Rido, Spongy Wonder, "Real Seat," Revla, "The Seat"?
 

I am considering 4 or 5 saddles that supposedly don't press on your delicate tissues. Have any of you tried these saddles?

The Seat http://www.thecomfortseat.com/
Rido saddles http://www.rido-cyclesaddles.com/con...?categoryId=11
Spongy Wonder http://www.spongywonder.com/bikeseatfacts.html
Revla http://www.cycleincomfort.com/benefits.htm
Real Seat http://www.realseat.com/

I wonder if you could offer an opinion about which of these saddles might offer the highest likelihood of satisfaction? I'm living in Asia, where all the saddles are built for tiny Asian butts, and international shipping charges would make it impractical to return the saddles if I don't like them. So, if any of you have ridden these saddles, can you share your experiences?

I know that many saddles are "love 'em or hate 'em" affairs. Under the circumstances, I'm looking for one that has a high likelihood of being reasonably comfy, even if I don't LOVE it. Because all the seats I can buy locally, I know I would hate.

I realize that there have already been threads discussing some of these seats, but hope to get some new opinions from users who haven't posted before. Thanks.

FWIW, I'm a 6 foot, 180 pound guy with a pretty wide butt and a delicate prostate. And I'm not a sports cyclist, I just want a bike to travel around town.

Saddles? Eww! The recumbent rider will bow out of this discussion!

I haven't tried any of them but I think I would stay away from the Spongy Wonder. That saddle looks like it could do some serious damage if you slid off the front of it:eek:

We had a thread going a few months ago on various noseless and innovative saddles, but at that time, almost no one had ridden them for any appreciable period of time.

There are several others that you didn't mention above.

Was reading the Revla material. Apparently not liking it is not an acceptable reason to return it. And they have these exclusions to their warranty:

Note especially that the Revla bicycle seat is designed for comfortable leisure or commuter 'UPRIGHT
CYCLING' on bicycles which have the handlebars at least 15cms (6 inches) higher than the surface of
the seat. It must be understood that one takes great personal risk and that one will also void the
warranty when one rides in extreme terrain, rides "trials" style courses, jumps ramps, carries out stunts,
rides on BMX tracks, rides down steps and embankments, or rides on other 'off-road' terrain.

Wow! They expect the handlebars to be a minimum of 6" above the seat!!

Some of the others include:

http://www.spiderflex.com/

http://www.moonsaddle.com/

http://www.hobsonseats.com/

http://www.bycycleinc.com/

http://www.comfortsaddle.com/

http://www.kefren.com/

http://www.abs-sports.com/

I tried the Rido saddle from England. Was surprised it got here in 4 days. Rode it 1 block (about 200 meters) and returned for refund. It was like sitting on two baseballs. The high ridge on each side of saddle was too sharp? small? and my 250 pounds did not flatten them at all. Thus sitting on two baseballs. At least the company did give me full refund, I was out the return freight.

I am not fond of anything spongy. Too soft only works for a few miles, my weight crushes the sponge and I wind up sitting on the actual seat support/base.

The real seat looks like a joke. Lawn chair on a bike?? This can't be real.

The Endurance model of the comfort model looks worth a try. Hope you get a response from someone who tried that.

The large adult Real Seat is 22" wide and weighs over 4 pounds. Wow!

No thanks, I'll keep my Brooks Pro, which is a REAL seat! :) It's showing its age after 35 years and 50k mi / 80k km, but it certainly is comfortable.

I have tried two differnt one, sorry I don't remember which. Neither made it out the driveway because you loose all steering and balance w/o that nose. Even in the stoker position on the tandem, they didn't work.

IMHO spend the money on a professional bike fit and a new, regular saddle, or a recumbent.

I've only ever seen one "unconventional" seat being used on a bike. It was two rectangular pads, independent of each other, and each pad could pivot front-back. Asked the person how he liked it, said he was removing it as soon as he got home. I believe the unconventional saddle is made strictly for our amusement, never heard of anyone actually riding one and liking it.

I have similar concerns and did look at several and read the above mentioned thread and others. It seemed like there were comfort issues and a danger expressed was that without a nose, it was possible to slip off the bike when cornering.

Currently I have switched to an Avocet O2 Womens saddle. I'm larger and wider than the average guy so that works. It's hard as a rock so no foam presses against the delicate areas. But I'm seriously looking at a recumbent. Most likely an Actionbent.

I am curious as to how you can make this statement "Because all the seats I can buy locally, I know I would hate." ??

Most of the better saddles are made in Italy and are available worldwide. Based on the info at hand, I would explore the Terry saddles. There is a reason all these odd ball bike seats have never replaced the basic design. Most of them don't work worth a hoot.

I was wondering the same thing. Is it based on empirical evidence or on preconceptions?

BTW, the very best saddles are made in England :)

How do I know I would hate them? Well, because where I live, they don't sell any fancy Italian made saddles, only local made cheapies for Asian munchkins with tiny butts, who weigh half as much as we weigh. (I wonder how much of the problem with wedgie seats is traceable to the fact that they're mostly made in Asia by these munchkins, who apparently don't realize that we westerners have big arses.)

I also know, because a year ago, I tried riding the biggest local made seat I could find, and ended up in sheer agony for 2 weeks. Now, admittedly, I was riding a bike for the first time in 10 years, and maybe went too far (maybe just 10 or 20 miles), and the nose could not be pointed downward because the local rental bike seat did not have that capability...but there you are.

They do have some seats here with cutouts, and I sat on one today, and I think these cutouts are a joke. The cutout is only an inch wide and doesn't go all the way to the front of the nose. My crotch is at least 3 inches wide...what good is a one inch wide cutout going to do? That's still going to put pressure on your crotch.

