Infinity Bike Seat, thanks Moose!
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Infinity Bike Seat, thanks Moose!
Hi all,
Just wanted to give a little shout out and review on my new Infinity Bike Seat. The shout out is to Moose, who in a previous thread sent me a link to the Infinity Seat, a small mom and pop company working on these saddles ,helping a few people at a time. I wont get into their story but will include a link to their website at the end of this drawn out post.
Bit about me, I'm an active rider, about 4k-5k miles per year. Ride for fun, with a group a fair bit, charity rides, etc. Try to do about 3-4 centuries a year (although I rode none this year). My position on the bike is moderate with a normal amount of drop maybe a couple inches between saddle and bars. I am not particularly flexible and don't stretch appropriately (I'm working on it).
My previous 2 saddles have been a Specialized Toupe Expert and a Bontrager Affinity Pro, each of which had many thousands of miles on them. About 4 weeks ago I started getting pretty uncomfortable primarily on the sit bones and started to work on my position with no avail. So I decided to start searching for a new one which is when Moose offered his advice with Infinity.
I went to their website and was intrigued. I was going to order one and watch the video on set up when I noticed that the saddles were both built and headquartered just a couple of hours from where I live so I reached out to them and found out that Dr Vince (creator) offers complimentary fittings.
We set a time and I drove to meet Dr Vince and his wife Diane at their shop in El Segundo, CA. Dr Vince is a cyclist and avid triathlete, but is also a Chiropractor by trade. His fitting area within an office offering those services.
I had expected to take less than an hour to dial in the saddle and adjustments, much to my surprise, Dr Vince spent about 3 hours with me, talking bike fit, set-up, nutrition, etc. He dialed in my cleats, took video of my spin and knee placement while adjusting to suit. I've had a few professional bike fits before and enjoyed all of them, but having a doctor do it with his slant was really interesting and gave me a ton to think about. Especially when talking about digestion and body health, as he put it... While the new seat will help me with my pressure point challenges, there has to be another reason as to why a saddle that worked so well for me for the last 6000 miles suddenly started to give me challenges...
So the saddle... Multiple short test rides during the fitting to get it dialed in. Rode my first 40 miles with it yesterday. Strange feeling to have absolutely no pressure points in the normal spots, even in the drops. The seat is wider than what I'm used to and does apply pressure below the buttocks kind of on the back of the thigh where the seat's frame supports your weight. That originally awkward feeling was gone by mile 4. I basically felt no discomfort or awkwardness for the entire ride. I used to move on the seat a lot, alternating between riding the rivet and sliding backward. Perhaps some of that was due to discomfort, not sure. This saddle is scooped a bit so you really don't/can't move much, I didn't miss it at all but did shift a little bit depending on if I was pushing harder, climbing, etc.
I'm really hopeful that this seat will be my last, either way it seems to be exactly what I need right now. I'll update as I ride more and longer distances.
To make a short story long, and I appreciate anyone who may get some useful information from this... The saddle is the real deal and removes all pressure from sit bones and perineum. Seems to require basically no break in either but does take a bit of time to get the adjustments right. The website has a great video to help with set up but if you have the opportunity to physically meet Dr Vince and Diane I strongly suggest it, even if just to talk with these two awesome, extraordinarily friendly, and passionate people.
Infinity Bike Seat ? The bicycle seat that eliminates pain and discomfort
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
Just wanted to give a little shout out and review on my new Infinity Bike Seat. The shout out is to Moose, who in a previous thread sent me a link to the Infinity Seat, a small mom and pop company working on these saddles ,helping a few people at a time. I wont get into their story but will include a link to their website at the end of this drawn out post.
Bit about me, I'm an active rider, about 4k-5k miles per year. Ride for fun, with a group a fair bit, charity rides, etc. Try to do about 3-4 centuries a year (although I rode none this year). My position on the bike is moderate with a normal amount of drop maybe a couple inches between saddle and bars. I am not particularly flexible and don't stretch appropriately (I'm working on it).
My previous 2 saddles have been a Specialized Toupe Expert and a Bontrager Affinity Pro, each of which had many thousands of miles on them. About 4 weeks ago I started getting pretty uncomfortable primarily on the sit bones and started to work on my position with no avail. So I decided to start searching for a new one which is when Moose offered his advice with Infinity.
I went to their website and was intrigued. I was going to order one and watch the video on set up when I noticed that the saddles were both built and headquartered just a couple of hours from where I live so I reached out to them and found out that Dr Vince (creator) offers complimentary fittings.
We set a time and I drove to meet Dr Vince and his wife Diane at their shop in El Segundo, CA. Dr Vince is a cyclist and avid triathlete, but is also a Chiropractor by trade. His fitting area within an office offering those services.
