Cloud-9 Cruiser Contour Suspension Saddle

Even experienced, knowledgeable bicycle-shop operators have said to me, "A saddle is a saddle," implying that "one size fits all." A brief perusal of postings on the Internet will prove the fallacy of that argument, which implies that our fannies are all alike, and I doubt many of us casual riders would be comfortable for long on, say, a marathon racer's saddle. I have always been slender, with very little fat on my frame, hence my ischial tuberosities ("sitting bones") have little to no padding. Most saddles these days are designed with mounds that more or less line up with those bones, with the intent that the padding will lessen the pressure on the muscle tissue between the bones and the saddle frame. Over the last two years, I have tried about half a dozen different saddles for my bicycles, all of which were naturally touted by their manufacturers or sellers as being "the best." The implicit, but usually unspoken, question is, "For what?" As I progressed through these saddle trials, I came to realize that the load-bearing configuration in a saddle that would be comfortable for me must not have those almost-ubiquitous mounds. An argument for a rather large, bucket seat-style saddle made the point that famers can sit on an un-cushioned steel bucket seat on a tractor all day long with little to no discomfort, the reason being that the seat is sized and contoured to spread the load over the driver's entire rear end, thus avoiding pressure on the "sitting bone" pressure points. The Cloud-9 Contour Cruiser Gel Saddle embraces that philosophy. There are even larger versions of this style saddle, some of them enormous compared to conventional bicycle saddles, but most of the people who have tried them are very comfortable and pleased with them. Indeed, Cloud-9 manufactures a 16" (41 cm) wide "Contour Seat," regarding which Cloud-9 states, “The comfort of any bicycle seat is related to its size, not its softness." My bicycle is a street cruiser/semi-racer style, which provides an upright seating stance, rather than a lowered, racing-style layout. The "Contour Seat" appeals to me, but its size is awkward for my bicycle; it is better suited to a tricycle. The choice thus became the Contour Cruiser Gel Saddle, which is 11 inches (28 cm) wide, and 11 1/2 inches (29.2 cm) long. It's visibly larger than most saddles, but it's unobtrusive. For me, and for the bicycle I ride, it is, so far, the ideal saddle. [I wear a 32-inch (81 cm) or 34-inch (86 cm) belt.] You might be older, younger, heavier, lighter, more or less energetic than I, and your frame and proportions will almost certainly not be identical to mine. Selecting the "best" saddle for you is a very personal trial-and-error exercise. Be skeptical of anyone or anything that declares you "must" use such-and-such a style of saddle. Keep your mind open and your fanny free. Receiving the saddle is the tip of the iceberg; bicycle saddles are not "Plug-N-Play." Mount the saddle, and immediately perform a preliminary hight-and-position adjustment of both the saddle and the handlebars. (There are plenty of guides for the process on the Internet, or consult a bicycle shop.) Make sure the saddle is properly positioned fore-and-aft, so that the distance from the saddle to the handlebars is comfortable and effective. Then adjust the saddle's tilt so that it is comfortable and proper for your frame. The nose (front) of the saddle should usually be tilted upward. The amount of tilt depends on the bicycle's size, handlebars, and overall configuration, plus your own frame. If you find that one leg is brushing up against the saddle's nose more than the other or with greater pressure, rotate the saddle slightly away from that leg. Your pelvis could be twisted, and the saddle should be adjusted to accommodate your body. There is no rule that the saddle must be absolutely parallel to the bicycle's frame. When all these steps have been completed, re-examine them. Re-check the height of the saddle and the handlebars, and the fore-and-aft positioning and tilt of the saddle. You should be sitting toward the back of the saddle, with very little pressure on or near its nose, so that the broad seat is carrying most of your weight. Do these steps several times, if necessary, to make sure that everything "lines up" for your bike and your body. It will usually take several hours or days of riding for your saddle and your seat to adjust to each other. As they do, you might find it necessary to tweak some or all of the adjustments. Don't hesitate to do so. Also be sure to check the tightness of the nuts, bolts, and clamps every week or so for a couple months, then regularly thereafter. Comfort and safety are the objectives. I hope these comments help you, and good luck in your search for your "Ideal Saddle."

