After throwing myself a pity party from the moment that box opened on Wednesday until Thursday morning, I decided I needed to take a deep breath and put a ride on my new saddle without the pressure of it being in a lesson. I just needed to play.
And all is not lost.
During the lesson, I had done up the point billet, not as tightly as the rear billet, but it was still actively engaged. Last night, I left it as loose as I could safely leave it without running the risk of catching my foot in it. And Connor said "Oh my goodness thank you."
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| I have no proof of this, but just trust me, this level of stretch and relaxation did not make an appearance at my lesson the night before. |
He hates point billets. He HATES point billets. He haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaates point billets. Period.
Reviewing the video, it was also my first time seeing myself in the saddle, and wow. Even with a way too long block sticking partially out of the front of the saddle to give my knee room, you can tell it's perfect for me. As annoyed as I am that a mistake was made on the manufacturing side, I cannot deny that the fitter is a biomechanical genius. None of the other fitters I worked with could have done this:
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| Check out that arrowhead leg, Mary Wanless! |
So, I still haven't talked to the fitter (again, for very good reasons, I can't stress enough), but at this point I have a feeling she'll take a look at it, adjust the flocking, then send it back to England to have the point billet moved back to the waist, to have the panels recovered with serge, and it'll come back with a different, shorter Velcro block.
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| Little underpowered in the interest of getting him to let go of his underneck |
It may be another few months before it's perfect, but I'm starting to fall in love with it.
Your position is beautiful in this saddle, like it was made for you ;) Isn't it funny how the right fit can make all the difference for both you and Connor?
ReplyDeleteAnd just a thought...if changes are going to be made to this saddle, consider having them leave the point billet strap after removing the billet. That way if you ever decide to sell the saddle, someone could then easily have a point billet attached. That said, I don't know how hard it is to add an extra billet strap to a saddle so maybe the only option is to move it.
It's a good thought, but this is the first saddle I'm specifically going into with no thought of resale value. It's not that I'll never sell it, but it's going to be a resale value nightmare regardless, being a 17" XXXS short flap wide and at a price point I'll never recoup even if I sell it tomorrow. So, I'm going to get it for me and not a future buyer! No HGTV saddle here, lol.
DeleteInsert all the heart eyes here :-D
ReplyDeleteSaaaaaaaaaaame <3
DeleteI have mixed feelings about saddle reps (just... sorry sales people, you got a bad rap for a reason) so it must feel AMAZING to have such confidence in your person. I'm so excited for you both for when it comes back!
ReplyDeleteYour plan for the saddle gives me hope you'll end up with a great solution
ReplyDeleteSO glad there is some joy in this process gone sideways!
ReplyDeleteYou do look very awesome in that saddle and it looks like it fits very well. I hope you get the billets sorted.
ReplyDeleteFrustrating, but glad there seems to hopefully be some light at the end of the tunnel!
ReplyDeleteYour position looks so much more natural in this saddle! I hope they can get it sorted soon for you. But glad it does seem like it will be what you wanted once that happens!
ReplyDelete