Chromag Moon Saddle - SG Review

I have been riding WTB saddles as long as I can remember ... and loving them, except that lately I have been bending the rails - I have had to buy two new saddles this year. Since most good saddles are not cheap, I started looking at alternatives. One that really caught my attention was the Chromag Moon. I really don't know what about the saddle caught my eye ... but whatever it was I just kept on ending up on the Chromag site checking it out.

When I go to buy a product I usually do months of "research". The process goes something like this: I start feeling the need to change something or something wears out/breaks so I start looking online for alternatives. Being a bigger guy I have to make sure that it is sturdy ... and being a complete gear whore I have to make sure that it looks good on my bike and that it is not a boat anchor ... then the reality sets in where I figure out I can't afford the part because I seem to never have any of that expendable income that I keep hearing about ... so I keep riding my old crap till it fails or just gets so worn out that I have to replace it. During this whole process I am online ... poking around ... reading review after biased review and trying to sift through the marketing and other crap that gets thrown at us consumers.

After all that I usually just buy what I know works and what I have been riding for years. But this year I decided to mix it up a bit and try new things. The 10 speed setup that I just put on my bike is a pretty major part of this. I also put light XC tires on my bike this summer ... I will be writing a full review up for that after a few more wet rides.

And then I bent another set of rails ... I bent them back a few times ... but there is only so much suffering those poor little NiCro tubes could handle. When I took it off, the bolts from my seat post were digging into the plastic of the saddle body ... it took some prying to get the top of the seat post clamp out of the clutches of my dead Speed V.

Anyway I am getting ahead of myself here...after doing all this research I did finally decide to go and take a look at the Chromag ... but finding a shop that carried stock this time of year was not easy ... you would think that with 20+ shops in town it wouldn't be hard ... you would be wrong. Thank god for my smartphone and google maps ... just search for bike shops and start tapping on their numbers ... after a bunch of calls I ended up going to Marty's Mountain Cycles ... one of my favourite shops in town. After a short drive down to the shop and parting with some of my hard earned paycheck, I was the owner of a sexy Ti railed Moon saddle.

My first impression of the Moon was ... holy crap this thing is firm (thats what she said). I am used to the much more plush WTB Speed V's that I usually rest my tush on. Lets hope this little leap of faith does not end up biting me in the ass. Sigh, sorry, I could not help that one, I will try to keep the puns to a minimum. I also loved the full leather cover ... no embroidery to chaffe and let water in ... very nice. This is the first saddle with Ti rails for me ... I had people telling me that they are stronger ... other people saying that they are weaker ... that just proves to me how much BS there is in this industry and that I will have to just find out for myself if it will work for my needs or not.

The other thing about this saddle that is a little odd and that I thought I may have to get used to is the shape ... it's got a long nose that has some nice padding on it for climbing, the rear is cut away nicely so I can get behind the saddle easier (always have issues with this) ... but in photos it looks like there is a little hump ... the opposite of what you'd think would feel good. The reason that it looks like there is a hump is because the nose slants down slightly - when climbing it actually feels great ... lots of support right where I need it.

So I took off my old saddle and started putting the new one on ... I really don't know why I was so excited ... I  just love bike parts ... lol ... as I said earlier ... I am a whore. I loved the look of it. I am not one for white parts - I usually say that white parts have no place on a mountain bike - so I have no idea why I bought this saddle...it just kinda jumped out at me at the shop and screamed "BUY ME AND PUT ME ON YOUR BIKE" ... how could I refuse that, really? Okay ... it's not white ... it's light gray ... close enough to white for me ... but I think it looks A LOT better than the black one.


As I sat on it for the first time to feel if I have the angle right my ass felt at home on it ... ok, well this is just for a minute I told myself ... let's see how it handles hours and hours of pedaling - that will be the real test. Will my butt embrace the new piece of gear between my legs or will it reject it?


I have taken it on a few rides - long and short - and so far it has been great...some people have said that the Moon breaks in after a few rides but I found that it was comfortable right off the bat and since then it has just gotten better. I love that if it gets wet you just have to wipe it off and you don't have to worry about your saddle soaking up the muddy water and getting your shorts wet ... it does not soak up a thing ... a very good quality to have here on the Island. I love the look of it on my bike, and after just over a month of riding in typical Vancouver Island fall conditions it still looks new.


I am trying to find negatives ... so far the only thing I can think of is that I found it to be kind of expensive ... I am a cheap bastard, but in reality you are getting a light, nice feeling saddle for a lot less than some of the other choices. I guess there will be some people that won't get over the shape of it ... but in my experience it is like that for a reason ... it is comfy. Time will tell if I bend the rails or if the leather tears or scuffs easily. I will do another long term review sometime in the new year to keep everyone up to date on how it lasts for me.

Saddles are very personal things, some people hate saddles I have thought were awesome and vice versa ... so it's really hard to give a saddle a review that will work for everyone ... but with that said, I would say if you can get your hands on one of these saddles ... you should go for it. Heck if you are on the Island ... come on down and give mine a try ... see if you like it or not. 


For the price you are getting a top of the line full leather, Ti rails and relatively light saddle ... you can't really go wrong.

Info:

• Extra lo-profile design
• Ultra light foam
• Seamless, leather top
• Titanium rails
• 240g
• 280mm x 135mm

Colours:

• black, grey

Pricing:

• Canadian Retail - $140.00
• U.S. Retail - $140.00
• GBP Retail - £90