Like a Lazy-Boy for your butt (on your bike). This is for anyone who hates normal bike seats, has back problems, or anything else that's caused them to stop riding a bike because of the comfortableness or lack of their bike seat. Pros: - Extremely comfortable - Solid material holds up rain or shine - Standard attachments will work with most seat tubes Cons: - Some bike enthusiasts will tell you this is an improper style of bike seat. Summary: It's not for everyone, but if normal seats haven't worked for you this is definitely worth trying out. It's an incredibly comfortable seat and will make a biker out of anyone. -- This is how I rate my purchases -- 5 Stars: Product works exactly as advertised, is a good value at the price point purchased, and I would buy it again or recommend to a friend. 4 Stars: Product works exactly as advertised, fit/finish are what you'd expect when purchasing this type of product, but the product may leave more to be desired. 3 Stars: Product generally works but it may not be a good value at the price point or may need some improvement. I probably wouldn't buy it again. 2 Stars: Product barely works but can be made useful if you try. I would not recommend for purchase. 1 Star : Product does not perform as intended and in my opinion is probably a waste of money. That's my review scale. I also want to point out that if I receive a product that I would give three stars or below to I usually contact the vendor and let them know the problem. The vast majority of the time they are willing to replace or refund my purchase. This is why you'll see very few three or under review from me. I hope that is of some help to everyone! If this review was helpful I would love it if you could reply YES to the question below "Was this review helpful to you?" Thanks so much!

I have two of these and they work great, but you must angle the nose upward to get the best comfort benefit. When you angle the nose above the back of the seat it holds you in rather than pitching you forward and you receive the best full bottom support and comfort. Use a level and make sure the nose is higher than the rear edge by at least a half inch. This looks a little weird but it provides the greatest amount of surface support area. For the first minute, it may feel unusual, but you can travel for hours without pain. I weigh about 200 lbs and sadly the springs are too stiff and do not compress. I have a spring in the seat post that works fine. Some folks will not like the look of a nose-up cruiser seat on a non-cruiser bike. I don't really care about how it looks. This seat allows me to enjoy hours of bicycling without pain.

This was the second seat I tested, and I am much happier with this item for my cruising around city/suburbs biking. Winning features are springs and width. If you are looking for a comfort seat for making those jaunts around town fun, I will save you time: look for WIDTH and SPRINGS.11 inches always makes people happy, and a little bounce never hurt. First tried "Giddy Up!" brand, 8.3" wide memory foam seat. Problem there was that there really was no spring. Now, my bike is a standard, lower-tech cruiser bike with no shock-absorber style suspension systems built into the frame, or fat tires or whaterever, so the seat it the thing between my fanny and the road. The Giddy Up! just had foam, no spring action, and was too narrow. I'm a 34" waist, so not abnormally wide fella, but I am tall so there is *some* weight pressing down. Physics, you know, science. In comparison, the Cloud-9 Cruiser Contour Saddle just made big wins in width (11") and springs. There are actually 2 types of springs on it, thick and light, which is really nice. Now, it is "mushy" but a cruiser is for cruising, not performance cycling where mushyness might upset your style/stride or whatever. Width is width, and this also helps distribute butt-ness (more scientificalness) in a comfortable way. So with those two wins going for it, I give it full marks. If I have any criticism, it might be that the saddle-part between the legs is wide, probably proportioned with the hefty width of the seat. This portion then seems to rub your thighs, and makes me widen my legs. small price to pay, in my opinion, for the comfort gains. If you have more, ahem "muscle" around your thighs, think about that aspect. Heck, they make those seats that don't have that between the leg thing, if that is the case. Some reviewers talked about the rise of the back of the saddle. I have fiddled with the angle of the seat a few times and found the sweet spot for me, but that up-curve is there.Give angles changes a shot before you return it. Second, reviewers said it squeaked (the springs) First, mine doesn't squeak much but I can see that they might over time. Oil/grease always fixed squeaks, and the springs are WORTH IT.

