Customer Reviews

Hobson Easyseat Ergonomical Dual Pad Bicycle Saddle

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I have used this seat for three years for a 30 minute round trip commute. If you expect this to feel like a conventional seat, you won't like it. It does require that you keep you hands on the bars, since you cannot as easily balance and steer the bike from your crotch, since there is no extension of the seat between your legs. But that's the whole point, you sit on your sit bones, not your perineum. The rocker action of the independent seat pads, noted by some reviewers, is a normal and necessary feature, which keeps the seat from putting excessive pressure on the back of your thighs. The seat is very strong and mine shows no wear despite high miles. The plastic parts do not break, as suggested by one reviewer who obviously hasn't actually used the seat for any length of time. The seat requires a brief break in, and then becomes very comfortable. it is important to position the saddle for-and-aft so that your sit bones rest in the cup-shaped depressions in the saddle. For mountain biking, it has the significant advantage that you can remain in the saddle for uphill traction or downhill braking effectiveness without having your perineum hammered on the bumps. This is a real advantage for hard tail bikes, and since most people don't ride hands-off on trails anyway, the requirement to keep hands on the bars isn't a problem. Overall a great product.

I had tried several "comfort" seats, some with splits, some with gel and I was still experiencing severe discomfort. The problem was bad enough that I went to my doctor. I was ready to quit riding when I ordered the Easy Seat. I have to admit that it took about 25 miles until I was completely comfortable. I now have well over a thousand miles on it and I couldn't be happier. I no longer experience any discomfort. I quickly adjusted to riding with no hands with the Easy Seat. The seat has held up very well.

I ordered the Easy Seat and used it for several days. If one is only interested in easing pressure on the nerves and arteries of the perineum, then one can be reasonably satisfied, for the product certainly accomplishes this.

Early on however, it became apparent that if one removes one's hands from the handlebars, especially while peddling, it is nearly impossible to balance the bike. Apparently, one needs to apply subtle pressure through the inner thighs to the horn of the saddle in order to maintain balance. Of course, the Easy Seat has no horn. In addition, no matter how tightly I fastened the thumb screws to separate the pads, they would invariably come together. I am convenced that the osillating motion of the pads as one peddles and the friction this generates requires more effort from the rider to propel the bike.

I have retired the Easy Seat and replaced it with a split saddle which seems to solve the perineal pressure problem. What looked good on paper proved a disappointment in practice.

The people who don't like this seat probably didn't adjust it properly.

I'm 56 and ride a mountain bike on paved trails intermittently for 25 mile bursts of exercise and have done so for years. I always have pain due to pressure points and to friction on my thighs. UNTIL NOW!

I just got an original Easyseat and spent some time adjusting it to remove the pressures noted by some other riders. I now like it tilted quite a bit forward and high, which leaves my legs extended properly on the full downstroke and places my body "balanced" on the seat rather than "sitting" upright.

The seat is unusual in that it feels as if I am not anchored very firmly. But this was easy to get used to because I am not a (favorite perjoritive term) who rejects good ideas just because they are weird.

I then rode 30 miles and totally exhausted my legs, which hadn't ridden a bike in 4 months. (I moved states, sold my old bike and have been running instead.)

I had NO PAIN and NO AFTEREffects! It felt as if I had not even been on a bike ride. I returned after 2 1/2 hours riding in 85 deg. morning sun in Spokane and immediately went on an hour long power-walk with my wife.

I expect that different people will prefer different versions of the Easyseat. Version 2 supposedly favors a more upright posture. The even newer "horned" split seat by Hobson probably gives the best of both worlds, although I prefer no rubbing on the thighs and don't want to wear bike shorts.

I recommend the original, but riders should expect to try out many adjustments and to "get used to it".

I have been riding for decades. Road and mountain biking. I have always been in the forefront of trying new seats because I never thought that folks needed to feel numb after a bike ride. So I upgraded every few years, looking for a more comfortable ride, but never trying out these unusual seat designs. Last fall, I decided to give them a try. I put one of these Hobson Easyseat Dual-Seat-Pad Bike Saddles on my indoor trainer and gave it a run for the winter. I loved it. This is the direction that bicycle seats should be going. I never felt a seat so comfortable; no butt pain at the end of an hour-long workout. Come spring in New England, however, it was time to give it a road test. That is where it failed. It rubbed me raw in the back of my thighs, right where the front edge of the seat met my legs. Part of the problem, I think, is that I was wearing bike shorts, and the padding that works so well on old-fashioned seats didn't work so well on the Hobson. After healing for a week, I tried several different rides looking for a comfort zone. Never found it. So ... I decided to gamble on another seat, the Spiderflex. This seat is similar to the Hobson, but by no means identical. It felt good from the first ride, though I made several adjustments to the seat before I hit my comfort zone. To give you an idea of how good it feels, today I completed a 25 mile ride on my mountain bike, with my heart rate averaging 133 for 1:40. At the end of the ride, I was tired, as you might imagine, but none of the soreness in my ham muscles that I have been used to for so many years. I no longer have a ham muscle recovery period of a day or so before I feel like riding again. The Hobson is around $25 USD; the Spiderflex is around $100 USD. The Spiderflex comes with a generous return policy, which is why I decided to give it a run, even at $100. So the Hobson is a sure winner for my trainer, and the Spiderflex goes on my road and mountain bikes. Your mileage may vary, but I heartily recommend both these saddles over the the traditional saddles. BTW, both of these saddles require learning some new balancing skills. Not a show-stopper, but I didn't realize how much the shape of a traditional saddle played a role in how I controlled the bike. Oh, and I used to have to periodically reposition myself to relieve genital numbness, and I no longer give it a thought. Bonus value! I no longer ride with padded bike shorts, and I am much more comfortable for it. I just wear a pair of loose-fitting shorts of a very flexible material. No more paying $50 and up for bike shorts, and then stuffing myself into them!