Guybierhaus, thanks for the opinion on the Rido...I would love to hear more opinions about that one, because there are a lot of ecstatic opinions on the Rido website, and others on this forum have also had favorable comment on it...but how much of this is being written by the manufacturer and his shills, and how much by real users?

This is very discouraging. I really need to be able to ride a bike. I was thinking today that the Spongy WOnder type design, with the complete separation between the pads, is the only one that makes sense, from a point of view of not harming your delicates. Surely there are real people who are riding it without a problem? The nose being needed for steering...is that really true, for casual riders?

I am thinking something like that or one of the flat bench type seats makes sense for me...but not if it makes the bike unridable.

I would love a recumbent, but they don't sell them here, and people would stare at me even more than they do now...and they might be more dangerous in traffic...and they are in an early stage of development and refinement...

any other suggestions where one might find real reviews of these seats? I suspect many "satisfied customer" reviews are written by parties with a financial interest in the outcome.

I have two friends that use the big huge Planet Bike Cruiser saddle. It is a traditional design, with nose, but wide and cushy. They both love them and ride them for 15-20 mile trips.

http://ecom1.planetbike.com/5004.html

I sat on one once for a couple of minutes and it was comfortable, but have no idea of what it would feel like after an hour.

Also, if you have a traditional saddle that is really hurting you, have you tried using an add-on gel pad? They cost $10-$25, depending on where you buy them and how thick they are. I have three friends who use them, for regular 30-35 mile rides. Swear by them, not at them. One guy has about 3000 miles on his and he would hurt you if you took it off his bike. Almost every bike shop has them, as well as Wal-Mart and Target.

I dunno. I'm kinda thinking anything called "The Spongy Wonder" deserves exploration. Wait a minute. Are you saying it's a bike seat?

An upright (non-recumbent) bicycle should have a saddle, not a seat. One can easily remain safely and appropriately perched atop and astride a saddle.

I broke bad years ago and never improved. As one of the lower primates, setting (not sitting!) on a bike seat is just one of the many things I do wrong. Thanks for caring enough to try to straighten me out. Sadly, I'm so far gone, I'm beyond help in defining such matters as saddles or seats.

Well, a couple of thoughts. First, for someone who is just a casual upright rider, maybe these noseless seats will work. I have seen many Munchkins here pedal their bicycles while sitting on the rear passenger pad of their bikes, and they don't seem to have a problem staying upright, even though they have to reach really far for their handlebars and it's pretty awkward. The rear passenger pad is just a flat pad, and has no nose. I often wonder why the munchkins do this... I suspect that, small as they are, even some of them have too much discomfort from their seat noses, and so go to an improvised semi-recumbent style of pedalling from the rear passenger pad.

If it's true that a seat needs a nose in order for you to cycle with stability, doesn't it make sense that the nose should be concave, not convex, so that the sides of your legs can feel it, but it doesn't push on your johnson? Like the seat below. It takes the concave idea as far as it can go. Other seats only have a cutout, but the tip of the nose is still convex so the top half of your johnson can fall asleep, even if the rear part of it falls safely into the cutout.

By the way, I have to correct that bit about my 3 inch wide crotch. I noticed today that it gets a lot narrower when you assume bikerider's position.

But anyway, is this the design that makes the most sense? This is the ABS Super Saddle. Biggest one they have is 9 inches wide. I think that's too narrow. Why not 10 or 11 inches? Why the resistance to having true luxurious comfort? Is this left over from our puritanical religious past, in which pain was considered virtuous and pleasure a sin? Is it because big saddles don't look "cool"? Or a combination of both?
http://www.abs-sports.com/images/p-ss.gif

My wife insists on using this enormous Cloud 9 seat on our tandem. She calls it her "cushy butt seat". I call it a torture device. I'm just glad I don't have the sensitivity that some people seem to have about bike seats, or maybe it is that I have the patience to allow myself to withstand some minor discomfort as I adapt to something new.

FWIW, after many miles on many seats, I have found nothing that comes close to the comfort level of a Brooks B17. YMMV.

RealSeat - Buyer Beware!
 

I just recieved a "RealSeat" to use on my Schwinn Airdyne. It doesn't work for me or my wife! We both slip off while peddling. I bought it with no intention to ever have to return it, but as it didn't work, I headed back to the web page to find the return instructions. I found the seller will take it back for a 30% restock fee! WOW! 30% on a $100 dollar item! I should have looked that up before buying! Shame on me!

I contacted the seller to ask about the restock fee and maybe I should have been a little more polite, but I stated it as I did here and his response floored me. From the tone of his email, customer satifaction isn't his concern! Buyer beware!

I have about 1500 miles on my Moonsaddle. It's mounted on a Trek 7500 Hybrid. Have not tried it on my road bike.

It is comfortable on the butt. No numbness or chafing at all. Longest rides were around 100 km. I didn't notice any steering problems but I wasn't exactly carving the turns, either. I give it thumbs up for assability.

On the downside, you do naturally carry less weight on your seat with the design of the saddle. That weight transfers to your legs (okay) and hands (bad). To get weight off my wrists I'd mash a bigger gear. That led to foot/ankle pain.

So overall the saddle was okay. I still use it when I ride my hybrid which isn't very much these days. Most of my time is spent on my Trek Madone 4.5 on which I've mounted a Bontrager Inform RL. No complaints about the saddle at all.

Good luck with your search.

:lol::roflmao2:

Check out Dan Henry -- that's been around since the '60s.