https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134467758736?
I bought some alleged Levi's 511s off eBay. When they arrived, they certainly weren't the Rock Cod material that I'd ordered, and I'm fairly sure that they weren't real Levi's. But they weren't significantly poorer quality than the genuine ones, so apart for the slight inconvenience of not being made with the right cloth I reckon I just saved £50.
But a fake Kit Carbonio saddle? Yes, it's about £220 cheaper than RRP, but is it worth the risk? Some of the failure modes could be life changing...
Nope, do you want sudden failure on a downhill at 60kph?
Nope I've got a fake specialized one from aliexpress I bought to try and didn't even fit it to the bike the quality was so bad.
Ask yourself,
what would be the consequence of a sudden catastrophic failure?
And
How much product development has the manufacturer carried out?
no. Got one (exact one above) for a laugh from aliexpress and it would creek and crack in my hand. never even tried to put it on the bike. Got a Selle Italia Novus Boost Kit Carbonio Superflow Saddle from wiggle in the sale for a decent price instead.
If it's fake carbon, the question isn't so much what it isn't, but what it actually is.
Selle Italia Novus Boost Kit Carbonio Superflow
That's quite some name.😃
My imagination of the failure results is giving me cold sweats.😬🫣
Have you seen the sellers address?
CTR 1 MONG KOK RD
000000 KL
Hong Kong
I wouldn’t want to take a trip to Mong Kok road so I’d give that saddle a miss
Failure of your fake saddle would not bode well for your fake Levi's
I've seen the effects of an overtightened genuine carbon seatpost. It was not pretty. Please don't buy it
Would you buy a parachute from that address at the same time 🤔
the potential for carbon shards to the gooch is far too high in this scenario
Visions of a miniature game of pick up sticks with small shards of plastic to the gonads..
I had a similar looking unbranded carbon saddle it lasted a year or so and then the rail cracked but it didn’t spear my plums.
Rails break, saddle gone, whats left ?.
Something phallic shaped.
I can see the Sun headline - Cyclist has bicycle removed from anus.
I wouldn't spend nearly £50 on a saddle... I'd guess £25 is the most I've ever spent on one, probably closer to £15 and £5 the cheapest.
I do have 2 expensive ones.. one came on a bike some Fisik thing and the other a XMAS present (some DMR camo) .. I don't use the Fisik one as I'm scared it will break in a crash the DMR one just seems like a saddle.
You can get Nukeproof ones at £20 right now ..
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/nukeproof-neutron-saddle
<p style="text-align: right;">Leaving aside the fake/genuine question is the weight saving from steel v carbon saddle rails worth the risk?</p>
Speaking as a 105kg fatty who has broken one steel railed saddle.