The only thing I dislike about the nylon bands is that the buckle (although SS) does not look exactly like the one on the classic buckle. It's coloured ever so slightly so it looks duller. Wish it was "shinier" to match the SS watch. I wonder if a Cape Cod cloth will polish it up?? Might try.
Likely done on purpose so they'd coordinate better with the aluminum finish on the Sport. After all, they have more Sport models with the nylon straps as out-of-the-box options compared to the SS models (4 for Sport vs. 2 for SS).