I prefer thin because it allows you to move freely, lighter, less chaffing, and feels like you’re sitting on a bike seat rather than a horse saddle.
Bicyclists ride on much thinner seats for many hours more than we do, without as much discomfort It’s not about how much foam you have, it’s about how well it supports your ischial tuberosities. After a few mm’s of squish, does it matter if you’re sitting on a 1cm thick foam or 10cm thick foam?
You should have seen the early KH seats- they were horrendous. Like a brick (presumably modeled on the equally horrendous airseats).
So what about the more flatter profile vs the “banana” shape that many other saddles still employ? I know the conventional wisdom is that it keeps the rider from sliding off, but if that’s true, then why do more than a few 36er riders use actual bike saddles?
I do think you need some curve, but the minute I mounted and rode the newer, flatter FFR saddle, I could feel the difference from the old style FFR immediately. It was so much more comfortable with way less pressure focused on the sensitive areas. So maybe if the Naomi also had this flatter profile it would be even better?
I’m a big fan of less curve too. I always have on hand on the handle- same way you don’t fall off the front of a bike seat because you have handlebars.
But the molds are fixed, so I think they can only vary the foam, and not the seatbases, easily.
I switched to a KH Street on my Coker, and liked it so much that I also put one one my muni. I find that having less foam plus the vinyl cover greatly reduces chafing, which has been my main saddle issue (at least once I ditched the old velo base saddle and figured out that horizontal is the best position for my saddles).
I’ll probably try one of the new Nimbus Flat saddles too, mostly because I like how the Nimbus has a rounded edge where the KH has a seam, which could help reduce chafing even more.
True. The old and newer FFR base have basically the same pronounced curve, just a different fit for the new kh seatpost and t-handle plate. The foam determines the profile. So I guess you could find a way to add some foam to the center of the Naomi to ‘flatten’ it out a bit. Or maybe modify a kh FFR foam to fit, but that would require a LOT of trimming! Maybe with enough demand, a new, thinner version of the KH FFR, that retains the flatter profile, will come out in the near future!
I got the KH Slim saddle to see if it would alleviate some of the chafing I tend to get with the Nimbus Gel saddle and be easier to pull the seat out. I liked the feel of it but I don’t think it fit my body shape well. I played unicycle basketball for a week on it and pinched a nerve or something so that I got terrible, blackout pain. It might have been fine for me if I only did straight riding on it. I replaced it with a KH Freeride saddle (which is what I have on my 36") and that worked out much better. Less chafing, for sure. I have a KH Street saddle on my freestyle unicycle and I like that one, too. My advice is to try as many as you can because everyone’s different.
I like what Gizmo said about squish and foam. He’s right; once you have compressed the extra foam on your bulky, squishy seat, it’s as hard, endearing and kind as a brick.
I bought the Slim last summer (may have been fall) and I love it. There is less chaffing, the seat itself feels firmer and there is less pressure on my perineal region, which was my main complaint from my previous saddle, the Velo Gel (my understanding is that it is, basically, the Nimbus Gel.)
I agree with Ken about thin seats being good. I like the KH Slim. I like the KH Street, and the KH Fusion but for distance the first two are better since my Fusion will squish down to the bumper if I sit right back on it.
In distance riding the seat becomes painful no matter which seat it is. I’ve done the around the mountain Cycle challenge on all manner of seats. Every time it hurts! The way to make the pain less I imagine would be to train before a big event, but I seem to manage to skip that every time and it takes me longer and longer as I become less fit and the seat hurts me more. So the seat becomes better but I get softer so it cancels itself out.
Make the most of what you have- I did around lake Taupo on a cracked one of the old KH brick seats. I made it minus some skin from my chafes. I’m interested to try the new Nimbus flat seat.
Anyone listening to Ken’s seat advice needs to remember that he rides with a Carbon fibre base with only sandpaper for cushioning (just the right amount of squish for him).
So I got the Fusion Street with my new 36 on the advice of multiple people.
I have a Freeride on my KH29. I am starting to regret getting the Street on the 36. I’d say on the KH29 with Freeride , for a 14 mile round-trip commute the discomfort at the end of the day is a 3. On my 36 with the Street Fusion it’s a 5 or 6. I don’t have chaffing issues, it’s more an irritation of the (Perineal nerve)? It’s the area between my “package” and my butt. It kind of goes numb and feels just generally irritated. it happens a bit on a long ride with the KH29 but not as much and not as quickly. It kind of makes me feel like I have to pee, but I don’t. It reminds me of why I stopped unicycling in the first place, 25 years ago–discomfort.
What’s different about the Freeride apart from padding? It seems like it’s shorter in the back or something. I can’t describe it. I got the KH29 with Freeride saddle from Nurse Ben, so I can’t comment on the year/model.
Is there something I am missing about why people use the Fusion Street for distance? I use it on my trials fine, but of course I sit less on it than when I ride my 36…
I ride a Fusion Street and have no problems on <25km rides without dismounts at all. Do you use a handlebar? It requires some playing with the adjustments but finding a good riding positions makes a great difference.
Well, yeah. I know the Freeride is more comfortable. The question is do you think I can try anything else before I give up on the Fusion Street? Positioning? It’s in a neutral position. There must be a reason so many people like this over the Freeride, or maybe it’s just a very personal thing, and I should have gone with the Freeride to begin with.
Check out this thread, also Nurse Ben had some pretty good instructions somewhere. I just finished putting the first one that I’ve done back together and it was pretty simple.
It seems the Freeride is a bit flatter than the street, so I think I will just chalk it up to a loss and get a Freeride and try to sell the street saddle. Bummer.
I’ve tried naomi impact and kh freeride(also have some udc saddles and torker saddles)
I like the naomi impact because it doesn’t rub with friction and cause burning.
I like the kh freeride because it doesn’t make me go numb because of the cutout(and maybe thicker foam?)
Since these are the two saddles I have, my plan is:
cutting a groove down the middle of the naomi impact, and also
cutting the kh freeride to have less foam so it wouldn’t rub so much
I tried searching for tutorials…but couldn’t find any.
Any suggestions b4 I actually slash away at my saddles…?
The Freeride looks flatter than the street because of more foam. The base is the same.
I’ve flattened my freeride and am very happy with it.
Other people prefer seats with less foam. I can understand that this may be more comfortable for heavier riders but with my nearly 60kg i barely push down into the freerides foam.