I had expected to take less than an hour to dial in the saddle and adjustments, much to my surprise, Dr Vince spent about 3 hours with me, talking bike fit, set-up, nutrition, etc. He dialed in my cleats, took video of my spin and knee placement while adjusting to suit. I've had a few professional bike fits before and enjoyed all of them, but having a doctor do it with his slant was really interesting and gave me a ton to think about. Especially when talking about digestion and body health, as he put it... While the new seat will help me with my pressure point challenges, there has to be another reason as to why a saddle that worked so well for me for the last 6000 miles suddenly started to give me challenges...
So the saddle... Multiple short test rides during the fitting to get it dialed in. Rode my first 40 miles with it yesterday. Strange feeling to have absolutely no pressure points in the normal spots, even in the drops. The seat is wider than what I'm used to and does apply pressure below the buttocks kind of on the back of the thigh where the seat's frame supports your weight. That originally awkward feeling was gone by mile 4. I basically felt no discomfort or awkwardness for the entire ride. I used to move on the seat a lot, alternating between riding the rivet and sliding backward. Perhaps some of that was due to discomfort, not sure. This saddle is scooped a bit so you really don't/can't move much, I didn't miss it at all but did shift a little bit depending on if I was pushing harder, climbing, etc.
I'm really hopeful that this seat will be my last, either way it seems to be exactly what I need right now. I'll update as I ride more and longer distances.
To make a short story long, and I appreciate anyone who may get some useful information from this... The saddle is the real deal and removes all pressure from sit bones and perineum. Seems to require basically no break in either but does take a bit of time to get the adjustments right. The website has a great video to help with set up but if you have the opportunity to physically meet Dr Vince and Diane I strongly suggest it, even if just to talk with these two awesome, extraordinarily friendly, and passionate people.
Infinity Bike Seat ? The bicycle seat that eliminates pain and discomfort
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
Last edited by robbyville; 10-30-17 at 11:47 AM.
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Thanks for the great post.
I have been intrigued and would love to try one of these.
-Tim-
I have been intrigued and would love to try one of these.
-Tim-
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I was hoping you would make a thread about this - Thanks for taking the time to write it.
I would love to try one of these too. It looks great on your bike btw...Looking forward to the update after you get more time in with it.
I would love to try one of these too. It looks great on your bike btw...Looking forward to the update after you get more time in with it.
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You are welcome! I am happy to spread the word about this seat.
It has made a huge difference for me.
A bit about me... I am not nearly as active a rider as robbyville, riding less than 1,000 miles a year. A true "every-other-weekend-warrior". I have worked in the bike biz in some capacity for 12 years and have always had a keen interest in bikes. I don't fit the mold of an endurance rider...hell, I barely count as an avid rider. However, I am in tune with the tenets of bike fit and ergonomics. Or so I thought...
On the sales floor, one of the most commonly discussed aspects of riding is saddle comfort, or lack of. I had always subscribed to the idea that, for road bikes, a large or squishy saddle would make too much contact with soft tissue that would lead to soreness from sweating and chafing and that your saddle should support your sit-bones.
This seat sort of flies in the face of that logic, while still not overly large and squishy, it supports mainly the soft tissue immediately surrounding the sit-bones.
The only proof I needed to understand the benefits of this design was a long test ride. It would have been easy to dismiss this seat based on looks alone. Let's face it, it looks weird...but it works! Even for me, who spends a modest amount of time in the saddle. If it didn't work, I would have been happy to keep riding my Terry Fly Ti.
I am glad this seems to have worked out for you robbyville!
It has made a huge difference for me.
A bit about me... I am not nearly as active a rider as robbyville, riding less than 1,000 miles a year. A true "every-other-weekend-warrior". I have worked in the bike biz in some capacity for 12 years and have always had a keen interest in bikes. I don't fit the mold of an endurance rider...hell, I barely count as an avid rider. However, I am in tune with the tenets of bike fit and ergonomics. Or so I thought...
On the sales floor, one of the most commonly discussed aspects of riding is saddle comfort, or lack of. I had always subscribed to the idea that, for road bikes, a large or squishy saddle would make too much contact with soft tissue that would lead to soreness from sweating and chafing and that your saddle should support your sit-bones.
This seat sort of flies in the face of that logic, while still not overly large and squishy, it supports mainly the soft tissue immediately surrounding the sit-bones.
The only proof I needed to understand the benefits of this design was a long test ride. It would have been easy to dismiss this seat based on looks alone. Let's face it, it looks weird...but it works! Even for me, who spends a modest amount of time in the saddle. If it didn't work, I would have been happy to keep riding my Terry Fly Ti.
I am glad this seems to have worked out for you robbyville!
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You are welcome! I am happy to spread the word about this seat.
It has made a huge difference for me.
