Opinions sought on air seats

General
1

Has anyone tired, or currently uses, an air seat?

I’ve managed to make a shaped bladder after a couple of failures and will be fitting it soon. I would like to know, if it feels a bit odd at first, if I should still persevere with it.

Opinions sought

    *was it any good? Did you stick with it? *Did it feel "right" at first or did it need breaking in? *Did you need to get used to it. *Did you lose any control? *Did you have to play around with pressures a lot?

My type of riding is daily distance, so straight line control of the waddling wheel is required. But I also interact with busy pedestrian traffic day-to-day (city malls and paths at knock-off time and so forth). 24" wheel, longer than usual cranks.

2

I currently have an air seat on my Nightrider. Over the past couple of years I have gone back and forth on air saddles, and generally I haven’t liked them much.

The current incarnation is an old KH Fusion saddle with a 20" tube doubled over on itself. It’s not bad for comfort over the short haul (4-6 miles). I haven’t tried anything longer than about 15 miles, and I’m fairly sure there has to be a more comfortable option, but I am trying to make due with what I have for now.

When I first tried the air saddle I had a terrible time controlling the uni, but now it is a non issue. I think my technique is much more fluid now, and the seat doesn’t effect the control the way it used to.

I haven’t played with the pressure at all really, and TBH I don’t know how much difference it would make. Once you are sitting on the thing it loses the squish factor. Once you have the tube/bladder situated right it doesn’t take any breaking in.

I’ve got my eye on the review thread for the Qu-Ax “Air” seat as my next option. It isn’t an air seat in this context, but as for comfort it might just be the thing I’m looking for.

3

i made one a while back. actually turned out perfect, looked good, the tube stayed where it was supposed to stay while riding.

however…

they suck. after not longer 5 minutes my entire crotch area was numb due to pressure being applied to just…everywhere…

the first 5 minutes are fine, the saddle is actually more comfy than any other saddle at the beginning of the ride.

i recommend the fusion street or freeride. most people will recommend the freeride for distance…but i am different and actually prefer the street for distance(which is supposed to be what trials and street riders and whatnot use). but i like the street for trials as well.

the most comfortable saddles are kh fusion and street. the curve of the saddle is a bit reduced, and you can constantly change positions on the saddle…eg sit farther back when your “gooch” is too sore and apply pressure to somewhere else while the gooch recovers. with the air saddle there was no changing positions…if i sat father back pressure will still be applied to the numb/sore areas.

so, i’d say go with the kh fusion or street(you’ll need to try em both). air sux. plus you gotta deal with your seat potentially going flat…i think dealing with the tire going flat is enough.

4

I tried one years ago and have never used it since. It’s nice and soft supports all the wrong areas. Good for about 5min and then you’ll be wishing you had a more solid seat. If they were comfortable over long distances, they would be used on bikes…and no one does.

I much prefer a low profile, slimline seat that just supports what is needed. Best one so far is the Impact Naomi.

5

Bump.

6

for those that ride air ride seats, have you tried a 12 inch tube? I hear that works a lot better than a 20 inch, because you can make it lower profile. . anyway, just a thought : )

as for the qu-ax seat, I can vouch for its comfiness . . . <3

7

The KH air seat is kinda fussy

I agree that the free ride and street seats are great. They are fussless, great seats.

I use my KH air seat on the 24 muni now. It is a crappy seat stock. However, duck taping the tube sock, and then duck taping closed cell foam over that, makes for a good muni seat. The closed cell foam, taped over the air tube sock, keeps the saddle from pressing up in the wrong places.

Although my modded KH air saddle is very nice, it is expensive and a bit fussy. I had to rip it all apart and retape it a while back. It grows misshapen over time.

I would suggest anyone looking for a great saddle to try the KH freeride and street saddles first. The stock KH air saddle can be modded to be cool, even superior, but the freeride and street saddles are much better stock. Don’t get the air saddle unless you plan on taking it apart and doing a bunch of taping and padding. It is very inferior to the freeride, unless you mod it.

8

Thanks for responding juggleaddict and FeelTheLight. I gather then that you are happy to have stuck with the air seat. Can you give me a little more inof?

I only seek more comfort because of the lengthy distances I do. However, I also need control while negotiating Central Business District footpath and mall traffic. So, what sort of riding do you do - distance only? Tricks and tight stuff?

Was it an easy decision, or was is one where it was maybe doubtful but it proved right in the longer term?

Thanks.

9

well, it depends on what you mean by “air seat” like they said, the qu ax isn’t an air seat, even though it’s in the name, I believe it’s foam. maybe it has gel in there somewhere O.o?

what I look for in a good seat is that it is firm, or has very little padding, and it FITS! above all else.

Some of the issues that have arisen from the air seats is that you’ve got a tube that is moving everywhere full of air and it’s rather like sleeping on one side of the pillow too long after some distance on it. too much fluffy padding is actually a bad thing.

The reason I like the qu-ax seat is that it has that firm quality, and it has a relief in the middle like the freeride, but more drastic. I haven’t tried a freeride, but the qu ax seat was cheaper, and I had heard that the freeride cover pinches that gap closed, so it doesn’t help as much as it should. Usually on bike seats this relief doesn’t need to be there unless you’re not sitting on the saddle properly, but it does help. On a unicycle seat, the problem can’t be avoided unless you have a v-frame.

you’ll notice the recent thread about people liking the new addict seat for long distance. That is about as far from an air seat as you can get, but it does the job better apparently.

although, after getting the new qu ax seat, I had second thoughts about ponying up the extra dough for the addict seat, I’m pretty happy with my decision : ) it’s way better than what I had. I think it’s about time for an upgrade on the nimbus gel, idk what you guys think, but I think it’s akin to a park bench in comfort. It’s wide, flat, and (unlike a park bench) kooshy.

these are of course, my personal opinions on the matter :stuck_out_tongue: I don’t mean to offend anybody who loves their nimbus saddle xP