Known mostly now for high-performance, low-maintenance droppers, BikeYoke heads into new territory on a new Sagma mountain bike saddle built on a floating shell concept with unique foam that together damp vibration for increased comfort & control. They also continue in dropper post development, with a new more affordable Divine post, still with customizable travel…
BikeYoke Sagma floating, damping mountain bike saddle
The BikeYoke Sagma combines a floating rail concept we’d seen originally from Morgaw (and now codeveloped here) with a slow-rebounding foam padding to create a comfortable, yet supportive all-day mountain bike saddle.
The top of the Sagma then gets a super thin, high wear polyurethane cover that is essentially shrink fit over the special idbeads foam, so you can see the individual beads. It might look like a thin coating for a saddle destined for trail & enduro use, but that synthetic fabric is the same used in premium soccer shoes, and also gets protected by the extension of the carbon reinforced nylon composite saddle shell below.
Your contact with a saddle is through the padding, and the Sagma uses a relatively thin memory-style foam. But these special idbeads which are heat molded into shape are quite different to most saddle foam, instead more akin to the supportive foam you might find in protection wear. The beads of the foam compress progressively, so you never feel like you can completely flatten them (bottomless feel?), which offers really comfortable support without feeling soft or sinking in.
The idbeads also rebound slowly, helping them damp vibration and impacts before the make it to the rider. An ergonomic channel molded into the foam limits unnecessary pressure, while your sit bones rest on the wings. The Sagma saddle is also available in two widths (130 & 142mm overall) to fit a range of riders.
The saddle is suspended on I-beam shaped, forged 2014 alloy rails with a standard 7×9 mount profile (to fit with most standard saddle clamp). Those rails then attach via an axle isolated in an elastomer assembly that bolts to the underside of the saddle shell. The result what BikeYoke calls the “Follow function” which allows some vertical and side-to-side flex for more comfort pedaling and less friction against your thighs, especially over bumpy terrain – all while never moving enough to feel like you are losing power or control.
Those elastomers that support the rails (the small insert above in the middle, or below bottom right) are exchangeable for different hardness if you prefer more or less flex in the saddle. And the modular nature means that rails and elastomers are easily replaceable.
In fact, BikeYoke founder Stefan Sack says that slight movement reduces the impact of the saddle onto the inside of your thighs when descending through rocky trails with the seat dropped down. The flex of the saddle makes it more comfortable to maneuver the saddle between your legs, and seems to even reduce bruising on the inside of your thighs (something I definitely experience after a few days of in the bikepark.)
The Sagma shell comes in 130mm (208g) and 142mm (219g) widths and a single flat shape for now. The saddle retails for $129 / 129€ and will go on sale early next month, with the first Sagmas shipping out in late October 2019.
BikeYoke Divine auto-reset, adjustable travel dropper seatpost
On the dropper post front, the Divine is the latest auto-resetting dropper post from BikeYoke. What that means is that the Divine will never need to have an internal cartridge replaced because of air getting into the hydraulics, since every time you send the post down & back up again, the air is automatically purged from the system. Anyone who has ever had their dropper go spongy and start bouncing up and down can appreciate that.
The Divine family gets lighter that their original Revive by simplifying the internals, which has the added benefit of lowering costs, too! This new Divine looks to share similar internals as the lighter (and more expensive) Divine SL that launched last year, within the original Revive chassis.
This new Divine also allows users to reduce its travel in 5mm increments with simple internal clip-on reducers for riders looking to get the maximum possible drop that will fit with their frame & saddle height. It requires a bit of mechanical skill & about 5 mins, but no specialty tools.
It comes in 125, 160 & 185mm travel, and while BikeYoke was one of the early adopters of that long travel, they don’t want to go longer with standard 30.9/31.6 droppers because they’ve seen that those longer posts end up bending and scratching the sliding upper tube which leads to degraded performance rather quickly. Need more travel, get a bike with a bigger diameter post.
The Divine uses a similar two-bolt head as before, but with slightly wider bolt spacing for easier adjustability. The internal remote mechanics is the same, and can be alternatively connected to BikeYoke’s Triggy remote or a 2x remote as well.
As with their other droppers, the Divine is fully user-serviceable with spare parts & rebuild kits available online to dealers & end consumers. Even though this post shares the chassis with the Revive and is cheaper, the original still carries on as a more high-end option due to its smoother (more expensive) hydraulic internals.
Divine dropper specs, pricing & availability
The new Divine shares the same dimensions as the more expensive Revive posts that require a manual reset (it shares the same dropper body with different internals). It is available in three travel lengths and 30.9 & 31.6mm diameters (claimed weights: 125/30.9 at 445g, 125/31.6 at 465g, 160/30.9 at 495g, 160/31.6 at 515g, 185/30.9 at 535g & 185/31.6 at 560g)
The retail price of the dropper depends on its maximum travel. Without a remote, the Divine 125mm sells for $289€, 160mm for $309€, and 185mm for $339€. Adding the Triggy remote when you buy tacks on an extra $40€ (same pricing in $ or €). The new, more affordable Divine dropper should be up on BikeYoke’s website in the coming weeks, with first deliveries shipping out globally in October 2019.
