Are they safe to ride on? I rarely see reviews of long term use/failure posted on this site. And yes, if yours actually does assplode i would take your comment seriously. Have been contemplating to purchase a full carbon saddle with no cushion, am worried that my ball gets burried in the seatpost after some use

There are thousands of deaths every year from OEM saddle use. Do not do it!

Edit: I see that Oem is a brand sold on Alibaba. What a dumb name for a brand...

You realize that OEM saddle is what comes on every bike sold in the world?

OEM saddles are without question extremely dangerous to ride on any longer than the test ride.
But they should not be your real concern.
OEM wheels are much more dangerous and have contributed to countless mutilations and deaths in the past year alone.

Wow! I had no idea! It's a good thing so many saddle manufacturers are out there to provide a life-saving service to us cyclists... and shame on bicycle manufacturers for using OEM saddles. They should know better!!!

Let me clear things up...I'm talking about something like a replica fizik saddle that cost $20. Would it be okay to run these?

from a rational, practical, considered point of view...why wouldnt they?
a saddle consists of rails that clamp to the post upon which a supporting surface sits. what might you imagine the point of potential failure be?


anyway, long time ago, when my favored saddle was the classic selle flite, i spent some $$$ for selle san marco aspide carbon. unpadded. looked cool and was ultra light. but hurt my damn ass so much i gave it away with the sell of a bike.

recently i picked up biking again and none of my saddles felt good except a $$$$$ brooks swift ti. rode a while until i got my ass hardened to it. then on a whim bought a minimalist unpadded carbon piece from china. rode on that and damn if it wasnt just as, if not more, comfortable...... for 1/10th of the price and 1/4th of the weight


theres no point to this story ......except what might you worry about 'oem' saddle?

My main concern is that the supporting surface snapping/cracking and my ass lands on the rails. Especially so on the full carbon saddle. But honestly i have yet to see a china carbon saddle, so i am unsure if there are reinforced layers of protection should the surface give way

if you are on a tight budget, get a Charge Spoon

I bought one to test the shape mainly. I wound up deciding that I needed a saddle with a little more give. The rails seem very solid, the base had some flex to it. I suspect the shell would fail long before the rails. It might leave you without a saddle, but I have a hard time seeing how the saddle would fail in a truly catastrophic manner.

The most likely thing is that a sharp bump would crack the shell or break a rail off the shell. In either case, you're not getting seriously injured.

wtf is this thread

never actually seen a saddle "fail" in an catastrophic way. I have bent saddle rails because I'm heavy and hit a large pothole, but even then, the damage wasn't immediately evident. even if it cracks, it's not gonna send shards of crabon flying everywhere or anything

I like OEM MTB saddles for most purposes.

Any bikes good enough to be sold without pedals should be sold without saddles as well.

x2. OEM stands for original equipment manufacturer, not knockoff/fake/etc. As stated, OEM parts are just what come pre-installed in a greater "package" (such as a complete bike) or are sold individually through non-mainstream channels, usually without retail packaging.

But back to your original question, I've read plenty of examples of cheap carbon saddles breaking, but never catastrophically. Worst case is you're out 20 bucks and you might have to finish your ride completely out of the saddle.

I am referring to these saddle...would you dare ride it? They cost $10

I don't get it...

If a plastic saddle is safe -- why wouldn't a carbon saddle?

You don't see bike frames made out of plastic, therefore one would assume that carbon is stronger.

Other than periodic inspection to ensure it isn't chipping or cracking, carbon is a great material.

Edit: The saddle pictured above, I wouldn't personally buy it. Only because I'm happy with what I have. If I was at the beach and rented a bike and it came with that, I'd ride it no questions asked.

A friend bought it, because $10. Discovered it was miserably uncomfortable and ditched it.

One of my friends uses the same saddle, and loves it.

would this happen?

Apparently Velo Saddles produces 80% of the world's OEM saddles (well, at least according to the woman who runs the company):

» Why Stella Yu is the most powerful woman in the cycling industry

Is that pcad?

I'm sure every oem saddle would be fine other than the fact that every oem road bike saddle I've ridden on was an ass hatchet. YMMV

I still ride on my mtn bike oem saddle.

While you had a valid question, OP, PLEASE stop using OEM to refer to counterfeit products. That's not at all what it means; it's very misleading.

I remember reading an article about plastic bikes a couple decades ago.

Is that even a chair he sat on? The stem looks like a music stand.