I’m sure you know this as your post is well-presented, but for anyone who’s curious, the “actual” cordura is the material poking through. The coating is simply that: a paint of sorts. All coatings on heavy cordura-type materials will eventually fade or wear. This does look particularly bad aesthetically, though, and the haters will definitely be taking AH to task on this for their next run of Flexes. Whether it’s expected, affected, or any other -ected, it’s still not super visually attractive, and it will probably get in some guys’ heads to where they don’t “feel” safe and confident. People need to feel confident and safe if they’re going to hang 20-30’ up from heavy dental floss lol. I love AH; they should probably try a different (or no) coating, or put a warning on packaging that this discoloration is probable but completely safe.It is the rubberized backing coming off the cordura. The Kestrel is likely doing this internally, but you can't see it between the layers. This does not affect the saddle one bit, have seen it happen on all other backed cordura products I've owned too.
It is the rubberized backing coming off the cordura. The Kestrel is likely doing this internally, but you can't see it between the layers. This does not affect the saddle one bit, have seen it happen on all other backed cordura products I've owned too.
If I had to guess, they were trying to ease the “slide-ability” of the inside on Flex, and reduce fraying of seams. Kestrel doesn’t “shift” like the Flex is supposed to on your butt, so it’s not really intuitive or justifiable on Kestrel IMO.
Just a guess, I don't have a Flex, but I suspect that the Flex is a single layer saddle where the Kestrel has two layers sewn back to back. This is how the Flex is somewhat lighter than the Kestrel.
You are correct Boyne....
