After a week of riding the new KH 2009 saddle I’m convinced it’s a significant upgrade, and along with the stiffener plate worthy of its own thread
I’ve really been impressed with the many design changes and most significantly comfort improvements. Add in the Stiffener Plate and it’s a cool thing for anyone interested in saddle mounted bars.
I took the new saddle apart this evening to get a better look at the changes. Some pics attached below along with links for anyone interested in more info/pics.
Great review!!!
But now you have me contemplating the CF base. You should to the same thing for the street!! lol
Im wondering the differance in weight of the: 09 saddle w/ stiffener plate vs. CF base saddle.
I’m not entirely clear on whether the stiffener plate can be retrofit onto the older saddle.
I want to get the XC handle, but have a 2008 saddle on my 36" (which I just bought), obviously not a 2009!! It appears that the stiffener plate is required also, or is that part of the kit?
Why haven’t we seen the TOP of the new saddle??? It’s supposed to have a new stretch nylon material that replaces the old, thick vinyl, and conform better to the channel. But all i’ve seen is the bottom of the saddle.
Ok cool thanks! When I read that the new top piece “better conforms to the channel”, I was expecting it to actually go down into the cutaway, like my mod from a while back.
Well that’s what I did with mine, (almost a year ago now) but you have to have plenty of extra material in the middle or it won’t stay down. You basically have to start by attaching the material to the cutout first, then attaching the remainer to the rest of the saddle.
The stiffener plate isn’t compatible with older KH saddles due to significant difference in the curve of the saddle base - here’s a pic showing how it ends up looking. (Have updated the Stiffener plate review too, should have included that)
There’s nothing to stop anyone making a stiffener plate for older saddles though, I think a few guys have made and use similar plates already
Sorry Terry I didn’t include any pics of the top of the saddle with the cover on because it didn’t seem especially interesting compared to the other changes, have added one now. the new fabric combined with the other changes does seem to work well you’re sitting on the saddle - might not make a pretty pic though
The only thing that bugs me atm about the new saddle is the lacing in the cover - with the way that it’s been done in the new saddle once you’ve undone the lacing it’s not as easy to get the cover to fit neatly as the old saddle cover.
This is a bit rough but my CF saddle including a few small strips of rubber and quite a bit of tape is pretty much the same weight as the old KH saddle which is pretty much the same weight as the new KH saddle, all around 830 grams. On top of that you’d need to add the weight of the stiffener plate which isn’t that much.
I think the CF base is cool, definitely stiff, but maybe too much hassle (drilling etc) and cost (CF base plus the parts from another seat) compared to a combo of the new saddle and plate.
Don’t know about the new street saddle though, don’t have one.
I’m definitely interested in trying out the KH Touring handle and almost ordered one with the new seat and plate, but I don’t know that my wife’s sense of humor could extend any further atm
Thanks for all the nice remarks- glad you like it. On the T-bar touring handle, the attachment bracket under the saddle fits a standard 22.2 mm tube (e.g. a 22.2 mm seatpost tube fits in it). The attachment bracket is the only thing on it that would be fairly hard to make at home - the T-section is quite simple if you have welding capability. Consequently, I’m pretty interested to see what other handle combinations people may make that use the bracket but their own style of T-section.
Hi, I was wondering about the bar ends that come with the handle. Wouldn’t it be better to have a free choice instead of getting the whole set with the bar ends that are stock? Because I know I would want to put other bar ends on for sure. The kind that you can put grips on and that are bent like the ones in the picture below. That’s the kind I use on my home made 36er handle, and I love it.
Bar ends are pretty inexpensive when they can be supplied as a package, so it makes sense to include them. It needs to be functional out of the box, and hopefully most riders will like the ones that are supplied.
But the part of the point of using removable bar-ends is that the rider could switch them out if they really wanted to, or if they broke in a wipeout, so I expect some riders will change them as you say.
