Weight Weenies

There are a couple of new black saddles being advertised by Hong Kong sellers, which have the stripe on the front part of the saddle in colour e.g. orange, yellow, green. Rather cheap prices.

I did contact one seller who mentioned it is a genuine Selle Italia and not a copy; weight around 135gm.
However all I can find from official Selle Italia sites/pics online are either the black saddle with the white/light grey strip, or the white saddle with the light grey strip.

I've looked closely at the HK seller pics and the saddles from all angles/details/stickers look like the real thing.

Or are these copies, due to the coloured stripes?

Considering you can buy the same saddle from places like Chain Reaction for only slightly more money ($30-40 USD), I'd say it is not worth the risk... legit or not.

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I was just thinking the same thing last week, I'd say they're copies or hopefully original but meant as OEM to supply other bike makers. I wish Selle Italia would sell them.

shotgun wrote:I was just thinking the same thing last week, I'd say they're copies or hopefully original but meant as OEM to supply other bike makers. I wish Selle Italia would sell them.

The seller of the yellow ones currently up mentioned in an email to me, "Yes they are genuine Selle Italia......OEM packing....".

Do you think that means legit?
My main hesitation was that they wouldn't have the same small amount of flex that I've read about.

In my part of the world, the term OEM has been thrown around a LOT. OEM here can mean supplied by original manufacturer or also a a copy of the original. I also have hesitations.

+1

OEM packaging means that the saddle, *IF* genuine, is packaged for supply to a bike manufacturer for installation on a bike before sale. The packaging is therefore plain and functional, not a display pack intended for retail. It's no guarantee that the saddle is original (after all, putting a fake in a plain brown box is easier than copying the retail pack) but also not necessarily an indication that it's fake - a lot of the cheaper discounted groupsets and wheels from reputable retailers (e.g. Merlin, Ribble etc) are "OEM" - they buy up surplus groupsets and wheels from bike manufacturers and sell them on.

It's conceivable that the coloured stripe saddles were made by Selle Italia for a specific manufacturer to co-ordinate with a bike colour scheme or for a tie-in (e.g. yellow for the TdF). It's equally possible that they're fake. I generally avoid "cheap" branded kit from HK & Chinese retailers - I'll buy a Chinese generic product from a well-reviewed vendor, like Carbonzone rims for instance, but I assume that discounted premium brand items are knock-offs.

Sorry for hijacking the thread. I had a similar issue. I was in the market for a new saddle and then I found this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2017-New-full-San-Marco-carbon-saddle-PU-leather-soft-mtb-road-bicycle-saddle-seat-selle/32819919170.html
I gave it a shot and just received it. If its a copy its a damn good one I would say. Weighted in at 112g.

spliid wrote:Sorry for hijacking the thread. I had a similar issue. I was in the market for a new saddle and then I found this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2017-New-full-San-Marco-carbon-saddle-PU-leather-soft-mtb-road-bicycle-saddle-seat-selle/32819919170.html
I gave it a shot and just received it. If its a copy its a damn good one I would say. Weighted in at 112g.

My guess is it in fact is not a copy... it is a San Marco

But...Maybe it is not a Selle San Marco

spliid wrote:Sorry for hijacking the thread. I had a similar issue. I was in the market for a new saddle and then I found this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2017-New-full-San-Marco-carbon-saddle-PU-leather-soft-mtb-road-bicycle-saddle-seat-selle/32819919170.html
I gave it a shot and just received it. If its a copy its a damn good one I would say. Weighted in at 112g.

I wonder about u'r opinion after u ride that saddle. In this moment i got the same copy as u'rs i guess on test, so will share my expereinece as well. Visually look like original Still not installed on bike, the only issue for now is when i press on rails in my hand there is some creaking noise. Do u have the same issue on urs? (press top of the saddle and rails)

just like what Shotgun mentioned, i too had lived in a country where imitation goods being called as OEM for their 1-1 copy (at least visual wise of it).

Anyhow, i have a SLR kit carbonio flow that was purchased from the LBS and it weighs 128grams. So far no creaking noise.

3Pio wrote:

spliid wrote:Sorry for hijacking the thread. I had a similar issue. I was in the market for a new saddle and then I found this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2017-New-full-San-Marco-carbon-saddle-PU-leather-soft-mtb-road-bicycle-saddle-seat-selle/32819919170.html
I gave it a shot and just received it. If its a copy its a damn good one I would say. Weighted in at 112g.

I wonder about u'r opinion after u ride that saddle. In this moment i got the same copy as u'rs i guess on test, so will share my expereinece as well. Visually look like original Still not installed on bike, the only issue for now is when i press on rails in my hand there is some creaking noise. Do u have the same issue on urs? (press top of the saddle and rails)

No creaking! I will try to mount it in the weekend. Will post when it has had its first ride.

magikcat wrote:just like what Shotgun mentioned, i too had lived in a country where imitation goods being called as OEM for their 1-1 copy (at least visual wise of it).

Anyhow, i have a SLR kit carbonio flow that was purchased from the LBS and it weighs 128grams. So far no creaking noise.

My Ebay purchase (orange stripe) came in. 129gm. Looks really good.

There is a little bit of flex in the saddle which is what I was hoping for, after reading about the amount of flex in the same/genuine model.

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