RonKMiller
Apr 30th, 2006, 7:47 pm
I call like 'em like I see 'em. Your results may vary. :(
I usually refrain from commenting on competitor's seats - and I won't name the manufacturer of this one - but it IS a glaring example of what you don't want to spend your hard earned money on. This seat is about a year old and is already falling apart due to poor workmanship and material selection. It is a typical "dished" seat where they have removed foam and covered it with an inexpensive commodity leather hide. It looks great out of the box, but a few thousand miles later it is already in big trouble.
1. The curved demarcation line shows where they have removed OEM foam and decreased the thickness in an attempt to spread loading. The remaining foam has been pushed forward from the rider's weight and is now squashed against the untouched OEM foam causing ripples on the front part of the seat. This is cosmetically unacceptable and does absolutely nothing to improve comfort.
2. The foam collapse and degradation shows what happens when a seat is not built up to accommodate the rider's weight. This area has already been permanently deformed and the OEM polyurethane foam inside the seat is torn apart. Within a short time this seat will have lost all cushioning and the rider will be sitting on nothing more than the hard plastic seat pan.
3. The failure point is where the leather has not been stretched and is under supported from the internal design of the seat. It is creasing hard and will crack and most likely split in a very short time. The big problem with leather is that it does not stretch at all. It has no "give" - and if not constantly fortified with nutrients like "Hide Food" it will dessicate (dry out) and wear through. At a very minimum this area will show major wear points when the artificial black aniline dye and thin top surface of this inexpensive hide wears out.
Caveat Emptor. ;)
I usually refrain from commenting on competitor's seats - and I won't name the manufacturer of this one - but it IS a glaring example of what you don't want to spend your hard earned money on. This seat is about a year old and is already falling apart due to poor workmanship and material selection. It is a typical "dished" seat where they have removed foam and covered it with an inexpensive commodity leather hide. It looks great out of the box, but a few thousand miles later it is already in big trouble.
1. The curved demarcation line shows where they have removed OEM foam and decreased the thickness in an attempt to spread loading. The remaining foam has been pushed forward from the rider's weight and is now squashed against the untouched OEM foam causing ripples on the front part of the seat. This is cosmetically unacceptable and does absolutely nothing to improve comfort.
2. The foam collapse and degradation shows what happens when a seat is not built up to accommodate the rider's weight. This area has already been permanently deformed and the OEM polyurethane foam inside the seat is torn apart. Within a short time this seat will have lost all cushioning and the rider will be sitting on nothing more than the hard plastic seat pan.
3. The failure point is where the leather has not been stretched and is under supported from the internal design of the seat. It is creasing hard and will crack and most likely split in a very short time. The big problem with leather is that it does not stretch at all. It has no "give" - and if not constantly fortified with nutrients like "Hide Food" it will dessicate (dry out) and wear through. At a very minimum this area will show major wear points when the artificial black aniline dye and thin top surface of this inexpensive hide wears out.
Caveat Emptor. ;)