What’s the deal with I beam post and seat setups? are they really noticeably firmer under your backside? Are there any actual benefits? Would be going on a hardtail.

It’s the lightest set up I have. use them for short races / practice rides. The saddle is “quite firm”…

I have one, but not currently in use. I love the SDG saddle but it is much firmer than a railed saddle.

I used to have one, used it with an I-Beam i-fly, was light. not massively different from a regular post TBH

Would you choose one over a Thomson Elite (16mm layback or inline) for ~£50 (although it would would be even cheaper with BC discount and topcashback at CRC)?

I was thinking about replacing the 31.6mm ~350g default brick on my Wazoo, possibly with a Selcof or Titus job from DFS, but someone posted about their new Titus issue recently and I started thinking Thomson alloy instead.

I found that an I-beam saddle could be a bit harsh on an Aluminium hardtail, but I’m OK with them on full sus bikes.

I’ve had a few and like them for weight and comfort. However, the SDG posts have a tendancy to split, so look for a kore post instead.

I had one wasted day out with a split post which could have been very painful and one narrow escape.

Having never had a problem with a normal post, I’d probably say don’t do it, unless weight is that important and you don’t mind having a spare all of the time.

They’re the only saddles that I’ve not bent or broken the rails on.
I wish they did reverbs in I-beam.

I have a couple of bikes with the selle italia seat/post combo, they are pretty firm and I find you have to torque them higher than recommended to prevent the angle changing if you hit a big bump. But they are super light.

They are lighter than a Thomson Elite + equivalent saddle (SDG bel air ti vs ibeam). Some were bit stiff but there are ohe saddles with more flex.

I don’t understand why more droppers don’t use it. Easy way to get the weight down (USP) with no functional difference to the post.

nixie – KS have done I-beam dropper posts in the past, I have one. Presumably it didn’t sell well enough to be worth doing an I-beam Lev, though. I dimly recall that there may have been some faff involved in getting the licensing sorted out too, which may have amounted to enough extra hassle that it wasn’t worth doing another one.

Great design but have tendency to fail with splits near the head

Have one on my full suss, very light but the only give is the padding. Wouldn’t use it on a hardtail.

Weird – i find the I beam Bel Air saddle on my hardtail pretty flexible

Chrisl, Yeap remember that one. Couldn’t get one in the UK when i wanted it :(.

They are fine on hard tails. I’ve got 3 I-beam posts. Two have Bel airs which are a bit hard. The other has a different sdg saddle which has way more flex.