Ride Lugged

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so this guy was stamped out august 1991, and I have retired him today.

it seems that I have actually worn this poor saddle out. a near fatal collision with a incorrectly labeled drive-thru canopy in North Carolina left it a bit worse for the wear almost 9 years ago, but it was still going strong. but it seems the last 510km loaded ride to Vienna was the downfall.

I never really thought my pointy sit bones could pierce a saddle shell. About 360km into the ride on some rough dirtroads, I noticed that it seemed that the padding directly under my sit bones had been quickly ground down and I was riding directly on the plastic/fiber reinforced shell.

when I made it back home this morning, I decided to put the flite out of his misery. in the interest of curiosity, I choose to break the saddle down to its base elements. the perforated leather cover came off without too much trouble, and the glue holding the foam on gave little resistance as well.

I was surprised to find the culprit of the sudden loss of padding.

it seems that my ass actually cracked the shell with my sit bones, at which point the padding in that small area was ground away fairly quickly.

I don’t recall any major impact, but there were so many repetitive jarrings that day, I am not surprised.
anyway I am saddle shopping now. I may look at a racy brooks, maybe a nice fizik (the misses seems to enjoy her two), i might stick with the flite. if I do stay with the flite, it looks like I will have some modding ahead, to fix the new and unnecessary spaceship styling.

ok, off like a prom dress!
-c