Split Saddles Comparison

"(Pete Cresswell)" wrote in message
...
RE/
Does anyone have experience with more than one of these for comparison?
One
interesting difference is that BiSaddle is a cast elastomer gel and the
Mark-4 is Neoprene, the Hobson is more of a standard Gel seat.

Why the interest?

Some years ago, a local cycling guru observed to me that in the heyday of
cycling, just about everything you can imagine has been tried - and manty
things
that seem new and innovative today were tried fifty years ago, didn't
work, and
were abandoned.

I've been through three split saddles. Still got two of 'em hanging on my
garage wall. The only one that was even remotely ridable from a bike
control
perspective was something called "Spongy Wonder".

However even that one is unusable. My butt bleeds for days if I do a
couple
hours on it. My theory is that with no support under ones bunghole, it's
getting pushed downwards by one's innards with nothing to balance out the
force
- just a theory...but it sure does mess it up...

From personal experience and reading other threads, I conclude that the
main
reason people (myself included) are drawn to split saddles is that they're
missing one or more bits of information about proper use/fit of
conventional
saddles.

-----------------------
PeteCresswell

So you know what's right for everyone? You must know more about that part
of other people's anatomy than you should. This sounds just like the
classic, "we tried it before and it didn't work" which is so often just a
lazy or uninformed excuse.

I didn't bother trying a split saddle for a long time because I was happy
with my Selle Italia Flite's for years. But after ten years of 10,000 to
13,000 miles per year, combined with a move to an area with lots of tar and
gravel roads, I decided I should check out some new saddle technology. It
took some experimenting to find something I liked better than the old Flite
.... but I did. It's a Koobi PRS saddle. It's a high-mileage rider's dream
come true. It actually comes out of the Selle Italia factory. It's not too
wide like most split saddles (leading to chaffing of the inner thighs), and
it has an elastomer system build into the rails. It really works to take
the edge off of harsh roads and bumps. It's unquestionably the most
comfortable saddle I've ever ridden ... and I've had my butt in the saddle
for many, many hours over many, many years. Check it out at www.koobi.com.

Bob C.

Man.. something doesn't sound healthy if your butt bleeds for a few hours
being on a split saddle. I'm not disagreeing with your comments about split
saddles, I just think that if made more people's butts bleed, then it would
be more documented.

Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com




"(Pete Cresswell)" wrote in message
...
RE/
Does anyone have experience with more than one of these for comparison?
One
interesting difference is that BiSaddle is a cast elastomer gel and the
Mark-4 is Neoprene, the Hobson is more of a standard Gel seat.

Why the interest?

Some years ago, a local cycling guru observed to me that in the heyday of
cycling, just about everything you can imagine has been tried - and manty
things
that seem new and innovative today were tried fifty years ago, didn't
work, and
were abandoned.

I've been through three split saddles. Still got two of 'em hanging on my
garage wall. The only one that was even remotely ridable from a bike
control
perspective was something called "Spongy Wonder".

However even that one is unusable. My butt bleeds for days if I do a
couple
hours on it. My theory is that with no support under ones bunghole, it's
getting pushed downwards by one's innards with nothing to balance out the
force
- just a theory...but it sure does mess it up...

From personal experience and reading other threads, I conclude that the
main
reason people (myself included) are drawn to split saddles is that they're
missing one or more bits of information about proper use/fit of
conventional
saddles.




-----------------------
PeteCresswell

Bob C.

I have to agree with you. Even the companies making split seats are
redesigning them and according to the user reviews, they keep getting
better. So whatever was done 50 years ago, is so out of date, old
technology that it is not even a comparison of what is available today.

Interesting that you use a saddle from Selle Italia. Apparently they make
the Hobson seat.

