Friction free saddles

term1te

I've seen a Selle Italia saddle that claimed to be "friction free", which apparently will increase power transfer to the wheels. I've never thought that thigh rub was wasting much power. Is this just marketing, or is there any real advantage to their friction free saddles? If there is an advantage, will it be greater for those with the "more powerful" thighs, which might be more prone to friction in the first place? I'm guessing that whilst it might be friction free, the narrower nose to the saddle might not be the most comfortable.

ayjaycee

Some might say 'friction free' = 'increased power transfer' = 'marginal gain' but others (inc. me) might say 'friction free' = 'increased power transfer' = ballox (and possibly sore ones at that!). It would be interesting to see any Selle Italia back up data and whether it would stand up to scrutiny by, say, the Advertising Standards Authority.

grenw

I've got a Monolink Flite ('friction free' single carbon rail) on my mountain bike and a standard Flite on my road bike. I can't tell the difference on the thighs.

I do wear baggies on top of lycra/liners on my mtb so maybe it does help to stop anything catching?

PS My thighs are far from Forstemann proportioned!

Secteur

I must admit, I have a particular pair of shorts which are very slippery and I feel like I have little traction on my saddle, and it really affects my riding (in a negative way) - I feel like I am slipping and sliding when under power (ok, only fractionally, but it still feels distracting). No problem with my other tights / shorts (so clearly a function of the shorts material, not the saddle, but you get the point).

I like a short/saddle interface which feels grippy with no unintentional movement.

Actually, I suppose friction-free at the sides (where your tights bobble on the inside) but high-friction on the weight bearing surface would be ideal.

t4tomo

I think its a load of marketing wollocks.

I think friction free means the nose is narrower so it doesn't rub on your thighs, as opposed to "we've defied science by coating some / all your saddle in something that renders no opposing force when another object moves across it"

grenw

t4tomo wrote:

I think its a load of marketing wollocks.

I think friction free means the nose is narrower so it doesn't rub on your thighs, as opposed to "we've defied science by coating some / all your saddle in something that renders no opposing force when another object moves across it"

That's exactly what it is. A narrower nose with less to rub. In the case of my saddle, the monolink post/rails mean the saddle nose can be made narrower than one with 2 normal rails.

cycleclinic

These saddles are really meant for folk with large thighs to reduce rub and soreness. If you speak to a selle Italia rep they mention nothing about increased power transfer. Marketing blurb is always fanciful. Have you read what campagnolo claim
for G3 lacing...

Ignore the blurb and think about what the product does. If you dont have large tighs then the firction free saddles are likely to useless to you. The old monolink though had more fore and aft adjusment. this also was possibly quite pointless which is why monolink is dead and friction free live's on.

meanredspider

Didn't I see a while back a "grippy" saddle (proposed for pro use) that was meant to increase power transfer for sprinters?

grenw

meanredspider wrote:

Didn't I see a while back a "grippy" saddle (proposed for pro use) that was meant to increase power transfer for sprinters?

It that the one Tony Martin used last year? :twisted:

thecycleclinic wrote:

The old monolink though had more fore and aft adjusment. this also was possibly quite pointless which is why monolink is dead and friction free live's on.

Yep. Also had the nice 'benefit' of locking you into their saddles unless you wanted to buy another carbon post.

bbrap

GrenW wrote:

Yep. Also had the nice 'benefit' of locking you into their saddles unless you wanted to buy another carbon post.

Not necessarily, the Ritchey monolink post has interchangeable clamps which allows a "normal" saddle to be fitted. I changed my monolink Selle Italia SLS Kit Carbone for a Fizik Arione without needing a new post. Of course you can go the other way by getting a monolink clamp.

marcusjb

GrenW wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

Didn't I see a while back a "grippy" saddle (proposed for pro use) that was meant to increase power transfer for sprinters?

It that the one Tony Martin used last year? :twisted:

Definitely not friction free!



Now that is commitment!

meanredspider

I don't suppose they did a ladies version!

term1te

So the Selle Italia marketing department will meet the same fate as those from the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation?

fenix

meanredspider wrote:

Didn't I see a while back a "grippy" saddle (proposed for pro use) that was meant to increase power transfer for sprinters?

But who sprints in the saddle ?

The grippy sandpapery ones are for time triallists - a la Martin. Ouch.

Grill

My AX Lightness Leaf is friction free. I slide all over the shop.

meanredspider

Fenix wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

Didn't I see a while back a "grippy" saddle (proposed for pro use) that was meant to increase power transfer for sprinters?

But who sprints in the saddle ?

The grippy sandpapery ones are for time triallists - a la Martin. Ouch.

Yup - that was it - my bad.