As if you didn't have enough choices for a perch on your shiny road bike, today the job of choosing a new one got ever so slightly harder. Ritchey, a firm favourite with many manufacturers for their well finished bike finishing kit have announced a new Carbon Streem saddle and a new model, the Biomax.
The Streem has been around for a bit and has had some favourable reviews, but the Streem Carbon is a different beast entirely: at just 145g claimed weight it's right in amongst the super light race perches, and with a €145 price tag that's exactly where it should be. Carbon rails and a composite shell keep the weight to a bare minimum; the saddle shares its wing flex design with the other perches in the range. It's finished with a Lorica cover in black or white.
The Biomax is a "comfort orientated saddle", say Ritchey, and "both sexes will appreciate the reduced pressure due to the hole in the zone" - we can't help thinking that's lost something in translation but you know what they mean. The Biomax looks to have a wide nose and fairly flat profile – it looks a little Selle Italia SLR-esque – and there's three flavours, a 200g, €89 Ti-railed version and two more budget-oriented alternatives.
As to what they ride like, well we've fired off the obligatory that's-nice-can-we-have-some-to-try email in response to the press release and we'll see if they land at road.cc towers in the near future. In the meantime the Biomax is available to buy now and the Streem Carbon is on its way...
Dave is a founding father of road.cc and responsible for kicking the server when it breaks. In a previous life he was a graphic designer but he's also a three-time Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling world champion, and remains unbeaten through the bog. Dave rides all sorts of bikes but tends to prefer metal ones. He's getting old is why.