A bit about me... I am not nearly as active a rider as robbyville, riding less than 1,000 miles a year. A true "every-other-weekend-warrior". I have worked in the bike biz in some capacity for 12 years and have always had a keen interest in bikes. I don't fit the mold of an endurance rider...hell, I barely count as an avid rider. However, I am in tune with the tenets of bike fit and ergonomics. Or so I thought...
On the sales floor, one of the most commonly discussed aspects of riding is saddle comfort, or lack of. I had always subscribed to the idea that, for road bikes, a large or squishy saddle would make too much contact with soft tissue that would lead to soreness from sweating and chafing and that your saddle should support your sit-bones.
This seat sort of flies in the face of that logic, while still not overly large and squishy, it supports mainly the soft tissue immediately surrounding the sit-bones.
The only proof I needed to understand the benefits of this design was a long test ride. It would have been easy to dismiss this seat based on looks alone. Let's face it, it looks weird...but it works! Even for me, who spends a modest amount of time in the saddle. If it didn't work, I would have been happy to keep riding my Terry Fly Ti.
I am glad this seems to have worked out for you robbyville!
It has made a huge difference for me.
A bit about me... I am not nearly as active a rider as robbyville, riding less than 1,000 miles a year. A true "every-other-weekend-warrior". I have worked in the bike biz in some capacity for 12 years and have always had a keen interest in bikes. I don't fit the mold of an endurance rider...hell, I barely count as an avid rider. However, I am in tune with the tenets of bike fit and ergonomics. Or so I thought...
On the sales floor, one of the most commonly discussed aspects of riding is saddle comfort, or lack of. I had always subscribed to the idea that, for road bikes, a large or squishy saddle would make too much contact with soft tissue that would lead to soreness from sweating and chafing and that your saddle should support your sit-bones.
This seat sort of flies in the face of that logic, while still not overly large and squishy, it supports mainly the soft tissue immediately surrounding the sit-bones.
The only proof I needed to understand the benefits of this design was a long test ride. It would have been easy to dismiss this seat based on looks alone. Let's face it, it looks weird...but it works! Even for me, who spends a modest amount of time in the saddle. If it didn't work, I would have been happy to keep riding my Terry Fly Ti.
I am glad this seems to have worked out for you robbyville!
Today was day 2 on it, my arse was sore from sitting on metal bleachers during my son's swim practice last night Just a short 25 miles on it. Started out thinking that I may need to adjust a bit due to the pressure points on the I back of the legs as I was shuffling on the seat a little. Then I seemed to just kind of settle in to a position that seemed to be the sweet spot, I think I'm used to pushing against the back of a normal saddle and so I was trying to replicate that feeling and putting too much weight on the wider part. Once I put that thought aside and just fit in like Sunday and the test ride it just became a matter of muscle memory that when getting back into the saddle from a red light became completely natural and perfect, all pressure points gone!
The folks that I was riding with today were pretty intrigued including one who does a cross country ride each year.
Will let you know how I fare on Saturday's ride which generally is 55+ miles.
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Yeah agreed, however none of the stores in my area have a demo program either. That being said, you can return the saddle within 30 days if it doesn’t work for you (small restocking fee I think not sure)
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I can't say if they have any official dealers... but the fitter at my shop is sort of a rep. He made a purchase of several Infinity seats that he has placed in our "Saddle Library" where our local customers can check out a saddle like you would a library book and use it for an extended test ride on their own bike. If you live anywhere near Cleveland, OH and wanna try one let me know.
Alternately, you can contact Infinity to see if they have any other demo sites around the country.
I ride the N-Series, at $170.00 it is the least expensive model. The description on the site warns that it is not for novice riders but I disagree. When ridden with a pair of proper bike shorts this seat super comfy to me.
I now have the N-Series on two out of five bikes. I definitely need a couple more but I have to give my bank account a rest after two new complete builds.
Alternately, you can contact Infinity to see if they have any other demo sites around the country.
I ride the N-Series, at $170.00 it is the least expensive model. The description on the site warns that it is not for novice riders but I disagree. When ridden with a pair of proper bike shorts this seat super comfy to me.
I now have the N-Series on two out of five bikes. I definitely need a couple more but I have to give my bank account a rest after two new complete builds.
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Good to know...I was looking at each model, going back & forth, for a few minutes but couldn't really see any differences in shape or anything. Wasn't really sure what set each apart besides material.
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You could easily add a Lycra seat cover as well. I just felt better about a bit of leather and padding.
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Thinking about buying one of these saddles. I know this thread is several years old, so just wondering if you still have yours and how was it after some time on it?
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i still highly recommend the saddle especially for people with soft tissue challenges or ED, but that wasn’t my problem and as comfortable as the saddle was for most riding I got rid of it about 10months later and am now back to a Specialized Toupe
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