So I have ridden my Arione Tri saddle for 5 years with 0 squeaking issues. I got a new saddle that is the Arione Tri2 with carbon rails, perforated upper, etc… Bottom line is I cleaned my bike (not the first time by any means) a couple of weeks ago and now my saddle squeaks like crazy! Every slide movement on my saddle via pressure from my bum creates a squeak. I can actually push down on the upper portion/padding of the saddle in many places and it makes it squeak so it doesn’t even take a lot of pressure. Anyone experience this and know how to fix it? I am thinking of just spraying it down with warm water all over and let it dry and hope it fixes it. Maybe some sort of bike wash or something got in there and makes it squeak…i’m at a loss but it drives me nuts!
Mine does too. Haven’t been able to rectify it…
Maybe it’s the carbon rails, as I’ve been on this saddle (w/metallic rails) without any squeaks at all.
It is possible it is the carbon rails, but either way, this saddle is about to get the freaking boot…i can’t live with this annoying squeak for the next x years! my old one had metal rails as well (likely aluminum) and 0 issues. i don’t know what it is but there has to be a way to fix it!
Ya, I never had any issue with the metallic rails - only when switched to the carbon. For me it is most annoying when climbing. Time to send off something to fizik - maybe they have a resolution. If I hear back - will post.
my old one had metal rails as well (likely aluminum) and 0 issues.
I think that the older Arione Tri saddles had Ti alloy rails.
for what it is worth, this is what my bike shop guy told me. Super great store and very knowledgable staff, so I am going to try this, we’ll see where it goes.
Bottom line: What you are likely experiencing is an issue with the seat post clamp and/or the interface between the seatpost clamp and the rails. It is, however, not likely the carbon rails themselves.
Here’s the procedure: Firstly, precisely mark the fore/aft location of the saddle in the saddle clamp. Then measure the angle of the saddle using an anglefinder with the bike on level ground and the tires at full pressure (it does actually make a difference). Once this is complete, remove the saddle from the seatpost head and clean the head thoroughly of all road film, dust and debris. Do not use solvents, mild soap and water only. Remove grease residue or any anti-seize compounds. Once the clamp area is clean then do the same to the saddle rails, cleaning them thoroughly. When all mounting surfaces are clean and dry reassemble the seat clamp onto the carbon rails using the appropriate torque setting. A note on this: I phoned Aaron at the U.S. Fizik distributorship and asked about the procedure for mounting the saddle just prior to writing this e-mail. He told me there is “No set torque standard because of the variance in seatposts” and recommended the Fizik seatpost.
The rails of the Fizik Arione carbon rail saddle are a new industry standard called “7X9” and not all manufacturers are entirely compliant with this standard. In your case, however, riders on HTC Columbia have (and are) using Fizik saddles.
I did e-mail fizik customer service and described the problem. I got a response this morning - unfortunately what they want me to do is ship the saddle over to Italy for their QA department to analyze it. They did provide their UPS number to use to ship it, but I imagine this may take weeks… Meaning would need to buy a new saddle in the meantime. Will try the cleaning recommendation first.
Perhaps for those of you with the carbon rails you could try using a carbon fiber assembly compound paste and see if this resolves the problem? Just a thought, haven’t had the issue myself but thought I’d throw that out there…
I too got the same response today from the Italy reps about sending my saddle back. I wasn’t able to ride outdoors today due to rain and storms here in Austin. BUT I did ride indoors and did some pretty intense intervals and didn’t hear a squeak one. I’d suggest doing as I did and remove the saddle, clean the rails and the mounting bracket area (just did mine with dish soap and warm water and rinsed in warm water VERY GOOD! I remounted it and so far so good. I’ll repost again next week after my weekend of riding and let you all know how it goes.
Good suggestion - Thanks
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