You can pretty much build a DH bike now with 100% DH specific parts, but saddles have seemingly never quite been there, until now. SDG have always been the saddle of choice by pros and privateers alike and with a plethora of styles and models to choose from, there’s no surprise SDG are one of the most popular brands on the trails. Going back to 2009, the Monster Energy/ Specialized team started experimenting with modding stock SDG saddles by attaching strips of cut tyre tread to the rear of the saddle to reduce slippage in the wet. This idea is nothing new and like a lot of things in DH, comes from Motocross where gripper saddles are pretty standard items of kit when riding in the slop. What the Monster team started, SDG picked up and pushed the concept through to production and here we have it, the new Storm AW saddle and what a beauty….

There’s no denying that there is something rather mesmerising about the Storm saddle. Wether it’s the colour scheme or the texture of the raised gripper nobbles, but this saddle gets people attention. The Storm saddle is based around the super light weight I-Fly model, already a popular choice with the DH set for its light weight and rigid construction making it a perfect surrogate for the Storm platform.

Manufacturing is awesome on this saddle and SDG have guaranteed that the nobbles won’t come out or fall off and upon close inspection, they are there and there to stay. The I-Beam option is the only one available for the Storm saddle, but if you haven’t tried I-Beam before, here’s a great opportunity and with some dealers offering great deals on combos, there’s never been a better excuse to make the upgrade and shave some more weight of your rig.

The micro injected knobs are 3mm high and to give you that extra traction for your rear on those rainy and muddy days with additional protection and grip on the nose and sides of the saddle. The main idea behind the Storm saddle is to help keep your weight central on the bike without falling off the back in the slop to help keep traction while your tackling the course. But does it work? In a word yes and when the rain comes, we all go for any upgrade we can get our hands on to help get us down the track as quick and as safely as possible.

The AW model is definitely the one to go for, for general DH riding away from the mud a the ‘Extreme’ option (pictured below) might be just too much for when your playing in the dust and sun we all wish was a more common occurrence.

The Storm AW is also available in all black to suit bikes where a bright green and black saddle might look a bit too much. At £75GBP the Storm isn’t the cheapest saddle on the market, but this is a unique product for a unique market where compromises can’t made when smashing down modern DH tracks.

The other Storm saddle available from SDG is this monster, the Storm Extreme, which is designed for those days when everything is being thrown at you and the production model of the original concept thought up by the Monster Energy team.

Conclusion.

Riding in the rain and mud is something we all do, whether we like it or not and when the industry throws a product in our direction that helps us combat all that Mother Nature throws at us, it definitely gets some attention. So, will the Storm saddle make or break a wet race run? In a word, no, but it will help and knowing you’ve specked your bike accordingly is worth its weight in mental preparation anyway.

The Storm saddle is also a DH specific saddle and with the versatility of the AW model, you can run this saddle regardless of the weather conditions and for this reason alone, these have proved pretty popular so far this year regularly selling out. To sum it up, it looks cool, helps in the mud, wont hold you back in the dry. Recommended item of kit to finish of that DH bike!

For more on the SDG Storm range of saddles, slap the logo below. SDG is exclusively distributed in the UK by Silverfish.

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