# The E3 Form saddle is "reincarnated"



## Bnystrom (Oct 27, 2007)

For those of you who are fans of the E3 Form saddle that was discontinued by Performance last year, it's coming back under the Kontact brand, a new venture from the saddle's designer, Joshua Cohen.

http://www.kontactbike.com/

He apparently does not have saddles yet, but the site indicates that they should be available soon.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Bump. I ride the E3 on all my road bikes and heartily endorse it.


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## yosarian9 (Mar 15, 2010)

I love the saddle but cant bring myself to pay almost 3X what I paid 3 years ago for "necessary upgrades" of thicker leather and carbon fiber nylon instead of glass fiber nylon.


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## Ride-Fly (Mar 27, 2002)

yosarian9 said:


> I love the saddle but cant bring myself to pay almost 3X what I paid 3 years ago for "necessary upgrades" of thicker leather and carbon fiber nylon instead of glass fiber nylon.


I thought it looked like the E3. It almost looks like the newer Selle Italia SLR which has the more exaggerated side drop than the original SLR Kit Carbonio Flow. I haven't tried the newer SLR but I love the old ones- have them on all three of my carbon bikes. 

As for the Kontact saddle, is it really 3 times more than the E3? Wonder why PB discontinued the E3?


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

yosarian9 said:


> I love the saddle but cant bring myself to pay almost 3X what I paid 3 years ago for "necessary upgrades" of thicker leather and carbon fiber nylon instead of glass fiber nylon.


At least you have the correct information, now. When you emailed me you thought everything was downgraded.

The E3 pricing was abnormally low for reasons that had little to do with market value or unit cost. Kontact pricing is below average for similar saddles.


Many of us were fortunate to have gotten an E3 for peanuts, and it is one of the reason we have the fan base we do. I loved the E3 so much I bought the license when it became available. So instead of feeling like the current very fair pricing is some sort scam, you could take the point of view that you were lucky to have gotten "introduction pricing" when it was available as the E3. Now it is priced more normally for a superb anatomic design, great materials and 190 gram weight.

But if the fair price bothers you, by all means ride a less comfortable, more expensive saddle from one of my competitors.


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## jsophoto (May 21, 2012)

looking at the site, that price seems extremely fair, given that I just paid $280 for a fizik saddle.


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## gordy748 (Feb 11, 2007)

Sorry, is someone quibbling over a 190 gram saddle for $110? Not that I have any idea whether it works or not, but at that price it's very competitive.


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## Ride-Fly (Mar 27, 2002)

gordy748 said:


> Sorry, is someone quibbling over a 190 gram saddle for $110? Not that I have any idea whether it works or not, but at that price it's very competitive.


Is the Kontact saddle really only $110? That seems like a great price. What is even more astounding is that that means the E3 was about $35???!!!??!? How the heck did PB ever make a profit on them???


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## dndrich (Feb 21, 2012)

Kontact said:


> At least you have the correct information, now. When you emailed me you thought everything was downgraded.
> 
> The E3 pricing was abnormally low for reasons that had little to do with market value or unit cost. Kontact pricing is below average for similar saddles.
> 
> ...


Hey, I shoulda bought one while you still had 'em! When are they coming back into stock? I check your website every few days...can't wait! Looks really good.


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## yosarian9 (Mar 15, 2010)

Kontact starts his post with ad homenim... great for business.
IMO, I never "quibbled" over the price. In fact in my email to kontact I said the price was fair, but he didnt mention that in his reply here. (See the first line of this reply.)
My comments were about the price tripling for the "upgrades" of thicker leather(like the leather tears easily) and carbon instead of nylon(like the nylon saddles break.).


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## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

The saddle looks great with a wide flat rear. But I would still like to know how wide it is on the rear. I'm 6'3"and need a wider saddle than most. i can't find it anywhere on the site other than a section that says most sit bone fits are based on the saddle a company is trying to sell. Every saddle I've ever seen says how wide it is on the rear.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

darwinosx said:


> The saddle looks great with a wide flat rear. But I would still like to know how wide it is on the rear. I'm 6'3"and need a wider saddle than most. i can't find it anywhere on the site other than a section that says most sit bone fits are based on the saddle a company is trying to sell. Every saddle I've ever seen says how wide it is on the rear.


It is 130mm wide, with the flat sitting portion 115mm wide.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

yosarian9 said:


> Kontact starts his post with ad homenim... great for business.
> IMO, I never "quibbled" over the price. In fact in my email to kontact I said the price was fair, but he didnt mention that in his reply here. (See the first line of this reply.)
> My comments were about the price tripling for the "upgrades" of thicker leather(like the leather tears easily) and carbon instead of nylon(like the nylon saddles break.).


Really, sir, you protest too much. Here's the full email I received from you:



yosarian9 said:


> Email	[email protected]
> Name	*mark*
> Subject	*your saddle*
> How did you find us?	*Other*
> Comments & Questions	*You took the e3 form saddle, took out the gel(lower your production cost) and replaced the glass with plastic(again lowering the cost) and charge ~twice what it used to cost. I will quit cycling before I support you. I will spread the word.*


Which part is the one where you say the price is fair? I missed it.