Cloud 9 is already a fantastic bike seat brand, but a contour suspension saddle is unreal! The contour is just perfect for my style of riding and the way I want to feel in my seat on my rides. You really do sit “in” this saddle as opposed to just “on” it with other styles and brands. There is enough cushion to feel great and last for longer rides, but not as much cushion as other styles of cloud 9 saddles, so keep that in mind. Great product and works even better with a suspension seat post. I definitely appreciate the tilt factor to get the seat just right. Highly recommended

Ok overall for the price, Very very heavy saddle, seems comfortable with nose tilted up a bit, cover feels pretty thin like it would easy rip or tear and not so durable-time will tell

I'm male, 5'10", 225 pounds. I've been riding a hybrid bike (Trek 7200) for the last five or six years. I like the bike a lot, but the seat was never very comfortable, so I replaced the original equipment seat a couple of years ago with another similar-style seat recommended by my local bike shop. It was a little better, but not much. On longer rides my sit bones still got sore. I considered replacing my bike with a "comfort" bike (a Trek Shift 3), which was indeed very comfortable, but the cost seemed prohibitive. Finally, I decided to try a wider seat on my current bike. I ordered three different seats in the Cloud-9 series from Amazon and tried each one out. A different seat might be better for other people, but for me, this one was ideal. I used it on a 23-mile ride earlier today, with no discomfort at all. (I also wore bike shorts.) Thus, for less than $100 (bike shorts, this seat, and return shipping on the other two), I've got a very comfortable bike for much less money than the new bike I was considering. I'm delighted.

This is the second one of these that I have purchased in 6 months. It does have a definite contour that holds you IN rather than ON the saddle. It requires you to set it up properly to work right. 1. Nose higher than tail by a few degrees or about maybe an inch. You know its right when you don't feel yourself sliding forward. (play with it) 2. The height needs to be adjusted so that you're not too low or too high. It's about right when you get almost a full leg extension at the bottom of the pedal stroke, but not "reaching" for the pedal. The reaching will cause forward pressure on your body "seat". Too low and you will feel like you are pushing back against the lip on the saddle. I weigh 225 LBS and my weight doesn't compress the springs on the saddle very much, only enough for the saddle to rock side to side while pedaling, so the saddle moves with me instead of against me. Stiff springs. This saddle comes with the seatpost adapter which adapts to a strait seatpost. The adapter was installed backwards on my last one however. The proper and typical orientation is bolt behind the seatpost once installed on the seatpost. I push my saddle all the way back on the rails, but there is about 2-3 inches of for-aft adjustment possible. The only time the seatpost adapter is oriented with the bolt forward of the seatpost is when you want the extra forward adjustment to get you closer to the handlebars. If your bike has a seatpost with a built in clamp, just take the one this comes with off. This saddle has tough side material to help prevent tears when leaning against a building or something, or tip overs. Not every saddle will fit every body, and sitting style also plays a significant role in comfort. This saddle is designed for upright body riding positions, and would also work really nice on three wheelers or adult Trikes. I have many bicycles, and most of my other saddles are made by Brooks and are full leather, This Sun Cloud Nine happens to work really well for me on an electric cargo bike, where weight is not an issue, but comfort is. It sits like a cruiser bicycle with rear sweeping handlebars and me sitting straight up. [It could also be adapted and tilted to work on a crank-forward style bike too where you want something to push against, like a Sun Bicycles Easy Racers Sunray SX or Day 6 Comfort Bicycle, it has a moderate rise to the tail and you could substitute this saddle for the stock one if you don't need/like/want the back rest and can't find or don't want a stock replacement]

Easy to install so comfortable perfect for long rides by far the most comfortable bike seat I had by far.

I bought one of these a while back - just love it. This one was for my husband and he's so happy with it.

Good comfy seat

It's not the comfiest saddle I've ever sat in (that honor goes to an old Persons saddle that I believe came off a Whizzer motorised bicycle), but it's decently comfortable. I bought this saddle to put on my sit-down e-scooter to stop me sliding backwards under acceleration and it does the job. The springs don't have any travel whatsoever, so they're only there for show (this seems to be theme with modern sprung saddles) and I wouldn't mind it being an inch or so wider so that it feels closer to sitting in a motorcycle saddle. Maybe with slightly softer foam in it too because the foam they fill it with is more on the firm side. The main thing I don't like about this saddle though is the price. It costs £53 here in the UK. I know part of that is the shipping cost, but still, I don't feel that price is justified for what you get.

Could be better, still getting saddle soreness. Better than basic though.