Gel Bicycle Seat Cover - Any Good ???

I need better seat cushioning for comfort on long bike rides.
Does anyone have any experience or recommendation with the Gel Seat
covers ?
Any other ideas for a seat with less discomfort on long rides ?

I have front shock forks and seat post now- but need improvement for
saddle comfort.

Thanks

wrote in message
...
I need better seat cushioning for comfort on long bike rides.
Does anyone have any experience or recommendation with the Gel Seat
covers ?
Any other ideas for a seat with less discomfort on long rides ?

I have front shock forks and seat post now- but need improvement for
saddle comfort.

Depends on the type of bike you ride and the type of discomfort you are
having with your current saddle. In general, a gel pad would be less
comfortable for long rides. The most comfortable saddle will be one that
supports your weight on your sit bones and minimizes pressure on other
areas.

wrote:
I need better seat cushioning for comfort on long bike rides.
Does anyone have any experience or recommendation with the Gel Seat
covers ?
Any other ideas for a seat with less discomfort on long rides ?

I have front shock forks and seat post now- but need improvement for
saddle comfort.

A seat cushion is usually a bad idea for long rides. Discomfort tends to
decrease as you ride more. Proper bike fit and setup will help, as will
finding a saddle that matches your anatomy. It's also a good idea to wear
padded cycling shorts (without underwear). See:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html

Art Harris

This is so true. Unfortunately, many people do not want to through the
process of getting familiar with their bicycle. They believe it should be as
comfortable as a sofa. It is more important to let your body adapt to the
correct geometries. This may be uncomfortable in the short term but most
beneficial in the long haul. It is sad that many people refuse to accept
this fact. It takes time to learn the posture, develop the muscles and get
acclimated to the road posture. Yes, your hands may hurt at first, you bet
your posterior will be sore but after awhile this discomforts will fade.

The use of chamois shorts and good gloves will make everything more cushy in
the long run. However you cannot alleviate the fact that it is going to take
some saddle time with a bit of soreness. Better to learn and get it right
than hurt your back and burn up your hips because the road posture does not
"feel" normal.


"Arthur Harris" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I need better seat cushioning for comfort on long bike rides.
Does anyone have any experience or recommendation with the Gel Seat
covers ?
Any other ideas for a seat with less discomfort on long rides ?

I have front shock forks and seat post now- but need improvement for
saddle comfort.

A seat cushion is usually a bad idea for long rides. Discomfort tends to
decrease as you ride more. Proper bike fit and setup will help, as will
finding a saddle that matches your anatomy. It's also a good idea to wear
padded cycling shorts (without underwear). See:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html

Art Harris

Amen, hear hear.

Gel saddles ARE worse in the long run. It may get your butt on a bike
(which is oh so good for the sport), but it basically evens out the
pressure all over your bum. This squeezes gel into the places it
shouldn't go. On males this is the perineum, or "taint". You don't want
any pressure on your taint.

Taint your wagon.

wrote in message
...
I need better seat cushioning for comfort on long bike rides.
Does anyone have any experience or recommendation with the Gel Seat
covers ?
Any other ideas for a seat with less discomfort on long rides ?

I have front shock forks and seat post now- but need improvement for
saddle comfort.

Thanks


Larse,

I just got back into cycling after a 10+ year hiatus.

Like you, I was looking to make my tush comfortable so it wouldn't be the
"limiting factor" for long rides.

I didn't understand why reputable stores didn't stock "couch-like" seats.

I credit the folks here with setting me straight. Special thanks for Sheldon
Brown and Jobst Brandt for taking the time to write definitive articles on
the subject, linked below.

And as mentioned in another reply you have, Sheldon goes into some detail in
his article:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html

Jobst Brandt, another regular, has an article hosted by Sheldon that
convinced me:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/soft-saddles.html

Taken from Jobst's article:

"If you sit on a larger area, for instance on a soft cushion, ***you will be
sitting on the muscles that propel the bicycle.*** (emphasis added by me)

Although this may be comfortable sitting still, pedaling, it causes a
"charley horse" in these muscles for lack of adequate blood circulation. You
will want to avoid such soft saddles if you plan to ride more than a few
hundred yards because riding will become painful."

