Regardless, Kudos to Tioga for rolling the dice with such a novel design.At Fun Bike Center we are your one stop shop for all of your powersports needs. We still like the Spyder but, as with most quirky products, it's best applied to certain niches. Finally, the Spyder Stratum is offered in just a single, rather narrow, 185mm width.Įven so, the price-to-weight ratio is compelling, especially for riders on a budget who are still interested in shaving grams without giving up much in terms of comfort. As with most predominantly plastic load-bearing structures – reinforced or otherwise – the saddle will eventually start to sag, and Tioga quotes a relatively short lifespan of two to three years with regular use. ![]() Although the chromoly version has no rider weight limit (and the carbon one is approved up to 109kg / 240lb), the flex is preset and tuned for a 68-83kg (150-185lb) rider so it's unlikely you'll get the intended ride quality if you fall outside of that window. Tioga also admits that the Spyder Stratum's unique construction has some limitations. We'd also avoid using the Spyder Stratum on more technical trails – both the nose and tail are very hard and unforgiving. We thankfully didn't suffer any saddle sores, but we never forgot that we were riding a saddle with a bunch of giant holes in it, either. However, a seven-hour mountain bike race wearing a more minimal chamois was a slightly different story. Longer road rides in a pair of ultra-cushy Assos shorts, for example, were totally pleasant and uneventful. Whereas the original tioga spyder saddle used a single-density plastic construction, this new version uses a two-layer, dual-density design that's more flexible while still retaining decent levels of support:Īlthough the striking 'SpiderWeb' upper layer is very soft and flexible, you can still feel the edges if you've got the wrong pair of shorts on ![]() ![]() This isn't so much to provide padding – after all, the shell is the padding in this case – but to insulate your bony bits from the multiple exposed edges. "As most performance saddles use padding of well less than 15mm thick, and then factoring in the padding compression once you sit on it, there’s not much shock absorbing value left to take on the hits."ĭespite this, we wouldn't have minded a more finely patterned SpiderWeb top layer – a thicker chamois is almost a prerequisite. "We find that paddings for saddles are inefficient shock absorbers because level of absorption is proportional to mass – more absorption requires thicker and heavier padding," explained Tioga USA's marketing director Kai Cheng. Compared with many race-oriented, lightweight saddles that go with the firm-but-fair supportive route, the super flexible Spyder Stratum is shockingly soft. Three months of testing on both the road and trail have demonstrated the Spyder Stratum to be nearly as comfortable as one, too. The Tioga Spyder Stratum saddle looks weird but it feels quite normal for the most part The tioga spyder stratum saddle looks like some sort of modern torture device but it's actually quite comfortable - in the right conditions: the tioga spyder stratum saddle looks like some sort of modern torture device but it's actually quite comfortable - in the right conditions Taken in combination, the effect is akin to sitting on a hammock – albeit an exceedingly light hammock that happens to weigh just 124g with carbon rails or 186g with chromoly ones (actual weights). Laid over the entire shell is a second layer – called SpiderWeb, of course – made from a much softer and more flexible blend. Whereas Tioga's original Spyder saddle was built using a single density, fiber-reinforced nylon shell that the company admitted would eventually sag and/or crack, this newer version uses a harder and more durable material for both the outer perimeter and strategically placed spars in the middle. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |