Seat

[bigal]

Hi guys! I want to change the original seat because I suffer after an hour of driving. Can you tell me a brand, a model if you made a change

thx

[jdavis]

I had a local upholsterer mould the foam in mine to suit my ass.

[wordsmith]

2 hours ago, bigal said:

Hi guys! I want to change the original seat because I suffer after an hour of driving. Can you tell me a brand, a model if you made a change

thx

An hour of rapidly-increasing discomfort seems to be about normal for the seat on this bike, bigal, although you don't state which bike you're on - Gen 1 or later Tracer or GT.   It's an extremely difficult thing to resolve, for in this debate one man's seat is another man's poison.   

You can - as I and many others have done - spend a lot of money chasing the elusive level of comfort that you seek, for there are so many options out there, and someone else's solution may not be yours.   When it comes to butt size, shape, structure, body weight, etc., we are all different!   Some folks have achieved improved levels of comfort at little cost by simply donning a pair of padded cycling shorts under their riding pants - I found some relief by so doing, but it's not the perfect answer.

I tried an Air-Hawk (blow-up seat pad), which some/ many swear by: didn't work at all for me, the saving grace being that the vendors at the time offered a money-back guarantee.   Others have found relief by fitting a sheepskin pad or cover to the seat.   

Next port-of-call for me was a Seat Concepts sport/ touring comfort seat kit (new foam and seat covers, far nicer visually than the OE seat).   That offered only a marginal improvement.   

From there I proceeded to add a Luimoto Gold Gel seat insert, a DIY job that frankly seemed to make no difference to overall comfort.

My final solution, taking a cue from a recommendation posted here long ago, was to purchase a complete two-part replacement seat from Bagster (France), at the considerable cost of around AUD$540 landed here in Australia.   That was a brilliant success - for me - but might not be for you or others, although with added value being the heavily-customiseable luxury 'look' of the finished job.   But I found the comfort level so good that I later bought an identical second Bagster seat for my next bike (see pic below).

Living where I do in Australia, I don't have the luxury of custom seat-builders such as Corbin, Sargent, and others  being on my doorstep and readily available as they are to our USA and Canada mates.   But both here in Oz and elsewhere I do believe that there are many smaller local small-scale seat-makers and modifiers to be found.

I'm about to take delivery of a new leftover 2015 MT-09 Tracer, and will being ordering my third Bagster seat as soon as possible, for I know that like you a short 100km or an hour on the bike will start to become torture!

My advice would be to look, try, compare, as much as possible, and look-up others' experiences on this Forum too.  Best of luck in your search.

 

 

 

[BBB]

I’ve just dropped my seat off with a local upholsterer. He’s going to cut a large section out of the original foam and put a deep layer of gel in there instead, towards the back of the rider’s seat, where your sit bones are. Original cover going back on and I should have it back tomorrow.

[wordsmith]

Let us know how it - and you - go with this mod!

[betoney]

5 hours ago, bigal said:

Hi guys! I want to change the original seat because I suffer after an hour of driving. Can you tell me a brand, a model if you made a change

thx

In my opinion, nothing beats a custom built seat, measured, shaped and fit just for you.

I had one built last fall, over 20,000 miles later, it still fits like a glove and allows me to routinely put in 400-500 mile days. 

[chitown]

Have had custom seats made, done some DIYs, have tried gel seats, padded shorts, airhawks, sheepskin... you name it. Have also owned several bikes with "comfort" (usually gel) available. 

My experience, YMMV:

Unless you're light and stick to shorter rides gel isn't usually a great solution. It tends to sink until it can't any more then become a source of heat. For every bike that had a gel seat available could always pick one up in the classifieds of a forum because folks were constantly trying them and giving up. 

Custom made seats are the bomb. I've had two made by Bill Mayer Saddles for other bikes. And, they'll often work better than oem even if not made specifically for you -- because they're usually using a firmer grade/better foam. While some think softer sounds better there's nothing worse than feeling a pressure point and realizing you've reached the limits of the foam. Like suspension, the oems are making seats that are tolerable for the "international" customer and that aren't costly to mfg.  

