I know there's been a lot of interest in Russell seats, so I thought I'd share a little re: my experience.
My wife and I went to their shop for a ride-in. The whole experience was a real pleasure. They are great hosts and their folks are very impressive. The seat builders are surprisingly young; I thought they'd have a bunch of greybeards. But the two guys I talked to, while seeming quite young, had 10 and 9 years of experience. So they really know what they're doing.
The ride-in was a real win. Both of us got some adjustments after the initial test sitting. If we hadn't been there, we would have either had to make do or ship the seat back for the adjustment.
I got a tour of their facility and process; it was very interesting and a real bonus.
We went with the leather inserts on both rider and passenger. We chose to retain the so-called "ugly bump", so we had it and the backrest recovered in matching graphite vinyl (the same as on the sides of the seat). The advice I received from a number of sources said that, besides saving a little money, the vinyl sides hold up a little better than the leather. The leather inserts provide the extra comfort where it counts.
We went with the graphite color because we liked the look and it seemed to blend well with the tank top and the silver sides. (The real reason is that my wife liked it best, and what she wants she gets on things like this. But I like it too.)
I got a great before-and-after comparison as I've put on about 2,500 miles since the new seat (my wife flew home so she hasn't had much time for comparison yet). The effectiveness for touring is remarkable. I always developed fairly significant "sit bone" pain when riding all day in the past (on all bikes on all seats - but never a Russell until now). That is now completely gone.
The seat definitely takes some getting used to. I had always moved around a lot on the seat...that was my way of dealing with the pain. With this seat, you pretty much need to stay in the pocket that the seat has. At first it seems too restrictive, until you learn that if you just stay there everything will be great. At first I was getting some stiffness in my legs, since I wasn't moving around as much. When I learned how to move my leg position a bit while still keeping my butt in the pocket, all is now perfect.
A great win for me is the extra leg room. They raised me up on the bike by at least 1.5 inches. That makes my knee bend much less severe and that really helps. Plus it gets me up a little higher on the bike and I feel like it gives me a little more connection with the front end of the bike when cornering. Also, I can now dangle my legs when I need a stretch without my boots dragging (much).
So bottom line...I am one happy camper.
Here are a few photos. Note that these were taken just an hour or so after they finished up, so there's still a couple of sewing creases in the vinyl parts. Those went away after a day or so (as they assured me they would).
By the way, my wife likes our "custom" grab handles that you can see in a couple of the photos. We fashioned them from Jeep roll bar grab handles as Edge35 suggested. They attach with Velcro around the bike's hidden handles. They do the trick for her and we like the fact that they're just easily removable attachments that don't change the stock bike.
So here are the photos:
That's Mt Shasta in the background, about an hour north of Russell:
This is on the Trinity River along CA 299:
In Humboldt Redwoods State Park via the Avenue of the Giants:
PCH just south of where it returns to the coast south of the "Lost Coast" (what a ride to get there!):
My wife and I went to their shop for a ride-in. The whole experience was a real pleasure. They are great hosts and their folks are very impressive. The seat builders are surprisingly young; I thought they'd have a bunch of greybeards. But the two guys I talked to, while seeming quite young, had 10 and 9 years of experience. So they really know what they're doing.
The ride-in was a real win. Both of us got some adjustments after the initial test sitting. If we hadn't been there, we would have either had to make do or ship the seat back for the adjustment.
I got a tour of their facility and process; it was very interesting and a real bonus.
We went with the leather inserts on both rider and passenger. We chose to retain the so-called "ugly bump", so we had it and the backrest recovered in matching graphite vinyl (the same as on the sides of the seat). The advice I received from a number of sources said that, besides saving a little money, the vinyl sides hold up a little better than the leather. The leather inserts provide the extra comfort where it counts.
We went with the graphite color because we liked the look and it seemed to blend well with the tank top and the silver sides. (The real reason is that my wife liked it best, and what she wants she gets on things like this. But I like it too.)
I got a great before-and-after comparison as I've put on about 2,500 miles since the new seat (my wife flew home so she hasn't had much time for comparison yet). The effectiveness for touring is remarkable. I always developed fairly significant "sit bone" pain when riding all day in the past (on all bikes on all seats - but never a Russell until now). That is now completely gone.
The seat definitely takes some getting used to. I had always moved around a lot on the seat...that was my way of dealing with the pain. With this seat, you pretty much need to stay in the pocket that the seat has. At first it seems too restrictive, until you learn that if you just stay there everything will be great. At first I was getting some stiffness in my legs, since I wasn't moving around as much. When I learned how to move my leg position a bit while still keeping my butt in the pocket, all is now perfect.
A great win for me is the extra leg room. They raised me up on the bike by at least 1.5 inches. That makes my knee bend much less severe and that really helps. Plus it gets me up a little higher on the bike and I feel like it gives me a little more connection with the front end of the bike when cornering. Also, I can now dangle my legs when I need a stretch without my boots dragging (much).
So bottom line...I am one happy camper.
Here are a few photos. Note that these were taken just an hour or so after they finished up, so there's still a couple of sewing creases in the vinyl parts. Those went away after a day or so (as they assured me they would).
By the way, my wife likes our "custom" grab handles that you can see in a couple of the photos. We fashioned them from Jeep roll bar grab handles as Edge35 suggested. They attach with Velcro around the bike's hidden handles. They do the trick for her and we like the fact that they're just easily removable attachments that don't change the stock bike.
So here are the photos:
That's Mt Shasta in the background, about an hour north of Russell:
This is on the Trinity River along CA 299:
In Humboldt Redwoods State Park via the Avenue of the Giants:
PCH just south of where it returns to the coast south of the "Lost Coast" (what a ride to get there!):