I got one of these at the Durham convention, and rode it throughout the day… more riding than I’ve ever done in a single day!
The first thing you notice is just how squishy the thing is. Whereas a Miyata or a Viscount is padded quite firmly, the Velo has more depth and so can afford to be softer, which is an absolute godsend for riding for extended periods… I don’t think I could have ridden that much without extreme saddle soreness with my old miyata.
The handle seems solid; it flexes less than the miyata one did (although this was a new miyata seat; I can’t compare it with the older, stiffer handles). It has loads of space in it, so there’s loads of room for your fingers. This does however put the load further forwards when pulling on it; whether this may contribute to it failing remains to be seen.
It doesn’t have the obvious weak points like the miyata did; the handle extends further back and seems to be made of a more rigid plastic, so should be okay.
Of course it wasn’t all roses. Something that did trouble me towards the end of the day was the front of the saddle rubbing on my legs a lot. The front is wider than the miyata was, and the material is rougher, so at the end of the day my legs had sore patches from rubbing all day. Better shorts should help this problem, or just simply getting used to it.
It’s also not as deep on the underneath as the miyata is, so it’s a bit trickier to hold it for seat-in-front stuff; the miyata may have tried to slice your hand off, but at least there was something to grip. The Velo has a smaller rim, and more lumps’n’bumps on the base to get in the way.
But of course, one of the great things about having one of these seats so early is that no-one else has one yet!. Me? Smug? Never…
Phil, just me
