Serviced USE Shokpost / Fitted new Charge Scoop saddle

Notes from logbook:
Serviced Shokpost & fitted new Charge Scoop Saddle (£35).

Fitted new springs & elastomers + changed bushes / keys / o-ring on Shokpost.

Yellow spring kit.

USE Shokpost Servicing

Spent most of the time today on the bike servicing the USE Shokpost.  Took it apart, shook out the old springs / elastomers, gave the post tube and 'piston' a good degrease/wash/dry, then added back the new spring + elastomer.

Here's a close up of the 'Shokpost Combo Kit' (consisting of one spring and one elastomer - basically a series of very hard plastic 'blobs' welded together, the yellow thing in the picture!) and the service kit (consisting of two white plastic keys, two green bushes, an o-ring and a white plastic seal):

Servicing the 'piston' (ie the bit that rides on 'top' of the spring / inside the main seatpost 'tube' bit of the shokpost / attaches to the saddle) is a bit of a faff because of the two plastic 'keys' that you have to fit into very narrow grooves, one down each side of the post.  In theory this is a simple and very obvious task to complete, but in reality it's a massive pain in the backside!

The reason for the problem is that the keys are a very very tight fit - too tight a fit you would probably say to be done by hand.  Perhaps if it was done in perfect factory conditions then the keys would be 'just right', but in reality when you're trying to fit the keys by hand, it's all but impossible without either resorting to hammering them in (the instructions do actually say to use a hammer!), or to sanding away the top of the keys slightly so it fits in the grooves easier.

I went for the latter option.  The plastic material the keys are made from actually sands down very easily - it's more like a very dense wax than a plastic, not quite sure what they use to make it but it's very easily sanded down (too easily in fact, if you try it be careful!).  I just used a bit of 2 in 1 emery type paper, very smooth grained sanding paper.

Anyway, after that, the keys fit fine and it was just a matter of fitting the new bushes, inserting the piston section into the tube and re-fitting the bottom cap.  ONLY snag with that / gotcha to be aware of (which if memory serves I hit upon exactly the same way last time!) is that the keys have to be put into the grooves AFTER you've put the top cap on the piston.

Not sure why I'm explaining this because without any photos it's impossible to know wtf I'm on about, you'd only know if you had the thing in your hands and were trying to figure out how to do it!

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the actual servicing of the post or the post dismantled which is a shame.

Charge Scoop Saddle

I'd been deliberating about what saddle to go for for quite some time.  Not quite as long as for the crankset, but still quite a few weeks!

I had considered going with a Brooks B17 or Imperial saddle on the back of various excellent reviews.  I do still slightly wish I'd gone for that option actually because it would have fit in nicely with having sourced as many high quality / nicely engineered / crafted UK parts as possible for the bike.

But in the end I must admit my decision was more of a whim than anything else.  I received a newsletter email from Bike Magic where they had a link to a review of the new Charge Scoop saddle.  On reading the review I was very impressed, and actually looking into it more Charge are actually a UK based company anyway so I still get to have a little slice of UK quality on the bike anyway. ;)

The saddle itself is very streamlined and minimal in it's build, comprising only 3 parts - the rail, the undercarriage and the top (gah can't think how to describe the bit you sit on lol).

The saddle itself has a groove down the centre to ease pressure on your backside (yes, I even did some research into that kind of pressure!), and the overall design of it I would say is halfway between a racing saddle and a 'comfort' saddle - fairly wide but long and sleek towards the nose.

Here's some pictures of it fitted to the bike:

 

Not too much really to say about it, I did have trouble later with the seatpost clamp slipping which is detailed in later posts.  Generally though after 200 miles of riding so far I'm very happy with the saddle and would recommend it for anyone looking for a hybrid performance / comfort saddle.

FINALLY I found this image of the bike taken on the same day.  It's probably the first photo of the bike 'completed' I think - or at least ready to ride at a push:

I did fit the Middleburn crank after taking that ^ shot, but generally I think the bike looks very sleek like that^. :)