(quoted with due credit and respect to Mr.Brandt)

As mentioned in Sheldon's article, you've basically got two choices: plastic
saddles (foam, plastic, 'gel,' lycra or leather covered etc) and *tensioned
leather* (eg: Brooks leather saddles).

I've found a couple of plastic saddles quite comfortable and low maintenance
(Specialized Body Geometry & a narrow, "Velo" brand) but have recently
(200km ago switched to a Brooks, tensioned leather. I won't be going back
to plastic.

Good luck & I hope this helps.
Chris

I bought one of those visco-elastic polymer ones and found it kind of
weird-feeling, squishy, like you weren't attached solidly to the bike. And
it wore out in about 250 miles.

Believe it or not, I went with advice to get a Brooks saddle and put the
miles in breaking it -- and my butt -- in, and haven't regretted that.

For indoor winter riding I use a stationary bike and transfer the Brooks
saddle to that. The Brooks has taken the shape of my ischial tuberosities
("sit bones") and I'm quite uncomfortable now on any other saddle.

I thought the gel-pad was a waste of my money. YMMV.


wrote in message
...
I need better seat cushioning for comfort on long bike rides.
Does anyone have any experience or recommendation with the Gel Seat
covers ?
Any other ideas for a seat with less discomfort on long rides ?

I have front shock forks and seat post now- but need improvement for
saddle comfort.

Thanks

On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:26:25 +0000, Larse77 wrote:

Any other ideas for a seat with less discomfort on long rides ?

I have front shock forks and seat post now- but need improvement for
saddle comfort.

Saddle comfort is _not_ intuitive. You would think that a softer saddle,
with more padding, would be more comfortable than a hard one. Really,
though, that is not the case. Soft saddles squish their foam stuff up
between your sit bones, and compress soft tissues which do not like to be
squished.

Another factor is riding position. Many new riders put far too much
weight on their butts, by taking an upright riding position. 20% of your
weight should be supported by your hands. The rest is divided between
your butt and your legs. If you sit upright, all that weight that should
be on your hands goes to your butt.

The next thing to try will be to alternate positions. The advantage of
drop bars is that you can use a number of hand positions. Also, you
should get up out of the saddle every so often to relieve your posterior.

My experience is that soft saddles, gel shorts, and the like make things
seem better in the short run, but make them worse in the long run.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Become MicroSoft-free forever. Ask me how.
_`\(,_ |
(_)/ (_) |

On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:24:44 -0400, C.J.Patten wrote:

I've found a couple of plastic saddles quite comfortable and low
maintenance (Specialized Body Geometry & a narrow, "Velo" brand) but have
recently (200km ago switched to a Brooks, tensioned leather. I won't be
going back to plastic.

I've done the opposite--switched back to a plastic saddle. :P

A firm brooks and a properly made plastic saddle work in pretty much the
same way, by a shell suspended by the rails flexing, as opposed to a
squishy saddle relying on the cushioning on top of the shell.

I still think Brooks are great, but I've rekindled a love for firm 80s
plastic saddles with thin firm padding and good quality leather coverings.
Lighter, less hassle, and more reliable--you don't have to worry about
leather sag. Leather saddles sure are better looking though...

Thing is, if you're using a firm saddle to support only your "sit bones"
as opposed to sitting "in" on of those squishy barcaloungers--seat
position/angle and such are much more important to get right.

If you have an REI close by, they usually have a nifty saddle section
where you can mount their offerings on a "dummy bike" bolted to the floor
and give them a try.

Everyone is endowed with a different sitting apparatus, so you have
to find your own way regarding bike seats. Generally, add-on gel pads
are ineffective and hard to keep in place. There are large,
heavily-padded seats that may work for a few people, but not for many
who ride long distances.

I solved my severe problems with pain and saddle sores, by getting
a heavy-duty Specialized touring seat, that uses a web of springs to
provide much of its cushion. It also has a padded layer over the
springs. It has some give to it, but it's more firm than a gel seat.
After 1 year with it and about 12,000 miles, my pain is just a memory.
It's medium-wide and wouldn't please everyone, but it has worked very
well for me. It cost $26. and is still in solid shape. Most seats I
tried previously, that had this type of wide, spring-based cushion,
developed holes in the seat cover or their supports snapped, before this
much use.

Steve McDonald