Castelli free aero race bibs + White saddle = bad combo?

Sammyw23

Worn my new castelli bibs twice now and both times they have made the edges of my White fizik Antares saddle a grey/black colour which doesn't come off with various cleaning products.

Love the bibs just keen to know if anyone has had same problem? Should I consider complaining to wiggle/castelli?

Secondly, any advice on cleaning White saddles much appreciated!!

anto164

Baby wipes for the saddle. Or just admit that a white saddle is never going to stay white.

Sammyw23

Yeah fair point but I have 4 other pairs of bibs and none have done that before?

JRooke

have the same bibs and a white airone saddle, never had this at all

kfinlay

No problem with my Max Flite in white leather

sungod

not had this problem with the same shorts and a white arione

is the saddle smooth or is it like suede/? if it's got a rough texture then maybe the saddle is abrading the fabric of the shorts

as above, try baby wipes, but if it looks like the colour is due to ground-up fabric being ingrained in the surface then change the saddle before it destroys the shorts

markos1963

No problems with my Free Aeros and my Selle italia SLt1. Could it be the chamois cream you might use?

Sammyw23

Saddle has the microtex cover same as all fiziks.

No wear on the shorts and o don't think it could be chamois cream (assos) but I could be wrong.

Sounds like None of you have had the same problem so I guess I either put it down to bad luck and move on or raise a complaint? What do you think?

Sammyw23

Well having worn the shorts 4 times and now with a black/green ex-white saddle, I have contacted wiggle to complain. It can't be right when no-one else has had same issue.

But then is it really possible that there was a bad batch?? Who knows. Lets see if Wiggle will replace and if so perhaps I/Wiggle contact Castelli about a new saddle!

MattC59

WooHoooooo................. Blame WIggle

Ands

Sammyw23 wrote:

Well having worn the shorts 4 times and now with a black/green ex-white saddle, I have contacted wiggle to complain. It can't be right when no-one else has had same issue.

But then is it really possible that there was a bad batch?? Who knows. Lets see if Wiggle will replace and if so perhaps I/Wiggle contact Castelli about a new saddle!

My other half had the same problem with a pair of Castelli Free bibs and a white Arione that turned green, about 2 years ago. A long argument ensued between the him, the retailer and the Castelli distributor. In the end, he got the shorts replaced by the Castelli agent and the retailer gave him a decent chunk of money off a new saddle.

Sammyw23

Thanks Ands thats really helpful - Can I ask if the same happened with the 2nd pair i.e. was it a one off with the originals?

Ands

Sammyw23 wrote:

Thanks Ands thats really helpful - Can I ask if the same happened with the 2nd pair i.e. was it a one off with the originals?

Hi Sammy, no probs with the second pair at all.

Sammyw23

Update - wiggle replaced the shorts for free but Castelli refused to accept that the saddle discolouration was due to the shorts. So having had a replacement pair of shorts for free and bought a new white aliante saddle for the new season, I did my first 100 mile sportive of the year and guess what. Saddle has green marks in two places.

Guess I just have to accept that this is going to happen - its just strange that only one other person has experienced this!

Bobbinogs

I have the FAR shorts and they are great (not quite as great as my new Bodypaints but that's another story). I use them with all my bikes, 2 of which have a white saddle (one a vintage Selle San Marco Regal Giradi and one a modern version of a similar model). Both white saddles have perforated real leather. Spent hours on the bikes, never had a problem.