First Impressions of the Infinity Seat by Nicole Thomas
We have only three contact points with the bike: handle bars, pedals, and seat, with the seat supporting almost all of our weight. So, having a saddle that’s comfortable is essential. Finding a comfortable saddle can also be the most frustrating thing about biking.
I’ve been cycling seriously for about 14 years, including 10 full seasons of triathlon. I log greater than 2500 miles per year.
Years ago I discovered that a saddle with a center cutout worked pretty well for me. I went through a few Terry saddles through the years and recently had a Bontrager Hilo on the tri bike and a Cobb V-Flow Max on the road bike. Two seasons ago I started having discomfort out on the left side and switched to narrower saddles: Cobb V-Flow on the tri bike and Cobb V-Flow Plus on the road bike. All was good until recently, when my mileage started being increased in training for Ironman Louisville and I started to have soft tissue discomfort.
Very recently I heard about a radical-looking saddle called the Infinity Seat; it basically looks like just the outlines of a saddle! I decided to go radical and give it a try!
I mounted the Infinity Seat on my tri bike at the beginning of last week; since then I’ve gotten in 2 trainer rides (45min, 40min) and one outdoor ride (42 miles / 2hr47min).
First impression: it’s neither an “Ah ha!” nor a “Hell No!”
With a traditional saddle, you feel like you are sitting *on* the saddle; with the Infinity Seat it’s more like *hanging in it*; it’s somewhat hard to describe the feeling.
You fit in the seat in *one* position; no sliding forward or back. This can be a deal-breaker for some people, or a savior for others. I’ve always needed to put my saddle nose a bit down for comfort, but that’s always lead to some sliding forward and needing to push myself back every so often. There’s definitely no sliding forward or pushing back with the Infinity Seat, but for me this was a good thing.
I could definitely feel the pressure where the saddle was cradling my rear, but it never got uncomfortable. I felt no pressure at all on the soft tissues. The front/side part of the saddle was comfortable while sitting up and in aero, but provided a little bit of discomfort when I leaned forward to drink from my aero straw. The fore/aft positioning, or something else (tilt?), maybe could be tweaked to help fix this, but I’m going to try leaving the saddle as is and work on fixing the position of my aero tube since I found that setting the fore/aft position has been the trickiest part of this change for me and I was already unhappy with my straw placement.
I do wish the nose were a little bit shorter as it sometimes hits me in the rear as I stand for hill climbing.
I’m definitely encouraged by these first rides and hope it works out for longer rides, up to my IMLou ride! I’ll keep you posted.
Update — 2 weeks later:
I’ve now been riding the Infinity seat for 3 weeks; I’ve done 2 more trainer rides (each 1 hour) and 4 more outdoor rides (2@1hr30min and 2@2hr30min). I’ve mostly stopped thinking about the saddle. If I try to be conscious of it, I can feel how it supports my sit bones without discomfort; I don’t feel it anywhere else. The sensation I mentioned about feeling like you sit/hang in it rather than sitting on it makes me feel more connected to bike, and that’s a good thing. My only reservation is that I’ve only gone 2.5hrs/42 miles on it, so I don’t yet know how it will feel for a HIM or full IM rides. Based on what I do know, it’s a keeper.
