About 5 years ago I bought a KH Velo saddle. It’s now getting badly worn, to the extent that I can feel the frame against my left thigh when I ride.
It’s by far the best saddle I’ve ever used for hockey, so I want to either repair it or replace it with something similar. I know that this particular saddle was discontinued not long after I bought it.
I looked at unicycle.com and there seems to be a bewildering array (well, about 3 or 4) of KH saddles. What’s the difference? What’s likely to be closest to my Velo saddle?
But do I need to replace the saddle? udc also stocks a couple of different seat covers for KH saddles (one for the “Street” saddle, one for the “Freeride” saddle). Would one of them be good enough (although, actually, they don’t seem to be any cheaper than some of the new saddles)? If so, which one?
It sounds like the foam is worn down and not just the cover. I have a Velo and a KH, and the Velo is so thick, it is hard to see the KH cover fitting over it. I would recommend any KH saddle. You would probably like the Freeride the best, since you are used to the Velo.
UDK UK still has some pre-2009 KH saddles in stock for really good prices so you might want to consider those as well. The 2009+ saddles are listed as “upgraded” and you can tell them apart by looking at the photo of the underside. Where the pre-2009 saddles have silver dome nuts, the 2009+ saddles have black hex-cap bolts. If you think you’ll want to use a KH T-bar handle, then stick to the “upgraded” saddles as those only work with the 2009+ bases.
I have a pre-2009 Freeride and Street and a 2010 Street. The 2009+ bases seem wider to me but I prefer the 2009+ foam.
UDC UK still has some pre-2009 KH saddles in stock for really good prices so you might want to consider those as well. The 2009+ saddles are listed as “upgraded” and you can tell them apart by looking at the photo of the underside. Where the pre-2009 saddles have silver dome nuts, the 2009+ saddles have black hex-cap bolts. If you think you’ll want to use a KH T-bar handle, then stick to the “upgraded” saddles as those only work with the 2009+ bases.
I have a pre-2009 Freeride and Street and a 2010 Street. The 2009+ bases seem wider to me but I prefer the 2009+ foam.
Unless I am mistaken your saddle is the same as the Velo saddle that is still available in both Gel and Standard models on ebikestop.com. I have both. The Gel is a little stiffer, but both have quite a bit more foam than the Nimbus Gel and way more than the UDC Club saddle.
My friend has an older KH saddle and it looks identical to the Velo except that the handle on the KH seems like an older design because it does not have the ridges in the grip (if that makes sense) so it is not as nice - it kind of cuts into your hand and does not have much material to hold onto. But the dimensions and padding of the saddle look identical, and even the color swath on the back part of the saddle is cut along the exact same line.
On UDC UK at the moment they’re selling off all the old KH saddles with the velo bases at £15, so get one of the fusion freeride saddles at that price and it should be fairly similar!
The more expensive “upgraded freeride” or “upgraded street” saddles have a newer kh/nimbus only base, but since you like the velo base you should get one of the cheaper ones
Thanks for the replies everyone. I think that’s probably what I’ll do (even though they’ve sold out of red). I’ll wait until I’ve had a chance to try out other people’s saddles at hockey on Wednesday, though, just in case I find something else I like.
I have both the Freeride and Street saddles (both pre 09), the Street one I bought in the Christmas sale on UDC UK. I shouldn’t have bothered with the Street, it’s too hard and as a small person I sort of ‘swim’ about in it. The Freeride however does need a little modification of the foam to make it perfect but it is the most comfortable of the two saddles by far.
Kinda weird, but i prefer the nimbus gel saddle over any other saddle i have used. i probably like the new version slightly more.
Never could get used to the fusion freeride, both versions had really uncomfortable pressure points for me. Has a groove in the middle that may or may not help you, unigeezers mod worked well for me
Velo was waay too thick, tends to smash my balls due to the hard curve in the padding and i think the nimbus gel felt just as plush. Cut it down to the profile of my FF, just a little lower. i liked the foam better than whatever was used in the FF.
I was building a lightweight muni and decided to give the KH street saddle a try. With conditioning I got used to it , the shape wasn"t bad, but I realized I preferred a little more foam.
Thick nimbus i had was pretty much like the velo.
I tried a Street and a Fusion, I wasn’t too keen on either of them. The foam in the Fusion didn’t seem to mould itself to the shape of my buttocks as well as the foam in my old Velo and I didn’t like the feel of the cover material. It’s hard to put my finger on why the covering material felt wrong through my shorts, but I think it’s because it’s slightly less grippy.
I also noticed that the Fusion has seams joining the top of the cover to the sides, which the Velo didn’t have. That’s a problem because I plan to do the World Naked Bike Ride on my Ringmaster again this year, and I reckon those seams would chafe.
Then I tried a Nimbus gel saddle, which was by far the most comfortable saddle that I tried. I’m not sure about the low profile, though. On a unicycle the sides of the saddle are control surfaces and the high sides on the Velo gave me very good control.
So, after having another look at the saddles on udc UK, I think I’ll probably take a punt on the Nimbus Hi-Top.
