SDG I beam..Any good?

bdamschen · May 3, 2010

I have the micro and it works well. Just make sure you tighten it more than you think you should before you sit on it for the first time.

I weigh 210 lbs and when I get tired ride somewhere on the finesse scale between a garbage truck on a cobble stone street and a rhinoceros tripping.

Haven't crashed hard with mine yet, so can't speak to that, but so far so good!

Transcend · May 3, 2010

I am pretty happy with the Ibeam stuff i have been using for 3 years now. The micro head post with formula seat is a good combo.

John P. · May 3, 2010

I've been running them on my DH bike for years now.

The Good: incredibly light, very adjustable, easily adjustable, and plenty stable for DH use.
The Bad: Not as comfortable as a rail'd saddle, and I did have one break on an OTB crash down one of those steep rock faces on Upper Joyride.

The comfort thing is a personal issue, and because I don't do much extended sitting on my DH bike, it's not really much of an issue at all. The broken saddle may have just been a fluke because I've had plenty of other harder crashes than that, and the saddle has come through unscathed.

Overall, 4.5/5 happy prostates.

Tyler Durden · May 3, 2010

RMboy said:
I dont see it oftern discussed on here, saddles and posts and all that jazz

Wondered if anyone has had one, and want to talk about it..?

I'm quite tempted with the I beam post thing and Bel end air saddle

Im running the Micro Carbon / I-FLY: Looks Better, and Lighter than most, and took a fall, and still perfect !!!

:thumb:

yuroshek · May 3, 2010

i love how simple they are to work on. cant believe i spent all these years using other brands. easy 1 bolt to adjust your seat and your done.

The Breaker Man · May 3, 2010

Never had any problems with mine, in fact, I just recovered an old beat up one with some fresh suede......

LOOnatic · May 3, 2010

bdamschen said:
I have the micro and it works well. Just make sure you tighten it more than you think you should before you sit on it for the first time.

!

Oh man thats so true. It was late went i finally set mine up and i thought it was plenty tight and i went to bounce up down and literally slipped of the back straight to floor :banghead:

The beers didn't help my reaction time any either

Bikael Molton · May 3, 2010

I've had trouble keeping the ibeam post tightened enough to keep the saddle angle from shifting.

Also seen a handful of broken SDG I-beam seats. I'm not saying my friends' crashes wouldn't have broken railed seat also.

And the iBeam saddles i've sat on didn't flex at all and were considerably less comfortable than ultralight Selle Italia-type road race saddles I've used. This doesn't matter at all if you never sit down on your DH bike. (But for any seated pedaling, I think that a nicely-flexing seat shell matters more than the padding on top of it.)

These were iBeam set-ups from a few years back, don't know if they've addressed any of these issues.

wiscodh · May 3, 2010

John P. said:
I did have one break on an OTB crash down one of those steep rock faces on Upper Joyride.

gemini2k · May 3, 2010

Love mine. 5-6 bikes and 5 years after my first one, still love them. Better in every way compared to conventional post.

bansheefr · May 3, 2010

I love my SDG saddles/posts. I've been running them on all of my bikes for about 3-4 years now and can't see myself going back to a traditional railed seat. Although I do like Thomson posts, I love the simplicity and adjustability of the I-Beam system.

joelsman · May 3, 2010

anybody try the Kore versions, the T beam, they are I beam compatible.

miuan · May 3, 2010

running a carbon micro post with bel air SL saddle. bought the combo just for its crazy light weight for my DH bike. now running a bel air saddle on most of my other bikes. my butt just likes the shape. my XC rig has a Kore post while my FR bike has a railed setup. all of them are flawless and comfortable, though the DH post suffered from rear shifting until I tightened it really hard.
watch out for the weak spot. my plastic i-beam rail bent slightly when I positioned the saddle too far to the back to compensate for short cockpit. but the saddle has stayed like that and worked OK since then.

Tayrob · May 3, 2010

I've had an I-Fly seat with the old non-micro post on my hardtail for close to 2 years now.It's been totally set and forget...looks good,light,and just works.

Runner · May 3, 2010

I-Beam is one of the products that meets all three criteria: cheap, light, and strong. I'll admit, an SLR on a Masterpiece is sexy but the IBeam is a lot cheaper, and the weight/price can't be beat. I am on my second seatpost- my first was not tightened enough and I stripped the teeth so that it rotated if I sat on it but as long as you set it up right before you get on it then you're good to go for years (seriously). I got the Bel Air SL, and if I were to do it over again I'd get the I-Fly because it is lighter and the Bel Air isn't comfortable anyway, but I would have no reservations about recommending it to anybody... 9/10.

