Saddle for long rides for women

Unicycles and Equipment
#1

Hey everyone!

I bought a second hand 36 unicycle which I really love and enjoy!
It’s basically a Nimbus Trainer with an old Nimbus Oregon frame.

The only thing I’m not comfortable with is the saddle.

So I’m looking for a new one and tried the QX Eleven, the Kris Holm Fusion Freeride and the QU-AX Luxus and I’m not satisfied (even tough I like these saddles on other unicycles).

I like to take long rides with the 36 during which I normally wear padded bikeshorts but I still have pain after some time. And I plan to make a 230 km tour in spring so I want ‘the perfect’ saddle.

I tend to like soft saddles and I hope that I get some good personal rcommondations :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance!

Greetings, Ziski

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#3

Those saddles are all similar shape. Have you tried one of the flatter shaped saddles like the KH Fusion One or the Mad4One HandleSaddle? I’ve seen several threads on here from distance riders who like this style because it feels more like a bike seat.

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#4

KH Fusion One is pretty great but I’m not sure whether it’s the perfect choice for such a long ride. Even with some training it’s hard to stay in saddle after a few hours. A guy of the French forum told us it was perfect with an Nimbus Air saddle cover. You might give it a try.

I strongly recommend to not use the KH Fusion Zero as some women friends of mine have had bad time with it.
The HandleSaddle isn’t what I would recommend for long distance, neither. I don’t have much experience with it but the few feedbacks I have had on this is that we tend to slip to the front of the saddle. It could be great for muni or cross where you’re not always sat on your saddle but not for road.

Finding the right saddle is pretty hard as people like - and tolerate - different forms of saddles. The only way to know if a saddle suits you is to try it. :frowning:

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#5

Do I understand it right that those saddles feel less nice on the 36" than they do on your other unis?
In chase that’s true, maybe your seat is too high, or the seat angle is different.

In chase the QX eleven rubs, you can cut the yellow stiches and pull them out, saddle will still hold. A t-bar is also very nice to have for longer distances.
I personally love the QX eleven with KH-t-bar. Did a 100 km road ride this summer without padded shorts and stayed compftable throughout the entire ride.
I am also as fan of the old Nimbus Gel saddles with KH base, liked by a lot women. But unfortunately they are hard to get nowadays.

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#6

Thanks for your replies!

@aarons @Maxence

I tried just the saddles which I own or which were available to me by borrowing from friends.
I tought about trying a very flat one but I don’t know somebody who owns one.

The Mad4One HandleSaddles seem very strange to me in general and I didn’t even think about them as an option.

I tought about the KH Fusion Zero and One - thanks for you opionion about them!

And I also tought about the Nimbus Air cover and even more about the Air saddle. It seems to be a little bit flatter but I found NO recommondation at all about it.
(I also read this


)

@Becky98

Yes, I have the KH Fusion Freeride on my 26" Muni and the QU-AX Luxus on my Freestyle and I love them on these unicycles. (The QX Eleven was borrowed - never used it before.)
But when riding the 36" I’m just sitting a lot more than in mountaincycling or freestyle.

I tought this is why I don’t like them on the 36" but I don’t know if it’s just the saddle or if there is something else which makes it hard for me. I tried every saddle in different positions (seat angle) and also a little bit different heights.

And about t-bar… I’m curious about one, but I started just this autumn with the 36" and I get off to the front still more than I like to and so I’ll gonna wait till I get one, cause I think it would be in my way sometimes.

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#7

Sitting more is definitely a big factor. I always feel it very badly while unipacking, terrain is no problem but as soon as I ride on a road it’s just painful with the heavy backpack on.
But on the other hand it is also a matter of building up the muscles for longer time sitting.
And for getting some weight off the saddle and make them more compftable for longer rides t-bars are the way to go. You can also change a bit the pressure point around with them. They also stabilize the wheel.

To the seat height: When my saddle is too you don’t have so much weight on your feet anymore and I find even my normally compftable saddle not compftable anymore. But when the saddle is to low riding is not so fun and it goes on your knees.

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#8

I agree with you. It’s even more painful with a Fusion One saddle. Try not to have a big backpack when using a Fusion One saddle. Put everything you can in racks and keep only lite things in your backpack.

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#9

Hi ziski,

With the quax eleven did you give it one ride?

I have two elevens on two of my unicycles and both times I’ve found the first few rides they are awful and feel like sitting on a house brick but after a few rides they are fantastic.

Its as if from new they need to break in so maybe give it time if only ridden briefly.

