Kuhl Ride Racer Saddle

by Simon · 06/06/2013

[two_third]

On The Trail

Mounted on my GT Avalanche, I decided to hit some local trails. Conditions were dry and bumpy – a combination of gravel and rutted dirt roads. The Racer did very well with this situation. As before, big hits were still felt, but the chatter that comes with a gravel road at 18mph was lessened significantly and to a greater degree than my old front shocks – I would feel it quite a bit in my hands, but not as much through the saddle. It was a bit like having a suspension seatpost that weighed less and didn’t move much.

Cyclocross Musings

For me, earning a spot on my Kona means the saddle has to be able to perform under cyclocross conditions. I did confirm with Steve Kuhl that he would recommend the saddle for this since I was slightly concerned about blowing the air bladder on a remount. He did confirm that it is indeed built to withstand that sort of use and abuse.

It is a bit of an odd sensation to remount onto an air cushion, but I didn’t go bouncing off it, so that part went well. The issue that I had with the saddle came when I needed to slide back into position. It seems the perforation in the cover doesn’t work so well for moving around while on the saddle.

My assumption is that all the perforation creates a grip, just like the perforation in a leather grip. Later rides where I felt the need to shift my position confirmed this as I would have the lift off the saddle in order to move around easier. It’s not impossible to slide on the saddle, you just have to get most of your weight off of it to do so.