I bought this, although I can't tell if it's the same manufacturer, which is listed as Hobson. To their credit, they answered my phone call to their 800 number, which is why I rate it 2 stars, and not one.

The first problem is that there are no markings for left/right. So, once you get it mounted, you will think something is probably wrong as the pads in the front turn out and thereby dig into your thigh. A little L/R would not have been too much to ask.

The second problem is that once you have correctly setup (I needed the 800 call to be certain I had it right) it wobbles forward and back about 5-10 degrees. Lean forward a bit, and it lurches forward (well, more like down, as though you had not tightened the hex bolt that is used to adjust the forward/back lean). If I had been riding at 20mph, I might have lost my balance.

The third problem, which I can only surmise, since I'm getting rid of this, is that the seat will probably break after a few lurches since all the parts that hold this to the rails are made of flexible plastic that seems sure to break loose.

Well, they do say a 30 day return policy, but since in my case I got it for $21 plus $7 shipping, I would think all I could recover after paying freight back would not be worth the effort. So, in the dumpster it goes.

The "Easyseat" was so uncomfortable I had to go back to my old standard seat. Yes, it took pressure off of the groin area. However, the seat has two serious design flaws.

First, the pads are built so that they dig into your thighs (they should be sloped in and in the other direction).

Second, the seat rocks as you move. It is slight--maybe 10 degrees or so--but very irritating. I commute in city traffic. Concentration is key. The rocking of the seat made it impossible to focus on what was around me.

This seat is, alas, going to be trashed.

I bought my first Hobson easy-seat a couple years ago. I had been having problems with numbness and pain in the groin area for hours after riding more than a few miles. I tried the "tractor seat" wide padded seats available at Target and other stores selling bike stuff and found my [...] "walking" itself off the front of the seat as I pedalled along; I was continually (every few pedal strokes) having to scoot back into position onto the broad seat, which was not only annoying but additionally tiring. The "easy-seat", with its "wobbling" left and right cheek-seats, helps avoid this.
I liked mine so much I ordered a second Hobson seat for my other bike, a mountain bike, but it got sidetracked because my wife was also uncomfortable on her standard crotch-killer seat and wanted to try my newly ordered Hobson easy-seat "just to see how it worked."
She loved it so much she refused to let me take it back off her bike, so I now have to order a third unit for my mountain bike to avoid having to trade the one I have back and forth between 2 bicycles.
I ride my bike 24 to 30 miles daily, 12 to 15 miles to work and back depending on my route. I still experience shoulder and wrist pain on rides of more than a few miles but I can't blame that on the Hobson seat.
Obviously some people prefer groin pain instead of using these seats, but my wife and I sure think they're great. I'm a little fearful of the newer Hobson split-seats since they appear to be trying to be a more "normal" seat with a nose on the seat that looks like it might be a crotch crusher on long rides. Will look for reviews on those.....

I first tried the Spongy Wonder about a year ago and retired it right away. Then after a painful metric century, I decided to try it again. The only problem was that I kept sliding off the seat. So I decided to buy the EasySeat by Hobson. I put it on this morning and after a couple of adjustments, it feels great. Tomorrow I will do another metric century ride. This seat is a keeper. I had some experience with a horn-less seat, so to transistion to the EasySeat was no problem for me. I highly recommend the EasySeat over the SpongyWonder seat, which I just retired again.

I am a 120lb female and I purchased this seat for my Trek bike. It was easy to put on, but this seat requires some major adjusting! I mean both physical adjusting and mental adjusting. For one, there is no central horn on ths seat so if you are used to relying on that to help you keep your balance (especially when pedaling in the standing position) forget it, you have to figure out a new way. The two pads can be adjusted independantly of each other, either forward or back. The more forward they are, the farther they tilt up in front, and the more back they are the more they tilt down in front. They can also be adjusted somewhat to vary the space in between them, which I thought was a nice feature. Once they are adjusted, the seats still move slightly so I find myself constantly adjusting my position on the seat while riding. Also, the pads themselves are very very hard. I came back from an 8-mile ride on a packed gravel road with bruises on my butt where my pelvic bones were under constant pressure and banged on, due to the lack of suspension in this seat. I also had to readjust the seat twice during my ride because it just became too painful. But it seemed like no matter what I did, the pads just couldn't be made more comfortable. When I got home, my husband noticed red areas on my fanny which by the next day were ugly bruises. This seat is useless to me as it causes great pain. I wouldn't recommend that anyone who rides more than a mile or two waste their money on this seat.