Fabric Scoop?

RyanB

Hi.

Riding some audaxes these days and I'm going to ditch my trusty Charge Spoon (I believe the raised stitching in the saddle is irritating the tops of my legs from 150km onwards).

As I like the general shape, I'm going to go with a Fabric Scoop but I'm unsure which shape (between Shallow and Radius). Does anyone have any experience of using these saddles for proper long rides?

I know that Fabric recommend the Shallow for general use (including audax) and the Radius for more upright riding, but to my eye, the Radius is actually closer to the shape of the Spoon than the Shallow?

I'm also not sure of which rail to go for. Its between the titanium and carbon. I'm not bothered by the price difference.

Fabric say the titanium has more flex, is more comfortable etc, but the carbon just looks nicer (and weighs a bit less). Is there any proper discernable difference between the two? I've both the CroMo and titanium Spoon and can't notice any difference between the two rails.

As further info, I weigh 63kg and am relatively sleight of build, so weight limits isn't really an issue for me, but my rear definitely seems to prefer a curved, hammock-type saddle (normally marketed towards a heavier rider).
I know the usual point about saddles being an individual thing and I've went through the usual gamut of saddles (Brooks Swift, Cambium, Aliante, Kurve, ProLogo Nago etc) but I keep coming back to the Spoon, so I'm definitely going Fabric.

Many thanks for any advice.

bendertherobot

Don't forget there's a flat as well!

FWIW, I have the shallow on two bikes (or had before I sold my SuperX, which comes with the shallow version). As a former Spoon owner, I'd say it's similar to the shallow and the radius looks rounder.

ugo.santalucia

As the distance increases, so does the percentage of riders using a leather saddle... I find leather (especially beaten up leather) to be the only way to keep your ass on the saddle for many hours

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Nearly bought a Fabric at the weekend, PBK had 25% deals, such as the TT saddle with removable saddle bottle mount for ~£45.

RyanB

bendertherobot wrote:

Don't forget there's a flat as well!

FWIW, I have the shallow on two bikes (or had before I sold my SuperX, which comes with the shallow version). As a former Spoon owner, I'd say it's similar to the shallow and the radius looks rounder.

Thanks for that. Thats interesting about the shallow and the kind of info I'm after.
I'm definitely not going with the Flat (even if it does look really nice)

RyanB

ugo.santalucia wrote:

As the distance increases, so does the percentage of riders using a leather saddle... I find leather (especially beaten up leather) to be the only way to keep your ass on the saddle for many hours

Thanks Ugo. Yeah a lot of the guys I know on the audax rides are all still Brooks devotees, and my Brooks Swift has served me well on my Brompton for the last 6 years. I've swapped it over to my audax bike (Genesis Equilibrium) and, while it is undeniably comfortable, I've gone off it for two reasons.

1 - I find the rail length very limiting. I've had to change to a (heavier) seatpost with some setback simply to accomodate this
2 - The saddle/seatpost combination was adding almost 600g to my set-up. Now I know it can be easily argued that audax is traditionally less concerned with weight and more concerned with comfort, but it seems that quite a number of the audaxes I'm riding (in Ireland) are damn hilly and I'm trying to keep weight down wherever possible while still keeping some comfort.

mrb123

I've got the Shallow and Radius on two different bikes. Can't tell much difference to be honest. They look and feel very similar. Both have been good for rides over 200km.

If I was picking one I'd probably go for the Shallow. They're extremely good value too if you stick to the basic models.

RyanB

MrB123 wrote:

I've got the Shallow and Radius on two different bikes. Can't tell much difference to be honest. They look and feel very similar. Both have been good for rides over 200km.

If I was picking one I'd probably go for the Shallow. They're extremely good value too if you stick to the basic models.

Great. Thanks for this.

styxd

The flat feels pretty similar to the Spoon, the Radius probably even more-so.

ugo.santalucia

RyanB wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

As the distance increases, so does the percentage of riders using a leather saddle... I find leather (especially beaten up leather) to be the only way to keep your ass on the saddle for many hours

Thanks Ugo. Yeah a lot of the guys I know on the audax rides are all still Brooks devotees, and my Brooks Swift has served me well on my Brompton for the last 6 years. I've swapped it over to my audax bike (Genesis Equilibrium) and, while it is undeniably comfortable, I've gone off it for two reasons.

1 - I find the rail length very limiting. I've had to change to a (heavier) seatpost with some setback simply to accomodate this
2 - The saddle/seatpost combination was adding almost 600g to my set-up. Now I know it can be easily argued that audax is traditionally less concerned with weight and more concerned with comfort, but it seems that quite a number of the audaxes I'm riding (in Ireland) are damn hilly and I'm trying to keep weight down wherever possible while still keeping some comfort.