I think also that some of the medical studies that can be found at the
"Split Saddle" websites, are due to the fact that there are many cycle cops
now, especially in California. These are young guys who spend many hours in
the Saddle and I'm sure are not looking to have sexual disfunction or
prostate problems. The studies all show that pressure on the "Soft Tissue"
causes all sorts of problems. I'm sure also, that if I'm in the saddle for
my employer, he doesn't want his employees to have chronic illnesses that
can be traced back to the equipment that the employer provides. Just my
$.02

Ed


"psycholist" wrote in message
...

"(Pete Cresswell)" wrote in message
...
RE/
Does anyone have experience with more than one of these for comparison?
One
interesting difference is that BiSaddle is a cast elastomer gel and the
Mark-4 is Neoprene, the Hobson is more of a standard Gel seat.

Why the interest?

Some years ago, a local cycling guru observed to me that in the heyday
of
cycling, just about everything you can imagine has been tried - and
manty
things
that seem new and innovative today were tried fifty years ago, didn't
work, and
were abandoned.

I've been through three split saddles. Still got two of 'em hanging on
my
garage wall. The only one that was even remotely ridable from a bike
control
perspective was something called "Spongy Wonder".

However even that one is unusable. My butt bleeds for days if I do a
couple
hours on it. My theory is that with no support under ones bunghole,
it's
getting pushed downwards by one's innards with nothing to balance out
the
force
- just a theory...but it sure does mess it up...

From personal experience and reading other threads, I conclude that the
main
reason people (myself included) are drawn to split saddles is that
they're
missing one or more bits of information about proper use/fit of
conventional
saddles.

-----------------------
PeteCresswell

So you know what's right for everyone? You must know more about that part
of other people's anatomy than you should. This sounds just like the
classic, "we tried it before and it didn't work" which is so often just a
lazy or uninformed excuse.

I didn't bother trying a split saddle for a long time because I was happy
with my Selle Italia Flite's for years. But after ten years of 10,000 to
13,000 miles per year, combined with a move to an area with lots of tar
and
gravel roads, I decided I should check out some new saddle technology. It
took some experimenting to find something I liked better than the old
Flite
... but I did. It's a Koobi PRS saddle. It's a high-mileage rider's
dream
come true. It actually comes out of the Selle Italia factory. It's not
too
wide like most split saddles (leading to chaffing of the inner thighs),
and
it has an elastomer system build into the rails. It really works to take
the edge off of harsh roads and bumps. It's unquestionably the most
comfortable saddle I've ever ridden ... and I've had my butt in the saddle
for many, many hours over many, many years. Check it out at
www.koobi.com.

Bob C.

RE/
So you know what's right for everyone? You must know more about that part
of other people's anatomy than you should. This sounds just like the
classic, "we tried it before and it didn't work" which is so often just a
lazy or uninformed excuse.

I didn't say any of that and I'll stand behind every word of what I *did* say.

Nobody's claiming to present the Revealed Truth here - but the more points of
view somebody can flush out, the more information that person has to base a
decision on.

It's a Koobi PRS saddle. It's a high-mileage rider's dream
come true. It actually comes out of the Selle Italia factory.
Check it out at www.koobi.com.

Maybe there's a terminology diff here. That Koobi doesn't even remotely
resemble the original poster's third sample of a "split saddle".

Look at http://www.bycycleinc.com/pages/mounting.html to see one of the saddles
the original poster was referring to.

Look at http://www.spongywonder.com/ to see one of the ones that I tried.

One thing that those two have in common is no saddle horn - which, for me,
raises severe bicycle control issues. Koobi has a saddle horn, for starters...

Actually Koobi looks like a pretty good idea: a semi-sprung saddle in the
tradition of Brooks' B-72 - Which I couldn't ride a rigid bike without until I
discovered suspended seatposts.
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

RE/
Man.. something doesn't sound healthy if your butt bleeds for a few hours
being on a split saddle. I'm not disagreeing with your comments about split
saddles, I just think that if made more people's butts bleed, then it would
be more documented.

Probably true - and not a few hours: a few *days*.....but one could also look at
my tender tuchas as the oldtime coal miners looked at the canary...
-----------------------
PeteCresswell