Kuhl Ride Racer Saddle

[two_third]

Concerns

While it was an overall positive test, I do have a few concerns. Pumping can be tricky. If you try to rush, you may not get any air in. This can be pretty frustrating if you’re attempting to adjust on the fly and cruising down the road. I also had issues with my prototype model’s inflation bulb and o-ring burping off the mount on a couple of occasions. This was easily fixed and in talking with Steve Kuhl, he has addressed the issue with an additional seal to hold the o-ring in place (see picture below).

It also seemed that, while you could increase pressure to the largest area of the saddle, you couldn’t get it to hold in the center of the saddle which led to a firm rear with a soft center that sometimes looked a little funky because it would expand the main back area but the center and front would remain unchanged, giving it a bit of a bulbous look when you were off the bike.

Lastly, while the cover material may hold you in place, the air bladder inside could be felt shifting around against itself. While this isn’t a functional issue and everything remained in place, the feeling put me off a touch.

In the end, The Kuhl Ride Racer air saddle is a very smooth riding saddle. It doesn’t quite fit the bill for me as a cyclocross saddle, but I think it does make a pretty good touring and long distance type of saddle – great for settling in and spinning away the miles. The build is sturdy and the ability to change pressure to suit your need is a great feature for anyone that likes to adjust things. It can even hold it’s own as a trail saddle.

Hopefully, this saddle does make it to market – Steve Kuhl did mention potential private investors – as it certainly fills a niche that is currently empty in the saddle world.

Weight: 839.1 grams
Price: $250 (though lower amounts were available while on Kickstarter)

For more information see the Kuhl Ride Website or have a look at Kickstarter

[/two_third]

[one_third_last]

[hdp-ad 20]
[hdp-ad 21]
[hdp-ad 22]
[hdp-ad 23]
[hdp-ad 24]
[hdp-ad 25]
[hdp-ad 43]
[hdp-ad 44]
[/one_third_last]

 
[rps-include blog=127.0.0.1 post=29548]