I think you are probably exaggerating... a Brooks does weigh 200 grams more than a light plastic saddle, but I doubt your seatpost weighs 400 grams more than another one.

As I said, as the distance increases, so does the number of Brooks saddles... you don't see many in a 200 km, but over 300 they are still the saddle of choice. Incidentally > 300km is where you start seeing large seatpacks, Carradice seat bags and even panniers, which add a lot more weight than the saddle itself (and clamp to a Brooks so much better than they do to a light plastic saddle. Typically even light carbon bikes end up weighing well in excess of 10 kg.

You have to set your priorities right. Avoiding saddle sores is top of my list... contact point comfort is the single most important issue when choosing a piece of equipment over another... I have yet to find a plastic saddle that does the job when you cycle > 10 hours

philbar72

Have to agree with Ugo here, most sporty saddles are great for rides up to and around 200k but a decent comfortable saddle would be where you’d need to be if going over that kind fo distance. Have to say though my selle italia saddle was very very good for a recent 300k audax but the whole caveat with this is it suited me and I am definitely not the OP. Saddle comfort is the most important thing along with the other contact points for longer rides.

ryan_w-2

I've done numerous 200+km rides on a 104g Selle San Marco Aspide Superleggera.... Weight has nothing to do with comfort, just has to fit your shape.

Fabric saddles are great bang for buck at the cheaper end of the spectrum.

ugo.santalucia

Ryan_W wrote:

I've done numerous 200+km rides on a 104g Selle San Marco Aspide Superleggera.... Weight has nothing to do with comfort, just has to fit your shape.

Fabric saddles are great bang for buck at the cheaper end of the spectrum.

Audax rides follow the metric hundred... so > 200 means 300 or 400 or 600... there is a significant difference when going from 200 to 300... especially in the amount of stuff one has to carry...

A 200 can be bagged in 8 hours with an almost constant temperature and no need for lights. When you go for a 300 and even more so longer distances, then you have to budget for night riding... not to mention spare batteries or chargers and whatnot. Weight of components is dwarfed by the weight of stuff and a saddle with carbon rails is not suited to carry luggage

This is what I carried for a 400, I have seen people with a lot more, not many with much less

antonyfromoz

Bearing in mind the old but true rule that one man's armchair ride is another man's torture implement, I just wanted to add in my 2pence worth regarding the mover from a charge spoon to the fabric range. I have long been happy with the scoop and even the knife for tides over 100 miles (so not quite audax territory but getting there) but when I tried the Scoop range in both shallow and radius, I developed really painful saddle sores. The issue was not so much the shape of the top of the saddle, but rather the edges of the saddle which have quite a pronounced ridge of plastic with very little padding. The edge of the spoon is extends deeper down the side, if you know what i mean, rather than ending so abuptly. Obviously others have different experiences but I would recommend buying a less expensive version first, perhaps with steel rails, or getting one second hand before spending the money on either titanium or carbon.

JayBM

I switched to a Fabric Scoop Shallow Ti for the Buzzard 600. This is having ridden a standard Giant saddle for rides up to 300km and then having tried a C15 carved and a C17.

I would agree with others above. I found the Fabric pretty good up to 400 but after that it became uncomfortable. As they say weight really isn't a big consideration for longer Audaxes and I'm looking at Brooks Swift for the future.

ugo.santalucia

JayBM wrote:

and I'm looking at Brooks Swift for the future.

The swift looks pretty ,but for comfort the B 17 is the granny

bendertherobot

Shorts too. Oddly, found my Cambium slightly better today with my RedWhite shorts over my Assos ones.

JayBM

ugo.santalucia wrote:

JayBM wrote:

and I'm looking at Brooks Swift for the future.

The swift looks pretty ,but for comfort the B 17 is the granny

Good to know, thanks Ugo!

Shorts wise; absolutely been a definite improvement since switching from a slightly worn pair of DHBs to a pair of Rapha Brevet 2s. My pair of club shorts are comfy too but only up to 300ish. I think they have too thick padding for longer distances.

tazmon

Hi Ryan

I've got a carbon railed Shallow in the classifieds at the moment.

Cheers

MisterMuncher

I have the pre-Fabric Charge Scoop on two bikes, from when there was only one model, apparently the same profile as a Spoon. The profile matches the "shallow" profile of my Fabric ALM, so if I was picking a scoop, I'd go that way.

All that being said, regardless of padding etc, I find the ALM more comfortable. Horses for courses, I suppose. To throw another into the mix, maybe seek out an old Charge Knife. Same profile as a Spoon, lighter, leather top. There's still stitching, but it's less pronounced in the leather.