I have ridden 20 miles in jeans on a Stadium saddle a few times, much better than a stock Club in my opinion and just a little better than a modified Club. I don’t get too caught up in clothing, jeans when it’s cold and cargo shorts when it’s hot. The only other pants I own are snow pants and a bathing suit, haven’t ridden in snow pants yet but the bathing suit was rather uncomfortable for the five minutes of riding I did with it (probably shouldn’t have ridden off the end of a picnic table).
I modded and tested at least 10 saddles (I have at least 3 saddlea right now that should be covered again!). The hollow cut is a must have/ must mod, it’s a fact for a male rider. The sitting bones space is also a great idea, but it require a specific space for a specific person, but it is on the right way. Gel and air saddle seems good for comfort, but I don’t really know about long rides (I cutted a bike gel saddle to get a unicycle shape, but cutting it was not such a clever idea in that specific gel cushion)
1 Like
I’m beyond pleased to read your post.
Up until today, I felt like an enigma. I’ve seen recent pictures or people riding Uni’s in jeans. Which suggested to me it’s not as critical as some make it out to be.
Perhaps for very long distance riding it is? Or certain people?
Hopefully ,I’ll be able to do the same in the long run. I got tore up after not riding for about 37 years. Which was probably unavoidably in silk shorts hand made by the most skilled seamstress’s the world has ever known.
By all rights, my body should toughen over time.
I don’t intend on jumping off anything like boulders, riding down stairs, etc.
I just wanted a Uni that can handle trails better than my Schwinn.
If the Stadium seat gets softer over a few months that’s great. I’m not going to torture myself for that long until it’s " Broke In "
Plus. The Club line of seats have 1.8" of foam. The Stadium seats have 2.0" and the KH Freeride and Street has 2.5"
I don’t know how deep the center cutout is on the Stadium saddle is? With regards to overall width in the center, there is at least 25% less foam " In width " due to the removed material. 2" of foam minus 25% = 1.5" of foam when crushed down. Possibly making the cheapest line of seat thicker at 1.8.
In the end it is not likely about the thickness of foam but rather the shape that makes the difference. Air saddles put a uniform pressure on all points of contact just as if a saddle had very thick padding. However if you search this forum about 15 years ago when air saddles were the in thing, most riders gave up on air saddles because of the uniform pressure on sit bones and sensitive areas. Also if you look at bike saddles that have much more design and development then uni saddles, they tend toward harder (less padded) saddles that are shaped exactly the match the rider.
With uni saddles it comes down to trial and error, what ever fits.
And personal preference, there is no One Size Fits All, especially in unicycling.
1 Like
How often does the air saddle deflate due to wearing out? I had another air saddle and it would periodically deflate every few months, and when that happened, the ride was done as repairing it on the trail was not an option for my particular saddle.
The nimbus is a sealed unit and the badders will not deflate unless it is punctured. My original cover is I believe 2 but maybe 3 years old and has lost no air at this point.
On the riding in jeans thing, I’ve done >60 miles in jeans on a Fusion One without any real issues.
It’s always fascinating to me how different everyone’s requirements can be for saddles.
Interesting that some people can have severe chafing from unicycling while others don’t. I’ve never had a problem with chafing but saddle soreness (in varying degrees) will always be an issue since there is no such thing as a perfect unicycle saddle. But it’s also true that the more time one spends riding, the more they get used to it.
3 Likes
I’m actually kicking myself for not ordering a Nimbus Classic which is a Club Original for $40 while I was at it. Shipping would have been the same price and I would have had 2 more seats to experiment with. The Club/Classic is shaped closest to the Schwinn design.
I went with KH Freeride because it overwhelmingly gets kudos for being the most comfortable/softest seat.
I’m not so sure I like flat saddles at all? If necessary, The Club is next on my list.
Another encouraging report.
I don’t think the Nimbus classic was that well liked so I wouldn’t kick myself over it.
This reply is to Jim T & Gockie specifically ,but anyone else as well. Jim, you shared an image via a link earlier in this post. I used it in this post. I hope you don’t mind, I will remove it if you want me to.
You " Jim " refer to using a Club trainer saddle and riding up to 100 miles a day. I’m pretty sure what you are using is called a Nimbus Classic today.
In the picture below, is that the same seat?
Through the magic of Photoshop I superimposed a current side view image of today’s Nimbus Classic and Club saddles taken from the website over the top of your saddle.
Without distorting the aspect ratio I scaled the seats accordingly and rotated/flipped them as closely as possible to the outline of yours. Then, I added a red outline and removed the seat. So you can see the seat below.
Gockie, the classic is shaped very much like my old Uni seat. If it’s the one Jim can ride for 100 miles it can’t be all bad. It’s a what works best for you situation, that’s for sure. All of the inexpensive seats are described as soft seats, soft spells comfort in my mind. Plus, I had good control my old uni with the banana seat design. I don’t recall the need to grab it while riding much. For short rides in the local woods, it might be ideal? I hit me that it will cost me nearly 50% extra to order one separately, due to shipping costs. So ,that’s my buyers or lack there of regret.
Be patient and give it a few rides. I have the Fusion Zero on my 24" and Fusion One on my 36er and love them. I wouldn’t rush back to a banana saddle.
I ride the M4O Handle Saddle and 2* KH Fusion One on the three Unicycles that I use frequently. It takes some time to adjust as you loose some control. I don’t like riding them hands free. In my opinion the KH Fusion One needs an added handle bar of some sort for proper feel/control of the uni (and that obviously also makes it a fairly expensive setup).
Yes, what I called a Club/Trainer saddle is my long distance saddle. With no name ID on the saddle and different names for maybe the same saddle over time it is hard to exactly ID a saddle. The names seem to change over time. UDC used to sell a saddle they called a Trainer saddle but do not show that now and the Club now seems flatter then what they called a Club in the past.
I have tied a flat saddle and the Stadium and don’t care for the shape of the back part. However I’d be just fine with the front 1/3 of my pictured distance saddle cut off. With the high nose adjustment I never put any weight on the front anyway.
When I added a layer of foam to my Club saddle I couldn’t find one long enough and was missing a few inches off the front, but it didn’t matter at all and I never got around to finding a bigger piece since it didn’t affect anything.
Talk to UDC, I don’t like Club or trainer saddles much and when I talked to UDC Australia, I was told people don’t generally really like the Nimbus classic. It looks so similar but the KH fusion saddles are so much better.
As to KH zero and one.
I had a one for a while but to use it I would have had to cut the specific seatpost that came with it so I really didn’t use it.
Thanks
So, I’ve been using the KH Freeride saddle. For me, its a great saddle.
I’ve been keeping my ride times short and letting my body break back in. No saddle sores yet. {:>)
Just before the Freeride arrived I got on Uni. The Stadium seat was still painful to sit on. I didn’t ride.
I literally feared riding on the KH saddle, it felt like a make or break moment. It didn’t let me down or disappoint.