DIY Berk saddle repair

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uzelac
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2022 12:46 pm

by uzelac

Superlige it is :)

kode54
Posts: 3748
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 9:39 pm

by kode54

Its been addressed before by Jure himself. There was a point of sourcing epoxies and one batch was faulty. He has mentioned this and has and will warranty saddles based on this. I have no issues with Berk saddles and even warrantied one that was involved in a crash...so crash replacement was offered.
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revohr
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2023 3:48 pm

by revohr

I bought Lupina 150mm saddle last week and it creaks on the right side of the saddle. I can hear it every time I apply power with my right foot. Only used it for a few very short rides.
Tried different seatpost and it did not fix the problem. Carbon paste on rails and 5nm.
I don't have that problem with my SQ labs 612 saddle.

What on the saddle can make that sound ? Bond issue ?

Mocs123
Posts: 826
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 9:19 pm

by Mocs123

My padded Berk Lupina is starting to show wear on the synthetic leather especially around the edges. Is there anything that I can do to keep it from wearing further?
2015 Wilier Zero.7 Rim - 6.37kg
2020 Trek Emonda SLR-7 Disc - 6.86kg
2023 Specialized SL7 - 7.18kg

pacaalpaca
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:40 am

by pacaalpaca

FWIW I had a bike fit with a reputable cycle shop in the area. I was in need of a new saddle and they recommended Berk. After a month on a Berk Lupina, I love the comfort.

Then I found this thread and freaked out. I emailed Berk, and their CEO himself assured me that they've fixed their glue and stand behind the product.

charirider
Posts: 263
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:00 am

by charirider

Just buy MCFK or AX Lightness. 50 EURO more, but probles solved.
2018 Cannondale SuperSix EVO 2 rim size 56 (raw stripped) 6.9kg
2014 Bridgestone Anchor CX6 Equipe size 55 (cyclocross) 9.8kg

Ypuh
Posts: 673
Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2019 10:20 pm
Location: The Netherlands

by Ypuh

Berk Lupina Padded here. 84kg, 14.700km and no issues with road use only. Just received a 2nd for a new bike built which appears to be a few grams heavier (101g vs 95g).

The comfort due to the flexible carbon shell has been unmatched. My other favourite saddle is the Antares R1 Open (tried the whole Fizik range) which is still a step down.
Cervelo S3 - 7.3kg
Time ADHX - 8.7kg

User avatar
Berk
Carbon Cowboy
Posts: 1100
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2010 7:20 pm
Location: Slovenia

by Berk

Hi to all,
didn't saw this topic till today, and want to jump in, since this forum started the company.
dmp wrote:
Sat Dec 19, 2020 1:06 am
flying wrote:
Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:38 pm
You folks that are interested in broken rail saddles....or seeing
all these failure reports & still want to "give it a chance"???
This is a statistical and heuristic fallacy. We cannot know how much risk there is for failure without knowing how many saddles are out there that have NOT failed. There is also potential for sampling bias because people who have had rail failures are more likely to report them than those who have not. This is not to say that there isn't a design or manufacturing flaw here- there may well be. It's just that you can't make that conclusion without more data, and you also need comparison data from other brands to know if this is not an issue common to saddles with carbon rails. (FWIW, I'm just under 60kg and have a Berk Lupina and have not had a problem with mine).
At this moment we have more than 22.000 saddles sold. If I am honest I never even imagined it would be possible to produce so many in the past 10 years since I started as a one man band. We produce each year more, now we are a team of 8 people, working full time job and producing bicycle saddles. In the recent years we produce around 3000 saddles per year.

As any company we also had problems, we had them twice in the past. We had a recall of the epoxy material - we got the recall from the epoxy resin manufacturer weeks after we already used the material and around 250 saddles were affected. We replaced each and every saddle. The second case repeated in a similar way, but at that time with the glue. Since then every batch of new material is tested since of course we can't afford to repeat such mistakes.

As you know we always take care, our saddles have ISO 4210 standard for max. 100kg rider. We also offer a crash replacement price in case of a crash, also have cases where customers write after 10 years that they want to warranty the leather etc.,...you know how a leather seat looks in a car after 10 years, you can imagine it is much worse on a bike seat, but we always take care you just need to email us and we will answer as soon as possible and try to find the best solution.

Also you need to clamp it properly and have the correct clamping system for oval carbon rails.
Image

We don't recommend to repair any damaged saddle which should be trashed. Since I am also a cyclist and want to provide a replacement in a case of a warranty ASAP, I do ask our customers to just trash the older saddles if they are not from EU. Maybe we should change that in the future and request it back or at least sending it to some of our shops, maybe I still think too naive, but want to have a good relation and we are giving our best.

I don't want to act extremely protective or anything, but just wanted to share some details. The thing that makes me sad is to read something about a potential warrant without contacting us - if it is a warranty case we take care. If it isn't you can still admit it was crashed and we'll find a good solution, as simple as that. If you have any more questions, complaints or anything please let me know or write to info(a)berk-composites.com, thanks!

Cheers,
Jure Berk

idickers
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon May 01, 2023 5:52 pm

by idickers

I'll add a recent data point. I've had excellent communication with Jure through his website and here in the US from the Berk distributor Eric at Elite Velo Solutions. Every question I had was answered and all my concerns were addressed.

As a result I'm riding a Berk Lupina, and thinking of getting a second Lupina for my other bike as well since it is so comfortable and light. I did have to change seatposts, because my original seatpost clamp was not compatible with an oval rail. Other than that, no problemo!

mashiehood
Posts: 279
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 5:13 pm

by mashiehood

also want to add my experience, outstanding comms with Jure at Berk - i have been riding Berk saddles on all my bikes for over 5 years and i have had 6 saddles, one had a glue issue and the other had a shell crack - no questions asked Jure was superb. Wont ride another saddle!

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