The Avocet saddles got lighter and more expensive with the higher numbers . The model III saddles were the aluminum railed ones .
Yes , the Avocet aluminum rails were the same diameter as the standard steel rails .
Yes , they broke .
Yes , the Cinelli aluminum rails were much thicker , and also "wishboned" into a Y shape , for extra strength .
But ! I have to say that I've put many thousands of happy miles on two ( 2 ) Avocet Touring III saddles , with aluminum rails . My 180 pounds of big butt ( pardon me please - that should have been "generous fundament" ) never bent , cracked , or broke one .
Of course , as I mentioned earlier , I never had any problems with my Hi-E water bottle cage either . I must be more gentle and careful by nature ( could also be termed picky , neurotic , obsessed , stands up going over bumps , worries too much , etc. , etc. ) .
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
<classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 1:17 PM Subject: Re: [CR]aluminum rail saddle fracture
> The aluminum railed saddles of the 1970s did indeed crack regularly.. Many
of
> those were made by Selle Italia especially the very popular Avocet model 3
(?
> or was it Model 1?)
> It was not a catastrophic failure though, no crashing involved...
> Cinelli held off initially joining in the fad for alloy rails and then
(early
> 80s?) came out with a cast or forged aluminum undercarriage, similar to
the
> later Selle San Marco Regal undercarriage.. . To my knowledge and
experience,
> these did very well and did not break but were also not nearly as light.
So
> IMO a Cinelli~Unica alloy railed saddle is not too risky a ride....
>
> Dale Brown
> Greensboro, NC