the material. Otherwise innegra is more expensive than kevlar, well of course it depends from the quality you get. But I'm almost sure that I won't use kevlar anymore in products like these,.. I also get some other new materials to experiment with, but will tell more about it as soon as I manage to use it in some products.