KH Fusion Saddles & Reinforcement Plates

[Dino]

I’m looking for some advice please…

I have the KH Fusion Zero on my 26er and want to put a touring handle on, but the Fusion Zero only has the four holes for screwing in to the front handle, it doesn’t have the extra screw hole/s by the stem.
Given this, is it worth attaching a reinforcement plate?

[mindbalance]

I think it isn’t needed with that saddle

T-bar touring handle compatible with no requirement for the reinforcement plate.

https://krisholm.com/en/blog/introducing-the-kh-fusion-zero-saddle

[finnspin]

I could swear I’ve seen someone add a rivnut to a Fusion Zero for that purpose, but can’t find it…
My mechanical instinct says without that bolt, a reinforcement plate would be completely useless.

They say it’s not required, but depending on how long you want to have the touring bar, I’d say it’s still desireable to reduce flex in the seat. For a short bar with grips right in front of the handle, it’s really not necessary. For an “Aero style” bar, it’s probably very usefull, but I’d try to come up with a brace towards the frame/seatpost for that purpose.

[Dino]

@finnspin

My mechanical instinct says without that bolt, a reinforcement plate would be completely useless.

That was my thinking

@finnspin

For a short bar with grips right in front of the handle, it’s really not necessary

I’m only looking at a short handle so this probably makes most sense.

Cheers @finnspin

[Eric_aus_Chemnitz]

@finnspin

I could swear I’ve seen someone add a rivnut to a Fusion Zero for that purpose, but can’t find it…

KH Zero and reinforcement plate: the homemade wedding

What are the constraints of this tutorial ? it should not cost more than buying a KH One (otherwise it is easier to buy a KH One) it should be as non-invasive as possible (KH Zero having a stappled cover and a lot of people - including me - do not own a stapple gun) What did I use ? a KH Zero a KH reinforcement plate a power drill two long pop rivets a rivet gun a drill bit matching the pop rivets diameter a handsaw/cutting instrument pliers Step-by-step First, I got e…

[WeaponizedBacon]

I use one on my zero and it definitely stiffens it up without the rear bolt. The rear of the plate sits against one of the pivotal notches which helps with downward pressure on the bar.

Without the plate the zero has noticeable flex with a mid length road bar setup. you may not notice it with a short bar

[Dino]

@WeaponizedBacon

The rear of the plate sits against one of the pivotal notches which helps with downward pressure on the bar.

I noticed that when I gave the reinforcement plate a go on the saddle.

@WeaponizedBacon

Without the plate the zero has noticeable flex with a mid length road bar setup. you may not notice it with a short bar

I definitely wouldn’t use the Zero without a reinforcement plate on my 36er but given I’m planning on using a short handle on my 26er with the Zero I reckon it should be OK.

The official KH page that @mowcius posted above states that: “T-bar touring handle compatible with no requirement for the reinforcement plate”, so hopefully it’ll be OK.

[Dino]

Thanks @Eric_aus_Chemnitz, that thread gives plenty of food for thought

[mowcius]

I ran a Zero without a reinforcement plate and a short-ish bar setup on my 36er for over a year (riding daily) before it was stolen, and it was OK. A bit of flex was noticeable, but my main concern with the Zero and longer bars would be snapping the hollow pivotal bolt.

If you keep it really well tightened up then you should be OK, but a friend of mine snapped two of them.

You can modify it to take a solid bolt, but it requires total dismantling of the saddle (stapled cover, glued foam).