Most of you will know how time-consuming swapping out saddles can be, especially on certain brand of seat post. During a fit session, especially if you charge by the hour, the ability to quickly swap between sizes and shape of saddle to allow a comparative test becomes crucial.
The guys over at ACME Bicycle Co. got frustrated with this cumbersome practice and looked around for an alternative. They spent some time using a BIKEFIT saddle changer, which improved their processes, but they thought there was room for improvement. One of the team, Jonathan, is a professional engineer, so applied his knowledge and experience to the problem.
What they have come up with is the Seat Cleat. It’s a neat twist on the type of fixture seen on a Garmin mount, except the ACME version only needs an 1/8th of a turn to fix a saddle securely.
The Seat Cleat comes with a host of features to help fitters easily swap out and adjust saddles on any stationary bike. There is a direct mount to GURU bikes and a saddle rail adapter for other brands. The overall stack height has been kept very low and there is a neat angle adjustment that is based around the centre of the saddle so the effective seat height doesn’t alter hugely.
So that’s the theory but how does it hold up to the rigours of day to day use in a busy fit studio. We have been putting this one through its paces over the last 3 months and I have to say I’m impressed. The build quality is excellent, and the design shows a real attention to detail, such as rounding all the edges that may come into contact with a client.
It really does make the process of swapping out saddles almost instantaneous and the fine adjustment of the saddle angle is especially useful when trying to find that perfect spot even whilst the client is still pedalling.
Swapping the cleats onto different saddle also take no time at all and is a simple two bolt clamp from the bottom of the cleat.
Guru direct mount version including 3 cleats $525 with extra cleats at $45 and the rail adapter coming in at $25, which given the quality of construction and the usefulness of this product I would say is good value.
For more information head over to www.acmebicycleco.com
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