Street gel saddle more comfy than Fusion Freeride?

[mbalmer]

Originally Posted by GizmoDuck

Fat saddles like the Fusion Freeride gets in the way and can chaffe over longer distances. If they were better, then you'd see bike riders riding on big fat saddles too.

I disagree. My sit bones like a thin bicycle saddle. On the unicycle I prefer thick foam with a cutout as more pressure is up front and less on the sit bones.

[GizmoDuck]

Originally Posted by mbalmer

I disagree. My sit bones like a thin bicycle saddle. On the unicycle I prefer thick foam with a cutout as more pressure is up front and less on the sit bones.

But why would that be? Your ischial tuberosities (ie sit bones), should be supported whether it's on the bike or a unicycle. After all, the position is not all that different. Being on a unicycle does not mean that your squishy bits should take the weight of your body.

The main difference is that unicycle saddles tend to curve up to wedge against your crotch, which I think is a legacy of pre-handle freestyle unicycles to stop you falling off. I think they need to be flatter for long distance riding.

[mbalmer]

Originally Posted by GizmoDuck

But why would that be? Your ischial tuberosities (ie sit bones), should be supported whether it's on the bike or a unicycle. After all, the position is not all that different. Being on a unicycle does not mean that your squishy bits should take the weight of your body.

The main difference is that unicycle saddles tend to curve up to wedge against your crotch, which I think is a legacy of pre-handle freestyle unicycles to stop you falling off. I think they need to be flatter for long distance riding.

My squishy bits definitely take a beating. This is where a handle should help but I don't like my kh handle. I think you are right about the curve of the seat. I wish the cutout were wider up front. I tried modifying a seat but did a botched job of it. Hill climbing, standing to crank uphill, is the best relief. that and anti friction cream.

[Nurse Ben]

I just started riding on a wider hub (Oregon) and I found that the extra width of 2cm seems to take away the chaffing and pressure points in the taint.

Maybe what we need is more width so our feet are further apart...of a narrower saddle. I cut down the foam on my KH FR and this seemed to help some, but 1/4 off each side is not much.

[GizmoDuck]

Originally Posted by Nurse Ben

Maybe what we need is more width so our feet are further apart...of a narrower saddle. I cut down the foam on my KH FR and this seemed to help some, but 1/4 off each side is not much.

I'm not a fan of a wide stance. I tend to angle my knees in when riding, which often causes tyre burns on my legs. On a long ride I take most of the skin off.

The wider saddles tend to get in the way too, but I have fat thighs and short legs

[bungeejoe]

.

Originally Posted by Kerv

It is just this kind of prejudice that us crotch grabbers have been fighting for years!

First you need to get ahold of your balls and hold them out front while crotch grabbing.

Here's a picture for you to visualize what I mean.
The second picture may help you decide what to do with your balls when not grabbing your crotch.

.

[DavidHood]

Originally Posted by Alan Hogan

used to get really bad saddle sore until I bought some Chammois butter

+1 for Chamois butt'r singles in my CamelBak

Originally Posted by Rowan

102mm cranks is fairly short for a 36" wouldn't want to face too many steep hills

a nonstarter for the hills of Kentucky unless you are doing the flatter RiverWalk portion of our loop. I wear 137s but 150s feel so good I buy 165s

Originally Posted by johnfoss

If you aren't wearing a good pair of bike shorts you're just hurting yourself

Spent a bundle on my Louis Garneau CORSA bibs. Love em!

Originally Posted by GizmoDuck

new KH Slim saddle

That's what I am having installed on my new KH36G. My only other saddle experience has been with the Nimbus Gel (pretty good set up IMHO) on my Shadow on my Impulse so I'll let you know how it goes.

[bcarter1234]

Originally Posted by GizmoDuck

But why would that be? Your ischial tuberosities (ie sit bones), should be supported whether it's on the bike or a unicycle. After all, the position is not all that different. Being on a unicycle does not mean that your squishy bits should take the weight of your body.

The main difference is that unicycle saddles tend to curve up to wedge against your crotch, which I think is a legacy of pre-handle freestyle unicycles to stop you falling off. I think they need to be flatter for long distance riding.

GizmoDuck,

Please enlighten me as this seems to be the core issue for me with regard to being able to ride any significant distance on a uni. I can easily rotate my hips back on a b*ke saddle as the saddle is not able to move fore and aft nor does shifting my weight affect the balance of the b*ke. I cannot seem to find a way to get a substantial portion of my weight on my ischial tuberosities when riding a unicycle. I can see how using a handle could accomplish this and that may be the solution. Is there any way to sit on the "sit bones" without putting weight on a handle?

I found this contraption provided the same comfortable ride as a b*ke as a result of having more of my weight in front of the wheel center. It wasn't the ultimate answer though.

Thanks for any help.