RaID · May 3, 2010

Have been very happy with my versions of the ibeam, have been using them for years,

Broke a seat once but that was expected based on the abuse it received

toodles · May 3, 2010

I've lost count of the number of railed seats I've broken over the years - been running an Ibeam on both my bikes for a couple of years now and they really are set and forget. A big bonus is being able to pick up a seat and post for around the price of a Thomson post.

Be nice to see a few other manufacturers using the I-beam design.

ZoRo · May 4, 2010

I've been using one for 3 years. GET IT. It's one of the best products/innovation IMO in the last 10 years or so in MTB. Sure, it's not a crazy linkage or new suspension design, but it's reliable, durable, simple and simply the set an forget kinda part. BTW, the I-Fly saddle can handle crazy abuse. Mine is all bagned up and still going strong after 3 years.

Definitely a recommended product.

Uncle Cliffy · May 4, 2010

rpet said:
These were iBeam set-ups from a few years back, don't know if they've addressed any of these issues.

The new micro-adjust posts are so much better than the first gen. posts. Set it, and forget it.

ChrisKring · May 4, 2010

been using it since 2004. works great and light.

tuumbaq · May 4, 2010

yuroshek said:
i love how simple they are to work on. cant believe i spent all these years using other brands. easy 1 bolt to adjust your seat and your done.

what he said . . .

I.van · May 4, 2010

I have been using a Bel Air and Kore post combo for a few years on my Heckler and it has been set-and-forget. I used to have trouble with stripping the teeth on seatposts, but not any more.

I have found the I-Beam seat to be less comfortable than railed seats due to the lack of flex in the seat. I believe the "Flex-Cavity" has been introduced on the FX series of seats to address this.

I'd like to go back to railed seats for comfort reasons, but the weight gain is stopping me. :rolleyes:

Floor Tom · May 4, 2010

I have recently just changed to I-Beam on both my DH and trail bike. My girlfriend got a new bike which came with one and she wanted to use her old railed saddle so the seatposts from my trail bike and hers were swapped and I ended up with one of the seats with the flex bit built in. Its pretty good and its comfy enough for a couple of hours in the saddle without padded shorts.
After that success the LBS were selling I-Beam posts and seats 1/2 price, I'd just wreaked the railed seat that came with my DH bike so I picked up a post and I-Fly saddle for £52.50. Its not comfy but I don't do much seated peddaling on my DH bike so its not an issue.

Triple8Sol · May 4, 2010

I'll never get another one after this happened to me last year. I would definitely warn anyone to think twice for DH/FR use. This wasn't from a crash, and it was setup correctly etc...

Bikael Molton · May 4, 2010

yeah my friends' broken ones were like that. I've seen the nose snapped, the whole back snapped (like yours) and the sides of the back.

<cue photos of broken railed saddles.>

Big J · May 4, 2010

I will only use SDG I-Beam seats on my bikes

I've had two railed seats come apart sending me to the emergency room w/ deep puncture wounds to the upper thigh.

There’s nothing like having a nurse irrigating a puncture wound 30mm from your junk while discussing the advantages of wearing an athletic cup during races. I thought my accidents were freak events or just bad luck until I saw some poor kid trail side at a race w/ a torn ball sack when his rail saddle came apart and just the thought of his bloody shorts still gives me shivers.

Don't be so quick to bag on the I-beam..........

Edit: Just to be fair my crashes happened while I was learning to race/ride DH. I can't speak for the kid I saw cupping his bloody shorts.

J

WhoRyder · May 4, 2010

i've been running my Ibeam and Saddle (same ones) for over 3 DH seasons.... crashing, wiping out, washing out and more crashes later, still good!

BKQuill · May 4, 2010

Been running the SDG I-Beams for years, love 'em! No complaints from me with them. Sure I busted a one or two but I've also busted railed seats as well. I'll take a cracked I-Beam saddle over exposed seat rails anytime. As Big J described, the rail can mess you up bad.

Floor Tom · May 4, 2010

As above. I have broken normal saddles before and expect to break I beam ones in the future, but having two sharp prongs down there does not appeal to me

mandown · May 4, 2010

mine was OEM on a bike i purchased a few years back. it quickly developed slop and sucked the big-one. rails plz.

SDG I beam..Any good?

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