The SQ Lab 6OX Infinergy Ergowave is designed “for long and steep climbs”. Which is more than can be said for our two testers (only joking guys!)
- Brand: SQ Lab
- Product: 60X Infinergy Ergowave Active 2.1 Saddle
- From: SQ Lab
- Price: £175.99
- Tested by: Ross then Benji for 4 months apiece
This very wordy-named item is SQ Lab’s first ever Made in Germany saddle. SQ Labs are very much into doing things a biut differently than others. They throw a whole loads of research and development into their products and aren’t afraid of doing things that break from the norm. SQ Lab offers an amazing amount of options for saddles, with a huge breadth of anatomical knowledge to back this up.
The special thing is that the foam of the saddle, is not yer usual PU foam, but BASF Infinergy (also found in running shoes). This material is claimed to be very robust as well as being more comfy (due its quick rebound nature, essentially).
The “wave-shaped elevation” extends from the rear to the front is designed to reduce the pressure in the perineal area or female pubic arch. For pressure relief on longer climbs off-road, the nose is wide with a flat and as large as possible contact point.
If you’re looking for a new saddle then it would be worth taking a look at their range, but with something so personal as saddles it would be advisable to give it a try first somehow.
Even though the saddle tested is the smallest of the sizes, it is still quite big, with a wide back and broad nose. That width can be felt a bit when you’ve got the saddle dropped for descending and it’s noticeable in between your thighs. While there is a significant depression in the middle of the foam, and a stepped profile, once sat down it still feels flat side-to-side, without the feeling of any real ‘sat on a rolling pin syndrome’ contours.
The saddle comes with the medium elastomer pre-fitted, and we decided to keep this one on to give us a baseline to compare to and be able to go firmer or softer if needed.
We initially installed the saddle fairly central on the rails and pretty flat but in this position we struggled to find a sweet spot for pedalling like this. We slid it a bit further (5-7mm’ish) forward and also dropped the nose slightly, and this gave us a much more comfortable position for sitting and spinning away.
Despite the fairly thick padding across the back of the saddle it’s pretty firm. After getting the general saddle position right we carried on using the medium elastomer for a couple of weeks, hoping to ‘adjust’ to it, but we still found it overly firm. We then dropped down to the softest elastomer to try and get a bit of extra comfort.
Swapping these over was straightforward and literally takes a minute or two. Pull the old one out, push the new one into position. Simple. Swapping the elastomer over isn’t going to change the feel of the actual saddle padding or shape, but there is a definite difference.
The softer elastomer added a bit more comfort, allowing the saddle to move slightly more when pedalling. But still, we’ve just not been able to get to the ‘favourite-pair-of-slippers’ comfort that you get when you really gel with a saddle.
Durability
Build quality on the 6OX Infinergy Ergowave Active 2.1 saddle is impressive and after eight months use it’s not showing any particularly undue signs of wear. It’s been ridden in some pretty ropey conditions, taken the brunt of the bike being turned upside down and been crashed a few times. The material is good at shrugging off water rather than soaking through and our only wet weather issue is that the central depression can hold mud and water.
Overall
Saddles are probably the most personal component on a bike, and what works for one person, and on paper works for you, won’t always work out in the real world. (You should read our best mountain bike saddles guide to see what we lot like.)
Ross has always preferred slightly more minimalist and firm-ish saddles but unfortunately with the SQ Lab 6OX Infinergy Ergowave Active 2.1 he never managed to find the sweet spot.
Benji is typically better served by flatter saddles and thus did find this SQ Lab saddle okay comfort-wise. As with Ross, despite the elastomery insert, it is very much a firm saddle as opposed to a sofa and Benji did find it a bit too firm for him. He did also find it not exactly ‘difficult’ but more… distracting to try to stay seated in the rear stepped-up area; he kept finding himself frequently more in the middle of the saddle.
Saddles though eh? Personal. Very personal. The SQ Labs is clearly very well made and designed with the best of intentions and research etc. It could well be the saddle that your rear has been looking for.
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Review Info
| Brand: | SQ Lab |
| Product: | 60X Infinergy 2.1 Saddle |
| From: | SQ Lab |
| Price: | £175.99 |
| Tested: | by Ross then Benji for 4 months apiece |
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