Take care,

Brent

[SinisterJay]

I just measured a 2010 Nimbus, 2011 Fusion Freeride and a 2011 Fusion Street saddle. All 3 are almost identical in width (3 inches) at the narrowest point. Looking at the three saddles, the only significant difference was that the street saddle was 1/2" narrower at the rear of the saddle. I do LOVE the new KH saddles while the nimbus saddle hurts after a while. I attribute it to the padding and nice channel in the new KH's.

for riding along, the width of the saddle at the rear, directly beneath or behind your sit bones, aren't going to make a bit of difference. The middle width of the saddle is exactly the same. I haven't seen the new Slim KH saddle, but the pics make it appear to be significantly slimmer in the middle. 1/2'' maybe? intriguing... I use racing saddles on all my b*kes. As long as they're slim and have some sit room, i'm happy.

in response to chamois butt'r vs body glide: body glide is a bit stickier. I like it for running, as I'm less likely to sweat it out, but for riding I prefer the slipperiness (sp?) of the Chamois Butt'r. It works great for knee pad chafing as well! slather it on thick and forget about it!

also as mentioned: saddle angle I found to be a HUGE deal. Messing with the saddle angle on the same saddle throughout a ride, it went from painful/unrideable to comfy and everywhere in between. Personally, I push the saddle all the way forward so I'm sitting on the back of the saddle. take a wrench with you on a ride and mess with your current saddle angle every once in a while. It was enlightening for me.

Oh yeah, Padded shorts! If all my padded shorts are dirty, I'll go unpadded and spandexy under my "outer" shorts, but I hate to. It's a noticeable difference in comfort. I find that pricepoint.com and Jensonusa.com have some awesome deals if you catch 'em right. I got my favorite Muni/B*ke shorts for $35 a pair from pricepoint.

[knoxuni]

Originally Posted by bungeejoe

.



First you need to get ahold of your balls and hold them out front while crotch grabbing.

Here's a picture for you to visualize what I mean.
The second picture may help you decide what to do with your balls when not grabbing your crotch.

.

like the clipless set up

[SinisterJay]

Originally Posted by knoxuni

like the clipless set up

good eyes! I was just looking at his balls.

wait....

[knoxuni]

I would love to hear what pedals he is using i LOVE my cranksbros

[danger_uni]

The Freeride, Street, and Slim saddle foam are trimmed as close as possible to the edge of the frame, so width is similar.

The thickness of foam at the bottom of the cutaway is similar (is minimal) for all models; the cutaway is deeper in the models with thicker foam.

The thickness of foam at the very front is similar between all models (as close as I can get it) - all become very thin at the front where you don't want bulk. At the very back, the 2011 Street and Slim are the same thickness and the Freeride is very slightly thicker.

Here are foam thicknesses in the middle:
Freeride: 45 mm
Street: 25 mm
Slim: 15 mm

If the difference between the Slim and Street doesn't sound like much in absolute terms, note that the Street has 1.7 times as thick foam as the Slim, and the Freeride has 3 times as thick foam as the Slim.

In terms of curvature, the Fusion, Street, and Slim have the least to most curvature, in that order, due to the change in foam thickness in the middle. However, in practice the difference is minimal because you sink into the Freeride foam more, and because the bottom of the cutaway is the same on all models. The Nimbus gel has the most curvature. Although I know there have been some comments against high curvature here, it's worth noting that many riders do find higher curvature comfortable and good for control when turning. It really does come down to personal preference.

I completely agree that saddle angle has a huge effect on comfort - super important to experiment to get that right.

At the heart of the saddle is the frame. The current KH saddle frame is 10 mm wider than the old KH frame at the position of the sit bones (the old version being the one that's still used on Impact and Koxx-One saddles). I find this noticeably more supportive than the old saddle, where my sit bones seemed to overhang the edges.

Lastly, for what it's worth, here is what I use:
Fusion Slim: on my KH20, for trials
Fusion Street: on my KH36 for distance, and on my KH24 for technical DH.
Fusion Freeride: on my KH26 for All Mountain and XC riding. I also prefer the Freeride on my KH36 if I'm distance riding offroad.

Hopefully that info is useful. It's a real challenge to come up with a range that fits the huge diversity of riders and riding styles in the sport, and that can reasonably be produced for our small market. However, the Nimbus Gel and the 3 Fusion saddles together make up a wide range of options and I think we're starting to get closer to this goal.

Cheers,

Kris

[DavidHood]

I just finished ordering a 26" Oracle and I was a little surprised / disappointed to find they were offering the KH Fusion Street instead of the Freeride (like they always have on their non-disc-brake MUni) as a $15 upgrade to the Nimbus Gel saddle. I think it has something to do with the red theme but I would rather get a black Freeride and spring for an extra ($19) red cover.

Does anyone actually prefer the Street over the Freeride for MUni? I love the Slim on my 36er for distance where I don't leave my seat often. But, for MUni where I am standing on the pedals more often, I really had my heart set on a Freeride for the bumpy roots.

[knoxuni]

On thing i have notised is that my K1 trials saddle is better than my old torker dx saddle but not as good as my freeride