After more than half a year and several thousand kilometres of backcountry riding (sans chamois) it’s time to report an initial impression. The Seymour is by-far the most comfortable saddle I’ve ever ridden!!!
In early 2022 Ryan Draper founder of Cycling 101 contacted me about a new saddle that he felt might be suitable for my riding style of predominantly backcountry bikepacking, year-round in the Canadian Rockies.
Ryan and I found a time where he could do a saddle-fit on my RollingDale Ti 29’er hardtail in a Wahoo trainer. The molding took about 30 minutes, closely following the excellent directions included with the saddle. On the trainer the Seymour is merely very comfortable … in the real world the exceptional design and construction start to manifest themselves. The saddle shell is forgiving, firm, supportive, and appropriately “grippy”. There is noticable compliance in the one-piece carbon fibre frame and rails.
After a few days of trail riding I knew that the fatbike also needed a new Seymour saddle. I swapped the original saddle to the fatbike and got a second Seymour from Ryan for the 29’er.
At this point, March 2022, I decided to ride on the second saddle without molding it first…
During a bikepacking race in 2017 I developed severe saddle sores that required medical intervention after I completed the race. Since that time I’ve had numbness and varying levels of discomfort with every saddle, until the Seymour.
… After riding about 300 km on the un-molded Seymour saddle all of my usual undercarriage symptoms were evident again.
I’d purchased one $50 molding power supply with the first saddle and used it to mold the second Seymour saddle on my trainer. Within a couple of days of backcountry riding the 29’er with the freshly molded saddle my symptoms had disappeared again, and have not returned on any subsequent rides! After molding, both saddles have subtle asymmetrical characteristics, which I believe helps provide the extraordinary comfort. This comfort is particularly evident on longer rides (>100km) when I don’t have the sub-concisous need to lift myself off the saddle. Other riders report similar experiences during big rides.
During the 2022 Buckshot (a May-long bikepacking race) I had the privilege of riding briefly with George Bailey of Vancouver BC Landyachtz, which are the creators of Reform Saddles. These folks are doing innovative work that’s worth following, and perhaps purchasing! Any products that we choose to review are purchased by us at retail prices.
Bikepackers Foundry creates original designs and produces durable field-tested ultralight bikepacking gear. All products are hand-made in Western Canada.
For reference I’ve been primarily riding on the excellent Specialized Power Pro Elaston (carbon fibre shell with titanium rails) for the past 20,000 km or so.
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