BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
NRG4 has picked up the distribution of Jon Iriberri’s Essax brand, famed for the invention of the "Shark", but also boasting a catalogue of saddles for mountain biking and triathlon, among other disciplines.
On the back of the unvieling of the Shark, the bike fitting community has responded with curiousity to claims that the design assists cyclists in sitting properly in the saddle, balancing the body evenly and reducing hip rotations.
Operations director at NRG4, Craig Middleton, said of the link up: “We are delighted to announce that we will be distributing Essax Saddles to the UK in 2015. Essax are real innovators in Saddle technology that helps professional and club riders alike perform to their very best. The bike fitting community have already shown a strong interest in The Shark Saddle, which with its design, does divide opinion, but when fully understood offers a giant leap forward in saddle performance and biomechanical benefits. All Essax saddles feature the revolutionary AF-Net technology which simply put is proven to make you go faster, now everybody’s interested in that.”
The unique finned design is not the only trick up Iriberri’s sleeve, however, with Essax’s catalogue revolving around AF-NET technology, a concept proven by independent testing to improve performance by an average of four per cent, according to Essax.
In the independent test, Caja Rural rider Garcia Raul Alarcon was asked to hold 200, 300 and 400W for 15 minute periods with a ten minute rest period between each set at 150W.
The test was held over three days, testing saddles in different orders and every time the riders heart rate was lower using the Essax saddle with the AF-Net shell technology to maintain the same wattage output. So, in short, the rider was having to work less to output the same power. When he worked at the same heart rate his power output was greater hence providing a performance gain through Af-Net technology.
Stock arrives with NRG4 from January, though is visible on the B2B now, with a ten per cent discount available on all pre-orders. You can also enquire about stock via sales@nrg4.co.uk.
