June 26, 2008
Some Things From Sette
Sette is a brand of high-quality, value-priced cycling gear, exclusively available at Price Point. Price Point set us up with some products from Sette so that we could put them to the test on the East Coast. Sette carries a full line of products, we got our hands on a hydration pack, some gloves and a carbon fiber handlebar.
Sette Flopak Hydration System - Low Profile Lightweight Versatility
MSRP: $50.00 USD ... at Price Point: $19.98 USD
Available in 70 oz and 100 oz sizes, that's 2.0 L and 3.0 L for us Canucks. An attractive option is to purchase two packs, one for you and one for your riding buddy for $32.98 (70 oz / 2.0 L) or $37.98 (100 oz / 3.0 L). A nice touch for additional savings!
Price Point says:
Short hop or training ride the Sette FloPak is perfect for quick jaunts by road or trail. There is plenty of room for keys, wallet and food bars with two large side pockets and full length pocket on the rear. There is also a cinch tied elastic web on the back for additional storage. To add to the FloPak’s versatility there is a pocket and headphone port for MP3 and CD players which only Sette offers - so you can take your music with you on the move.
ECMTB says:
Companies like Camelback, The North Face, Salomon and many others have paved the way for all hydration pack manufacturers. It's not hard to put together something decent and Sette has managed to do so, at a great price to boot.
The Flopak's hydration bladder, seen here, has the screw top style opening which we like. The valve is also replaceable which is a nice touch, but replacement bladders are barely more expensive than the valve. Should the situation arise that a new valve is needed, you might as well get a new bladder. The general shape of the Flopak is such that non Sette bladders wouldn't be difficult.
The storage compartment of the Flopak was sufficient for all of the essentials. It wasn't hard to cram enough stuff in there to feel prepared. The going got tough if we wanted to put any layers in there. They were better suited for the elastic web. We don't like elastic webs for our stuff. It's too easy to lose something. But when you're using a pack like the Flopak you shouldn't expect to be able to bring the kitchen sink with you. Dress appropriately in the first place! One of the zippered openings had a mesh panel 3/4 of the way up as if you could have something large in the pack that could hang out if you left the zipper open. It was an interesting concept, but we couldn't think of anything with the kind of shape that we could test it out!
The shoulder straps were broad enough for the big folk (O9Man). Some smaller packs tend to be thin and the straps twist when going over large shoulders, that's not comfortable. The Flopak straps sat nicely on all of our shoulders. The waist straps were connected with plastic buckles so one could opt to remove the waist belt. That was a great idea! The chest strap and the waist strap clips were of poor quality. A few times we had trouble disengaging the chest strap. That's rough when you're busting up a climb and you need chest relief to accommodate your hyperventilation.
The pack was on the warm side on your back, and did soak up some sweat, but it wasn't a sponge.
For the price, this is a good pack to get.
...
Sette Signature Full Finger Gloves
MSRP: $30.00 USD ... at Price Point: $14.98 USD
Price Point says:
Sette Signature Full Finger Gloves feature synthetic leather palm, ventilated Airprene knuckle protection, terrycloth thumb. The Sette Signature Gloves give you that nice strong grip feeling that will give the confidence to go for the big jumps.
ECMTB says:
These weren't a big winner with us. We had a range of sizes, all appropriate for our hands but we found the thumbs short. Unfortunately they didn't stretch much either.
The cuff ended on the hand's side of the wrist. We were divided on whether we liked this or not. Some preferred to have their wrists covered, while those with a watch liked the short cuff. The short cuff did make a pull tab necessary on the palm to get the gloves on with east. We have our suspicions that the pull tabs won't last, and that the Velcro strap will be next to go.
Other than the pull tab and the straps, the gloves were robust. Unfortunately that made them warm, too warm for the summer. They'd be comfortable for early spring or later in the fall.
These wouldn't be our pick for our primary riding gloves. But that doesn't mean they won't have a purpose. Since they were nice and tough, they could double as work gloves for doing trail maintenance and building. No one likes using their best gloves for that!
...
Sette F/X2 25.4mm Carbon Riser Handlebar
MSRP: $110.00 USD ... at Price Point: $69.98 USD
Price Point says:
The Sette F/X2 carbon riser takes strength and weight to new limits. Carbon fiber has been chosen because of its inherent shock absorption and vibration damping properties to make this an ultra light world class bar. Aluminum end inserts assure compatibility with all bar ends.
Material: Carbon
Color: Carbon
Length: 26"
Sweep: 8 Degree
Rise: 1.25"
Clamp Diameter: 25.4mm
Weight: 174g
ECMTB says:
A $69.98 carbon handlebar? Yeah right. Yeah right indeed! The F/X2 is a gem. It's only 40 g heavier than 2008 Easton Monkeylite SL Handlebar, and our engineers confirmed it's weight. The bar rides stiff like it's aluminum and the carbon fiber looks great. So stiff that if it wasn't 174 g, and if we didn't like it so much we would have taken the saw to it looking for aluminum under the fiber.
We race tested the F/X2 and the ergonomics were pleasing. We even managed to crash test it a few times, and it survived nicely. The aluminum inserts on the ends made for confident application of lock on grips and bar ends, but it made it impossible to get our plugs in. That's a drawback for racers since it's a pain when the commissaire makes you tape up the hole. The name 'insert' implies that you can take them out, but it didn't seem possible and we weren't about to mess with the ends of a carbon bar.
We gave some fellow ECMTBers the chance to take a quick ride with the bars, and they were all impressed. One ECMBTer said he was going home to buy a set!
Posted by O9man at June 26, 2008 12:14 AM