For DIY my best results have been replacing oem foam with aftermarket. An electric knife and a staple gun are helpful. For foam have found aircraft seat foam the best. Pilots spend a lot of time on their butts  There are likely online aircraft supply stores supporting experimental builders anywhere there's private aviation. In the US Aircraft Spruce is one of the better known supply outfits. 

[micah2074]

I’ve had a Sargent seat on for 40K+ miles. One of the best things I’ve added to the bike. 

[coachluciano]

13 minutes ago, micah2074 said:

I’ve had a Sargent seat on for 40K+ miles. One of the best things I’ve added to the bike. 

Mine is on the FedEx truck as we speak. I’m like a kid waiting for Santa. Lol. Glad to hear some positive reviews. 

[koth442]

The corbin is too stiff for me, but I bought it second hand so it's likely the PO was a larger guy and I'm a smaller guy.

[micah2074]

2 hours ago, coachluciano said:

Mine is on the FedEx truck as we speak. I’m like a kid waiting for Santa. Lol. Glad to hear some positive reviews. 

It'll take a couple of thousand miles to break in. I've done a couple of saddle sores, a bun burner, and more 600+ mile days than you can shake a stick at on the sargent. If time and $ allowed I'd be out doing it right now.

[coachluciano]

1 hour ago, micah2074 said:

It'll take a couple of thousand miles to break in. I've done a couple of saddle sores, a bun burner, and more 600+ mile days than you can shake a stick at on the sargent. If time and $ allowed I'd be out doing it right now.

I’m a cyclist as well and two years ago put 5000 miles in over the course of a year. If you saw the size of the seat on my Carbon Litespeed road bike,  I think most would cringe. It’s a two way break-in process. Your arse has to adjust to the seat, and the seat has to adjust to your arse. Plus. I love pain. 

[micah2074]

I know what you mean. I have a fetish for things with two wheels. I’m intimately aware of and accustomed to the modern bicycle seat. They will hurt you in a totally different way....

[stumpy]

I bought a Sargent seat for mine and it was much better than the stock torture device.  At first I didn’t like like that much because I kept rolling over my balls to the tank. Then I modified it with a small piece of dense foam at the front, tried a few more, then found a reasonable size and reinstalled the cover.  That fixed that issue for me..then it took around 5000km to break in for me and my arse shape.   Now before it broke in I still wasn’t completely satisfied with it and contacted Terry at Terry’s custom seats in Tennessee.  For less money than the Sargent, Terry made me a seat custom to my size and weight...wow what a difference over the Sargent, which was getting better with the more miles I put on.  Terry uses your original seat pan or you can have him make you a new seat at a added cost...but it’s winter now and if you live north of the equator it’s a good time to send it off to be done.

Sargent has their secret Santa sale on now if you check them out or give Terry a call...for $250us you can get a custom seat made or for a bit more get a generic off of the shelf seat from Sargent.  Corbin is the same way and you take a chance with the off the shelf shape.  Some love and swear by them and others dislike them.

Unfortuately we all are different shapes and sizes.  So for me, custom has shown me its advantages.  ...choose your saddle wisely...your arse will thank you. 

[wordsmith]

After a short ride today of only 70km I again found the Tracer seat to be painful in the extreme.   Now, I'm a pretty bony Bloke, but this OE seat, as many have found, is the next best torture device to Vlad the Impaler's pointy wooden posts.

So, it still being Christmas, I have just placed an order for a new BAGSTER seat with an Italian accessories company <Motostorm.it> which seems to sell everything except bikes.  Being a non-EU resident I don't have to pay their VAT, which I think is currently 15% (but correct me if I'm wrong). 

All-up cost to me including shipping is AUD$449.42, which is almost exactly AUD$100 cheaper than the same item I have bought before - twice - from the local BAGSTER distributor.

These seats are brilliant, in my experience, but of course they are not 'custom' in the usually accepted sense of being crafted or made-to-measure specifically for me, although if my experience with the previous two is anything to go by they could not - for me - be surpassed by a custom job.   But as has so often been said here - seats ain't seats! 

BAGSTER seats are actually made to order in France, so I'm not sure how long it will take, given that it's still holiday time there to a degree, but I shall have to be patient!  

I await the delivery and will comment when received and tried, and post a pic or two