Brief Study of a Well-Used Meld Saddle

Not many people talk about well-used saddles and their repair. So we thought we’ll do that. Here’s a brief study of one of our saddles made in mid 2017 and its repair.

Photo A: For saddles that have been in use for a while, the cover may turn shiny from body contact. This can be an indicator of where the cyclist has been sitting: if only the saddle nose region is shiny, then he’s been sitting too far forward.

Photo B: For this saddle, there is noticeable abrasion on the saddle nose. The cyclist had used superglue to try and hold the remaining bits of cover together. We generally do not recommend doing this as the glue can complicate the repair process.

Also, in the event of an impact to a particular part of our saddle, we suggest regularly checking other areas as well since potential issues may develop elsewhere. For instance, an impact can create a small unobservable crack initially, which then enlarges and propagates with further usage ultimately leading to failure later while ‘just riding along’.

Photo C: Our short carbon rails (which results in a lower stack height) were an option before, they were introduced solely for aesthetic reasons. Unfortunately, they were not compatible with certain types of seatposts, and sometimes damage was inflicted on the shell bottom (e.g. circled in red) to various extents by the seatpost. We even had a case where the cyclist drilled a hole into the shell to accommodate his seatpost bolt. As a result, we stopped offering short carbon rails.

Photo D: Saddle after re-covering was completed, note the less-shiny cover compared to that in photo A.

We end this short study with a quick reminder that saddle re-covering has been and continues to be free. Let us know when you’re sending yours in, and you pay for shipping to us. We’ll re-cover your saddle, and ship it back to you.

Found this article useful? Check out other cycling-related stuff at meld3d.com/blog.