I think this new BikeYoke Sagma 3D mountain bike saddle wants to shake up the industry, offering 3D-printed support at prices less than half what some brands are charging. Leveraging the zone-specific support and squish that you can get from 3D-printed padding, BikeYoke calls their new Sagma 3D “possibly the most comfortable saddle you’ve ever ridden“. And while a lot of 3D-printed saddles hover around the $300-400/300-400€ range, BikeYoke’s most affordable Sagma 3D sells for just 160€.
BikeYoke Sagma 3D-printed saddle comfort for much less
The new Sagma 3D is the successor to BikeYoke’s already interesting Sagma saddle. Debuted back in 2019, it offered comfort both with slow-rebound memory IDbeads foam padding and a unique tunable vibration-damping rail structure. Then in 2022, lighter versions with conventional rails. I’ve ridden both quite a bit on my mountain bikes, and appreciate both BikeYoke’s chosen level of padding and the floating rail design.
But now, BikeYoke says they can make the Sagma even better in 3D… well with 3D-printed padding.
Why a 3D-printed saddle in the first place?
3D-printed saddles are hot right now. That’s mostly for one of two good reasons.
The initial concept seemed to be that 3D printing would make custom saddles possible. The additive lattice construction allows designers to easily vary padding density (independent of thickness) and thus vary level of support across individual areas of the saddle with a single material. A saddle can be more rigid and supportive under your sit bones, while being more forgiving under your soft tissue.
But individualized padding unique to your own pressure zones turned out to be quite difficult to do on a commercial scale. Posedla has been doing it for 3 years with a creative low-tech pressure map setup. And since last summer, Fizik has leveraged smart pressure sensors in bike shops around the world to custom-fit cyclists on their own bespoke saddles. But both of those cost almost $500-600 / 450-500€.
A bit more accessible price-wise, saddle designers simply need to map generalized saddle pressure data to establish the separate zones for a universal fit. This has been the solution used by companies like Bjorn, Fizik, Prologo, Selle Italia, Selle San Marco, Specialized, and probably a few others. But the cheapest of those are generally around $300€ and higher. I think only Specialized managed to make one as low as $200.
Now, BikeYoke offers its own 3D-printed zoned support at much more accessible pricing.
Sagma 3D Technologies
The new BikeYoke Sagma 3D is available in a lot of different configurations, all of which will share the same 3D-printed TPU top design – just in either 130mm or 142mm widths for the carbon-reinforced nylon shell.
BikeYoke offers the new saddle as standard with their Rail Suspension Design (RSD) that lets users mix-and-match 3 densities of shock-absorbing elastomers between saddle rails & shell to determine how much flex you get. This design also allows the saddle to slightly rock side-to-side, following your body’s motion while pedaling.
Or there are more conventional Lite versions of the saddle that are a bit lighter with traditional rails.
Either way you can pick metal or carbon rails.
Tech details
- 3D-printed TPU Matrix padded with closed top design to prevent dirt & mud accumulation
- carbon fiber reinforced nylon shells
- 242mm long overall, available in 130mm narrow or 142mm wide widths
- Sagma 3D saddles feature bolt-on 7x10mm UD carbon rails or 7x10mm forged 2014-T6 aluminum rails
- claimed weights: 130mm carbon at 240g, 130mm alloy at 260g, 142mm carbon at 250g, 142mm alloy at 270g
- Sagma 3D Lite saddles feature 7x10mm UD carbon rails or 7mm round tubular chromoly rails
- claimed weights: 130mm carbon at 205g, 130mm CrMo at 260g, 142mm carbon at 215g, 142mm CrMo at 270g
- exchangeable rubber tags & RSD bolts add a touch of color – gray, black, orange, or pink
BikeYoke Sagma 3D – Pricing, options & availability
The new BikeYoke Sagma 3D saddles with rail suspension sell for $200/200€ with aluminum rails. Sagma 3D with rail suspension and carbon rails will cost you $250 / 250€. The simpler BikeYoke Sagma 3D Lite with conventional rails sells for just $160 / 160€ with chromoly rails. Or the lightest version, the Sagma 3D Lite with carbon rails sells for $200/200€.
They all come standard with the black rubber tag logo. For the Lite saddles, it’s an extra 2.5€ to get a color tag. For the rail suspension saddles, it’ll cost an extra 12€ to get that touch of color, which includes matching anodized rail attachment bolts, too.
Get them all directly from BikeYoke now, or soon through their distribution partners. Maybe you’ll even pick up a new BikeYoke Barmate handlebar with designed-in 35mm comfort like I reviewed earlier this week.