The Best Seat Competition

[sparky]

Some of you guys that live next to each other should organize a group meeting where each person brings a different seat... the park bench bike seat, all of The Seats, the Brooks saddle, the Schwinn hornless seat, all the Cloud 9 seats, etc.

Then you can all test them at your next meet to figure out which seat each of your bums like the best.

 

[birdmannn101]

After about 30 minutes of riding my groin area feels pretty tender. I am thinking of getting one of these Adamo Seats and was wondering if anyone out there ever had one and could let me know before I buy since these saddles are pretty expensive.

 

[Fabian]

This seat is the way to go - put up with no more discomfort:

http://www.realseat.com/intro.html

 

[sparky]

One of my most worthwhile pursuits was looking for the ULTIMATE bike seat.

Lord knows I found all of them.

Here's my OLD review, but some things have changed in terms of distributors, prices, etc.... so here is an updated mini review....

Seats I would highly recommend for a hard tail (i.e. -- no shock absorbing seat posts), and in NO SPECIFIC ORDER:
+ Unified Sport Evolve saddle @ Amazon for $ 160 (this is the same as the Relax I.Q.)
+ Gyes GS-12 @ eBay for $100 (the only seat that seemed to increase in price, but this is actually my #1 seat now)
+ Schwinn gel seat w/ cut-out @ Walmart for $17 (this appears to be identical to the Planet Bike A.R.S.)

Seats I would highly recommend for a rear suspension bike:
+ DD Wings italian saddle @ bikemania.biz for $115 (this is the same as the Relax 2)

Seats I would maybe recommend if I used it more often:
+ Hobson Easy Seat II / Deluxe for $60 (good concept, but not sure if the quality is something that will stand some serious abuse)

Seats that I still want to try:
+ Spongy Wonder for $130 (I'm sure this is better than the SpiderFlex, and would definitely love to compare it to both the DDWings && the Easy Seat Deluxe)
+ Hobson Pro Hub X2 for $70 (hopefully more structurally sound than the Easy Seat Deluxe??)

Seats that I wouldn't mind trying, but won't go out of my way to find:
+ Real Seat for $105 (There is no way that this thing could be used as comfortable for pedaling as the DDWings or Gyes GS-12. Just no way.)
+ Adamo seats for ~$150 (Remember a "study" was done and the Adama didn't fare too well, and upon second looks... the seat looks like it would create some seriously unneeded pressure from those two "daggers" on the tip of their seats!!)

The UPDATED review...

I'm now using the Gyes GS-12 every day on my hard tail, single speed 29'er. It squeaks a bit, but for the quick trips I'm making around town, this seat just "deletes" bumps in pavements (tho, the 29'er helps with that a bit, too... this seat really puts an end to the every day bumps). The wide leather also acts as a sort of "hammock" for your tushy. This seat would be very, very comfortable even WITHOUT the springs, likely.... but the springs are important. This seat is great. Again, it squeaks... but for what I'm doing... it's definitely the most comfotable

The Unified Sport Evolve saddle was taken off, because I'm not using it for riding SEVERAL hours a day like I was last year. I paid $500 to get two seats last year that I now know I can get for $260. I really needed them for some "touring" I was doing and definitely don't regret the purchases, even at $500. Those two seats will definitely last as long as I do. The Evolve saddle was definitely silent, but I didn't get the newer slip-on rubber cushion thingys for each "rib" of the saddle. It's comfortable enough without it, but I might try contacting the company to see if I could get this newer cushion as opposed to the larger cushions for each side that were very prone to falling off. I think the main reason I pulled this seat off had to do with me swinging my leg over the saddle. I had it fairly low as it was, IMHO, yet it still kept snagging my shorts when tossing a single leg over (I don't wear biker shorts!). It's a very minor gripe, really... considering that one initial swing of the leg is very trivial in comparison to, say, 5 thousand swings in an hour.

The DDWings seat is, without a doubt, the best seat for a bike with rear suspension. A Spongy Wonder might be ok, but I haven't tried it to know for sure how stable your bum will be when cornering. But for $115, this seat should be used A WHOLE FRIGGIN' LOT MORE on this site!!! I'm letting you folks know. I am willing to bet big money that a more PRACTICAL *and* COMFORTABLE seat cannot be found.

I haven't tried this specific Schwinn gel seat w/ cut-out in Walmart, but it looks great (exactly like the Planet Bike A.R.S. saddle), and the price is right. If you want the cheapest solution to a happy bum, then this is definitely it at $17 or so.

I still want NO PRESSURE whatsoever, however... and I personally find that in the Gyes GS-12 seat. I don't actually remember the The EasySeat providing much of any pressure, and it might actually be my new #2 seat. I will have to pull it out tomorrow and give it a spin.

 

[darwin]

Sparky most of those seats you mention I can buy a WHOLE bike for. $30 cloud nine and your good to go. I don't think bill gates hangs in these rooms.

 

[sparky]

One could try all those seats that I mentioned (at least the ones that are worth trying) for $652 and know FOR SURE whether there was a "the one" seat for him/her.

It's worth it, IMHO, to try these seats out in a "money back guarantee" fashion, because you owe it to your bum. I promise you... if you spend as much time on a saddle as I do, then you want the best saddle, no matter the cost.

Even if you just get one Hobson instead of both, that's still only $600 to try 6 ridiculously awesome seats. If you don't like them, you can sell them on ebay, craigslist.

I'd prefer to own 8 bicycle seats, 9 bicycle, 10 guns, 3 automobiles, 5 weedeater motors, 1 nuvinci hub, 23 knives, a pound of gold, a thousand pounds of silver, a water purifier, etcetera... as opposed to a bunch of "Federal Reserve Notes" or, "money on account", in the form of a digital number which I cannot recover at any time I so please. Just something to think about... I promote buying assets that have intrinsic value to assure you will be able to make it in the near future. Only the learners will survive, and anybody who values things in term of Federal Reserve Notes is not a wise learner, IMHO.

 

[Fabian]

@ Darwin

You hear this view many times: "most of those seats you mention I can buy a WHOLE bike for".

If you go around with that view in life you'll never have the best solution for your situation.

I don't care if the seat is $1,000 and it bankrupts me for the month - it simply has to be the best seat for the application if spending many hours in the saddle will be the order of the day. The money fades into insignificance when you arrive feeling fantastic without any pain or discomfort.
I've gone over this concept with my next door neighbour who is a notorious tight a.r.s.e, spending money on cheap rubbish; then buying more sets of cheap rubbish because tools or equipment fail to do the job properly, causing more damage, to the point where a high quality equipment needs to be purchased to fix the destruction from a tight a.r.s.e attitude.

Do it properly, gasp at the price and hold your breath, even as fear and panic sets in over the price - at the end of the day you'll only need to spend it once.
6 months down the track, you will be so glad for choosing the best quality option.

 

[darwin]

I hear both your views and they're valid, myself I just couldn't part with more then say $50 for a nice comfy seat. I'd rather have some change left over to buy other things.