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ritchey wcs cabrillo saddle
i am of the considered opinion that saddles ought best be approached with the same sense of trepidation as would be advisable when getting to grips with a herd of cattle. a work colleague of mine owns a farm on islay's west coast, a venture that possesses a herd of blue-grey cows. they are, to all intents and purposes relatively docile, but in keeping with many of the island's farms, it is quite possible that said cattle will be met standing on the road outside the farm gate.
the majority of islay's cattle herds can be shifted by making an appropriate level of noise on the approach, but the blue-greys in question have an unnerving predilection for simply remaining where they stand, staring blankly in my direction. their stance on the road would make for a very long detour were i to retreat, but i cannot deny that the fear factor was particularly high when trying to negotiate my way through and past a herd of animals considerably larger than yours truly. running away in cleated shoes is not the finest of strategies.
the same can, i believe, be said about saddles, though being trampled to death is a far less likely outcome.
most of us have what i delight in referring to as agnostic posteriors, content to ride on whatever was affixed to the bicycle when it arrived from the shop or website. the fly-in-the-ointment would surely be for those of us who assembled our bicycles from scratch, where componentry is subject to personal choice. there's actually quite a lot to be said for buying a complete bike and having someone else pre-condition such choices, because at least when something doesn't work or prove less than comfortable, in the case of saddle choice, we can blame somebody else.
however, as one who once undertook to review cycle products on a regular basis, no matter the saddle i chose at the outset, there's a good chance it would have been replaced several times before twelve months of riding had passed. proabably scarcely enough time to become accustomed to any of them. that said, when the ritchey logic first indulged in the hebridean parcours, it was replete with a ritchey wcs saddle atop its ritchey wcs alloy seatpost. the latter has since been replaced with a ritchey wcs carbon seatpost, but for a large portion of their lives, both have been home to a saddle not from the ritchey stable. that, for what it's worth, has been a part of the agnostic posterior paradigm mentioned above.
like several others, i tend to pay little attention to the saddle on any bike; when reviewing, i've found myself simply listing what was on the bike when it arrived, without necessarily expressing any considered opinion on its veracity. however, i was recently sent one of two new models released by ritchey in the past couple of months (the cabrillo), which, according to ritchey's website, is sufficiently versatile to offer comfort to both the road and gravel rider, featuring a one-piece, seamless top that is a tad shorter than usual (certainly noticeably shorter than the saddle it replaced), and sporting a central channel presumably designed to relieve pressure in the perineum. the sitting bit is filled with a shallow level of shock-absorbent padding, while the rails are isolated from the top via ritchey's patented vector-wing technology.
that pretty much covers the nuts and bolts (so to speak), but what we're really interested in is just how comfortable it is to ride?
firstly, however, it has to be fitted to the seatpost, and in the case of the bracket atop all of ritchey's seatposts, there is an undeniable level of faff to be fought against. why everybody couldn't just repeat campagnolo's original single-bolt philosophy, i know not (unless it's still under patent). in this case, the bolt attaching the saddle rails to the seatpost runs at right angles to the saddle's forward direction and often requires removal of the seatpost from the frame to avoid a whole slew of inappropriate words during fitting. however, once in place, it's relatively easy to angle it up or down and move it forward or back until the desired setting is achieved.
unfortunately, prior to the first outing, i neglected to take into account that the cabrillo sits a smidgeon higher than its predecessor, meaning i had inadvertently introduced a level of height discomfort that made itself known as the ride progressed. had i written these words following that first ride, they would not have been overly complimentary. however, having now exceeded 500km on the cabrillo, i feel better qualified to make comment, but i believe it to be a saddle that i have yet fully to come to terms with.
the cabrillo's form factor is substantially different than that of its predecessor, so there was always going to be a period of adjustment required. i'm still not sure if i'm ok with its shorter length; it could simply be that i took the other for granted in terms of real estate, when it was perhaps unnecessary. or maybe not. i am confounded however, by the fact that i find the cabrillo to be a bit uncomfortable in the first hour or so of riding, yet growing in comfort as the ride progresses. i have rarely had much success with saddles that feature cutouts or, as in this case, pressure-relieving channels on the top. that might still be the case with the cabrillo.
and oddly, while there's no denying the level of padding evident in the ritchey, previously this road bike and currently on my cyclocross bike, i have been using saddles that effectively sport no padding whatsoever, yet have proved highly effective over thousands of kilometres. in which case, i think it's necessary to make this part one of a continuing review, leaving the cabrillo in place for a longer period to see if my posterior is simply taking its time to approve.
it's a very well made saddle, settling in at an amenable 222g and an overall length of 260mm, with a nylon and carbon fibre shell affixed to shiny, stainless steel rails, retailing at £87.90. i don't dislike it, but currently, i don't like it as much as its predecessor (a variation of which is also to be found on my 'cross bike). time will tell and then i'll tell you.
saturday 6 april 2024
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