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#10

Although expensive, if you know someone in your neighborhood who could make custom saddle (think of a company which makes horse saddles for example) then you could consider the base of the Handlesaddle to build your own saddle on:

https://unaruota.com/ZC/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_19&products_id=1091&zenid=7ek6carl8ev4oc7ls9gqqcuju2

I don’t have any personal experience with it yet, but I do have an open order for my own Handlesaddle, as it seems well thought out.
It would take some work, but you could make it exactly as you want it…

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#11

@Becky98
thanks for all the tips! :slight_smile:

I don’t have a lot of space between saddle and wheel cause I’m not very tall so I can’t pack like f.e. Becky did. So I plan to take just the minimum of luggage and to stay the nights in hotels (if the corona-situation allows it then).

Yes, I don’t own it and borrowed it just for one test ride.

@mark.vogels
Didn’t think about this! Thanks for the idea!

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#12

@Ziski
Have you found the perfect saddle yet? I’ve found this thread looking for a comfortable women’s seat and am wondering if there is a conclusion.

I recently got a URC 27.5 with the mad4one “soft” saddle and find it a pain in the crotch (not butt). Am thinking of slicing the padding with a knife an re-pad it as needed.

(The unicycle itself is great, just the saddle is awful. I thought maybe it’s made for men not women.)

#13

I like KH Fusion freeride, give that a go :slight_smile:

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#14

I think this is a good idea. If you are thinking of buying a new saddle anyway, might as well experiment on the one you don’t like. I got some improvement using a bread knife to cut off large sections of padding to make my Freeride less curved.

#15

I can’t help but think that more discussion about bars should be in this thread.

Most saddles are significantly more comfortable to me when I have some bars to enable firstly a bit of redistribution of weight, but also a way of pushing myself back into/onto the saddle more.

I’m not a woman, but for long rides, bars are pretty much a must have in my eyes, even if they’re used quite close to the saddle. I can happily ride almost every saddle I own if I’m using bars, but some of them are absolutely horrible without.

Everyone’s arse is a different shape - something the bike industry has known for a very long time (and you can buy many saddles of different widths to help accommodate this) but we’re only just at the point now with unicycling where the wildly differing needs of unicyclists and their saddles is being more discussed and understood.

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#16

Ok, maybe this is the most important point.
Is it hard to learn to ride with handlebars? I’ve just started to be able to use the brake on an decline without totally loosing balance. So I’ve hesitated to get handlebars that only might be in the way instead of being of any help…

#17

Can you ride with one (or ideally both on smooth ground) hands on the seat handle?

That’s the bit that takes the learning - getting used to not using both hands for balance and balancing more with your hips when small adjustments are required.

Moving to bars from that isn’t much of a step - you can always have them quite close to the saddle to start out with and slowly move them to where is best over time.

#18

@mowcius thanks. I cannot always ride with a hand on the saddle. Especially on non-smooth ground it’s hard. Have to work on that I guess.
Any recommendations which handlebars are the best?

#19

That’s a hard one to answer as it’s quite a personal choice.

Because of that I’d generally say whatever is most adjustable/configurable - which is probably the KH T-bar with the bent front bar, but there are people who like all of the options.

The Qu-Ax bar gives you lots of hand positions - some people like to move their hands around quite a bit when riding.

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#20

I do personally use the KH bar (with an additional bar end to mount my brake lever on) so opinions on other bars are probably best sought from others!

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#21

You’ll improve your ability to balance with handlebars, as it will force you to learn!

They may get in your way in freemounting if you angle them high.

I have both the KH TBar and Nimbus handlebar.

Nimbus seems easier to attach (you don’t need to be a genius) and more study to me.

The KH is very adjustable but I had a UPD and that bent the pieces where the angle adjustment is very distinctly. Unfortunately I managed to do that on my second UPD with the handle attached. I did get it bent back into shape but I think it’s still a bit out of shape. You should also reinforce the seat using a reinforcement plate if using this handle.

Both of these handlebars may seem intimidating at first, but you’ll get used to them. If you always dismount off the front, I suggest you work on dismounting off the back.

Qu-ax handlebar, I haven’t used, but I’m sure it is fine and has its plus points. (I can’t buy it from my local Unicycle.com store, and I’m not sure it’s available for purchase in Australia which is where I am located.)

I’ve also got a short M41 saddle handle seat. The seat is different, it takes getting used to, but once you wear it in and get used to it, I got to like it. :slight_smile: It does feel wider between the legs though. The seat is very short and I’m not entirely sure a beginner will love it. The handle on that feels very solid and reliable though. I think it would be very difficult to break or bend.

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