I do, however, appreciate you spreading the word. From the comments posted here it appears that you have generated more interest in my product. I hope this won't make you quit cycling, though.


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## dndrich (Feb 21, 2012)

Yeah but, when are they back in stock!? I want one.


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## OldZaskar (Jul 1, 2009)

I was in Performance a while back (2 years?) and there was bin of E3s - a "Clearance" bin. I bought the last 4 they had... $29 a pop.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

dndrich said:


> Yeah but, when are they back in stock!? I want one.


I was supposed to have them by now, but the factory just added several week's delay. I'll have more info soon. Thanks for your patience.


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## dndrich (Feb 21, 2012)

Terrific! Keep us posted. My behind thanks you...


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## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

Just ran across this review of the old version.

Review: Kontact Anatomical Saddle | road.cc | Road cycling news, Bike reviews, Commuting, Leisure riding, Sportives and more

I was looking for something minimalist for my new Giant since I've used Brooks for years on my Ti bikes. But I ended up putting a Brooks Pro on my Giant. Doesn't look bad at all. I'm a big guy and need a wide flat saddle.


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## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

The review does support the idea that the old saddle was not quite robust enough. I'd love to try the new one but I'm unusually big for a bike saddle so it probably wouldn't work for me.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

Saddles are finally back in stock! Thanks for your patience.


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## dndrich (Feb 21, 2012)

Kontact said:


> Saddles are finally back in stock! Thanks for your patience.


I ordered one immediately upon getting the email that they were back in stock! Looking forward to trying it.


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## dndrich (Feb 21, 2012)

dndrich said:


> I ordered one immediately upon getting the email that they were back in stock! Looking forward to trying it.


Hey, it came today! Can't wait to put it on the bike. Sadly, can't ride until Thursday...

Quick service and the saddle looks terrific. I'll keep you posted with my unscientific review.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

dndrich said:


> Hey, it came today! Can't wait to put it on the bike. Sadly, can't ride until Thursday...
> 
> Quick service and the saddle looks terrific. I'll keep you posted with my unscientific review.


I'm sure I'm not the only one who would enjoy a review. Glad you like it!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

As far as durability; as I said earlier in the thread I've been riding he (old production) E3 exclusively since they first came out. 

I've had 2 of them re-covered. Still going strong. 

My only wish is that the rear flat section is a bit wider, I wear 33 waist jeans at 185 pounds and my ass could use a tiny bit more room back there.


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## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

Pretty interesting saddle but not wide enough for me either. But I'm pretty big so it shouldn't matter to a lot of other people.


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## Oldude (Jul 26, 2012)

darwinosx
I am kind of large too. How wide is your Brooks, and what is your opinion of it at this point?


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## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

I just replaced my Brooks Pro with a Specialized Phenom and could not be happier. The Brooks Pro is 160mm wide and the Phenom, like most Specialized saddles, comes in widths up to 155mm. It has a wide and flat rear and was immediately comfortable plus it looks great.

Specialized Bicycle Components


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## Oldude (Jul 26, 2012)

*E3*



darwinosx said:


> Pretty interesting saddle but not wide enough for me either. But I'm pretty big so it shouldn't matter to a lot of other people.


I'm rather large at the rear end too. How wide is the Brooks you got and, how do you like it so far?


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## RoadFan (Dec 31, 2008)

Bnystrom said:


> For those of you who are fans of the E3 Form saddle that was discontinued by Performance last year, it's coming back under the Kontact brand, a new venture from the saddle's designer, Joshua Cohen.
> 
> Kontact Bicycle Components
> 
> He apparently does not have saddles yet, but the site indicates that they should be available soon.


Fantastic, thanks for this info, I still have my old E3, but starting to ride more as of late, I think it will last me for a few more months.

The only thing I don't like at all about the reincarnated E3 is the price of the Kontact:
$110 compared to old E3 for less than $60 is way too expensive.

I hope they have a good sale soon or release a new more affordable model, that would be nice for some of us with less deep pockets.


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## Bnystrom (Oct 27, 2007)

RoadFan said:


> Fantastic, thanks for this info, I still have my old E3, but starting to ride more as of late, I think it will last me for a few more months.
> 
> The only thing I don't like at all about the reincarnated E3 is the price of the Kontact:
> $110 compared to old E3 for less than $60 is way too expensive.
> ...


There's one E3 on Ebay at the moment for $60 shipped. However, if it's just the cover that's worn, there's at least one company that specializes in replacing saddle covers, such as this guy: | Recovered Saddle

It's not that hard to do yourself, if you have access to garment leather. I typically peel the covers off my saddles to add a pressure relief groove in the padding and have replaced the covers on a few as well. It's not particularly difficult.


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## rayms (Sep 11, 2013)

Noticed the seats made a year and half ago are 205 grams vs 190 presently.


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