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Saddle Rail Length ?

  • 28-07-2011 9:14am
    #1
    021CRETE01
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88 ✭✭


    We all know that different saddles have different length rails but the question is --- Are longer rails longer to the front of the saddle (allowing more movement backwards) or to the rear (allowing more movement to the front) ?


Comments

  • #2
    doozerie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,830 ✭✭✭doozerie


    I don't think there is a simple answer to that as I suspect the purpose of the longer rails varies from one saddle to another. Some TT saddles, for example, have longer rails to allow the saddle to be moved further back to satisfy the UCI requirements of saddle nose being 5cm behind the bottom bracket. By comparison, some saddles seem to have longer rails to add a greater element of suspension to the saddle and in that case I presume the aim would be to have the clamp attach to about the mid-point of the rails for greatest effect, in which case the longer rails are not really meant to offer greater fore or aft movement at all.

    More generally though, where possible I think it's better to opt for a seatpost with an amount of setback that suits rather than trying to get the saddle to adapt.


  • #3
    Lumen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    doozerie wrote: »
    More generally though, where possible I think it's better to opt for a seatpost with an amount of setback that suits rather than trying to get the saddle to adapt.

    ^ This.

    Clamping a saddle too far from the mid-point is a recipe for creaking, if not snapping.

    Also, after reading that Lemond interview I've added saddle rails to the list of things not to be made out of titanium (along with pedal axles and stems).


  • #4
    doozerie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,830 ✭✭✭doozerie


    Lumen wrote: »
    Also, after reading that Lemond interview I've added saddle rails to the list of things not to be made out of titanium (along with pedal axles and stems).

    One of the titanium rails on my wife's saddle snapped a couple of years back. She was pregnant at the time so cycling for 2 (well, for 1.2 or so anyway) but her non-pregnant weight is quite light so the added weight of baby didn't push her into the kind of weight that should have caused problems. I think/hope the most likely explanation was some kind of manufacturing defect in the saddle. I've ridden on titanium-railed saddles for years now without any such problems, but I'm light too (and I'm not a very good sample size, in any respect, so that obviously doesn't prove anything).

    I had a titanium bottle cage a few years back that snapped so I'd definitely avoid it for cages - or, at least, the local bike shop that sold it to me told me it was titanium but they also raved about the indestructible nature of titanium so it's hard to have a lot of faith in all that they say.


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