Monday, June 13, 2011

New Seat

Okay, not really.
Well, sort of.
I been looking at a lot of seats lately, looking for something different to try.
Let's face it, seats are pretty darn important.
The good ones are largely ignored while the bad ones, the ones that don't fit well, can make their presence felt via some torturous pain that sometimes can be felt all the way to the fingertips.
The thing is, you don't know a good seat until you actually sit on it while it's on the bicycle and you go for a longish ride.
Reviews help, but like they say, everyone's ahem, bottom is different.
So I went ahead and got me the same seat as the one on the Celeste Devil:



The Selle Italia SLK Gel Flow is sort of the first seat I got that was comfy right out of the box.
Okay, I got the first one used, but it did have a box.
Unlike this new one which is just carded:



As you can see, there are some differences in the old SLK and the new SLK.
First of all, the leather is different.
The newer seat seems to have a thinner cover and it's a matte finish as opposed to the older cover which seems thicker and is sort of glossy.
The new seat also seems harder though the padding looks to be about the same thickness.
I like the old seat for the leather is really grippy, sort of like the synthetic Specialized seat I had, slipping and a sliding around is minimal.
The Fizik Arione was sort of smooth and slippery, the new SLK cover reminds me of that.
The new seat comes with a sort of gel tester thingy, you can see it on the bottom left of the card:



This little gel button may well be worth the price of the seat alone.
It reminds me of that glue they use to stick stuff in magazines or to close up folded mailers.
Sort of rubbery and tacky and soft.
Like that stuff called Slime, not the tire filler, but that stuff the kids used to have, like a gel(duh!) only it holds it's shape:



This stuff is like bubble wrap, I can't stop poking at it!
It's so soft and pliable, it sort of reminds me of- well, let's not go there.
You, the reader, can use your own imagination.
So anyways, I got almost all the stuff I need to make a bicycle, except for the most important part which is hopefully somewhere west of the Mississippi by now.
The thing about parcel post is I don't think you can track it.
Or maybe you can track it and maybe it just hasn't moved.
Yet.
The last thing I need are some one inch spacers for the steering tube.
Okay I need more stuff, but I don't really need them.
Besides I won't really need anything until that frame lands on my doorstep.
Which may be a while.
I hope and pray it arrives safely:



I have complete confidence in the US Postal Service.
Sort of.
I may have to buy more candles.

5 comments:

Steve A said...

Hmm, maybe that gel is from gel shoe insert commercials, simply stuck on the saddle card?

Rat Trap Press said...

I'm glad you found a racing saddle that you're comfortable with. I went through a bunch of saddles back in the day before I settled on an old Selle Rolls, the kind with the brass plate across the back.

happy okole said...

Steve A., I be gellin like a melon.
Or something.

RTP, I sort of want to try a couple more saddles, but am afraid to.
If you know what I mean.

TrevorW�� said...

One of the most difficult things to find...a comfortable saddle.
Have you tried a Fizik Aliante?
On the odd occasion where the Arione proved uncomfortable most of our club members found that the Aliante was very comfortable....

-Trevor

happy okole said...

I'll give it a look.
I prefer one with the canyon in the middle and without the rise in back.
The LBS has loaner demo thingy I may try, but they are over near Waikiki.
I believe they have the fizik line.