When it comes to any contact point on a bike, it is a very personal choice. What might work for one rider, might not work for another. Saddles in particular can vary widely from one model or manufacturer to another, and cyclists often spend considerable amounts of time trying to find one that’s just right. Meld believes that they have a solution.
Instead of spending time and money trying different saddles in hopes that you will find the right one, their website and kit collects the data that they need to be able to create a custom saddle that matches your anatomy. Since 2015, the company has been developing their process, testing their products, using cloud computing to design the saddle to each user’s inputs and anatomy, and now believes they are ready to offer what they describe as “mass customization.”
The process starts by creating an account on the Meld3D website. There, you will be able to start to set parameters that will be used in creating your saddle. You can use a step by step guide to set initial aspects of your saddle, or go through it on your own. For most people, the guide will be the way to go. Once the parameters are set, you are required to make your purchase to move forward. Don’t worry though, you can make changes even after you have made your purchase. This is important, especially once the next step is loaded into your account.
Meld will send you a kit with impression foam and instructions on how to use it to create a cast of your unique anatomy. Once you send it back, Meld will use it, along with the parameters you set on the website, to create your custom saddle. Saddles are made in-house in their California manufacturing center and depending on how many orders are in the queue, it should take about a week and a half to build and QC.
Currently, there are six different two-dimensional outlines that you can use to create the general outline of the saddle. You can tweak if the back kicks up, the nose rolls down, how quickly the rear shape transitions to the nose, a center cutout or channel, color, name customization, and the style of graphics. The saddle itself is comprised of a carbon fiber shell, 7x9mm carbon (180 lb limit) or 7mm round steel (240 lb limit) rails, close cell EVA foam, and synthetic leather for the cover. Meld states that examples of their full carbon saddles weigh in the 120 gram range, while steel rail saddles can weigh in the 260 gram range. All Meld saddles are backed by a 2 year warrantee.
So, with all of this customization, and carbon construction, the price is going to be insane, right. Think again. While they are not cheap, the steel rail option will set you back $250 and the carbon option is $325. You can buy some nice, high end saddles at these prices, but will they be custom made for your unique anatomy with your graphics? I think not.
We’ll be meeting with Meld and its founder, Ethan Ee at Interbike to learn more about their custom saddles.
https://youtu.be/HslarFXQWvc
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
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