I thought it’d be a good idea to do a short review of this saddle since I can’t find any others. By the looks of things on Flickr & Google, it seems to be getting pretty popular, so I hope others find this handy.
I originally intended to put this seat on my Mamba project bike, which is used as a spare for friends to ride. Of course, I couldn’t force others to ride it without first trying it out on my own bike, so I put it on for what was supposed to be a single ride.
(first photo of the seat on my bike)
Seeing as how Origin-8 markets this as a racing saddle, I wasn’t surprised when it had very little padding. In fact, compared to the SDG Bel-Air RL I’d been riding for the previous year and a half, the nose felt painfully hard (and pointy), and there was very little padding where I sit. I’ve ridden racing saddles before, so I knew I’d eventually get used to it–at least to a point, assuming the seat fit my body properly–but I figured the initial ride would be pretty painful. As it turns out, it wasn’t too bad.
Back to my initial impressions for a moment: When I first took the seat out of the box, I was pretty astounded by its appearance. It’s wrapped in fake leather–which often looks as fake as it is–but it’s hard to tell by looking at it. The stitching is absolutely beautiful, and gives it the look of a much more expensive item. In fact, when I showed it to my wife, her eyes popped and she asked me how much it cost (I have a reputation for spending stupid amounts of money on bike parts, so I can’t blame her for thinking I dropped $100 on this, which she did). I told her $20, plus $8 to ship (eBay). Since it was still at that time intended for a cheap project bike, I spent as little on it as I could, but it sure doesn’t look like I did.
(photos taken right out of the box)
One downside to spending so little on a saddle is, you end up with chromoly rails, as opposed to lighter titanium rails. In this case, it puts the weight at just under 300g, which is about a quarter-pound too heavy to be a legitimate racing saddle, in my opinion. It’s still lighter than my SDG Bel-Air RL, but not by much (318g vs 299g). The only way I see them as getting away with calling this a racing saddle is the low profile and lack of padding. In fact, I see them mostly on fixed-gear bikes, not on anything intended for a race course. So far, mine is the only one I’ve seen on a mountain bike… but I like being different.
Overall Thoughts
Like I said earlier, this seat was intended for my Mamba project bike. Take one look at that bike, though, and you’ll see my old SDG saddle on it. As it turns out, I liked the Origin-8 so much that it’s now become my full-time saddle. Over the last couple months, it’s seen a lot of road riding (due to the trails being mostly wet and, therefore, closed), an equal amount of gravel rail-trail time, and a small amount of single-track. Since pretty much any seat feels fine for single-track riding–since you’re standing about half the time–the real test was a combination of road and rail-trail.
On the road, it proves to be pretty comfortable, even to the point that it disappears as I ride. I’ve had saddles in the past–a Specialized Alias for one–that felt like I was seated on nails throughout much of the ride. When it gets to be that painful, the saddle becomes your primary focus, when what you should be doing is enjoying the ride. The Origin-8 stays very comfortable up to the 20-25mi point on the road, and only mildly irritating over 30 miles (though, I’ve found that’s the case with most). Even as much as 40 miles at a stretch is really pretty tolerable, and doesn’t leave me sore the next day. I haven’t yet had an extended ride of 50 miles or further at a time on it, but I don’t think it’d be any more uncomfortable than any other saddle I’ve owned over the years.
I’m lucky in that my city has a few miles of local rail-trail covered in crushed shale gravel. It’s pretty much entirely flat–which means you never have reason to stand and pedal–with small ruts from time to time, and the occasional bump where it joins to a bridge. No amount of road or single-track riding will let you test out a saddle like the rail-trail will. As I said, you never have reason to stand, which means you never even think about doing so. Add the small bumps, dips, and constant vibration due to the gravel, and you can end up in all sorts of pain if your bike seat sucks.
The Specialized Alias was good up to about 15 miles of rail-trail, after which I pretty much wanted to kill myself rather than ride any further. The SDG Bel-Air RL got me through a 63mi round-trip ride from Columbia to Jefferson City, MO and back last year, without too much discomfort. So far, the Origin-8 has proven to be nearly as comfortable as the SDG, although I haven’t had a chance to do the CoMo-Jeff City ride yet this year. I still think the SDG may end up being the better choice for such a ride, but probably not by much.
Conclusion…
So, would I recommend this saddle to others? Yes, and no. If you’re fit, male, and have ridden–and enjoyed–race saddles in the past, then I’d highly recommend it. The faux-leather finish seems to be pretty durable (although the ‘8′ logo is fading after just 2 months, but paint tends to do that), the rails are beefy steel, and it’s light enough for all but the most avid weight weenie. It also looks extremely good on just about any bike you could put it on (I think it’s spoiled me enough that I won’t be able to ride black seats ever again). If you’re new to biking, female, or prefer a more padded seat, then definitely skip this. The nose is hard as a rock, and it really does feel like you’re seated on a contoured brick most of the time. Some like that, some don’t. However, for less than $30, it wouldn’t be bad to at least give it a try and see if it works for you.
If you’re looking for one, try eBay first. They usually sell for less than $30 with shipping included, from most sellers. You can also find it at random online ratailers for slightly more, if you do a Google search.
Positives:
Cheap
Reasonably light for a daily saddle
Durable
Beautifully finished
Comfortable for some
Rare, if you like that sort of thing
Negatives:
Not light enough for true racing
Might not be on the market for long (so if you like it, buy an extra)
Low-profile rails can make mounting it on a seatpost difficult
Uncomfortable for some
