Sheepskin

seat pad

Having now had the opportunity to test my latest bit of bike kit, a #sheepskin seat pad, I feel its now time to report back on how I find it to live with. First, let me give you a bit of background. When I bought my Triumph Tiger 955i, my first ride was over 160 miles from the purchaser to my home in South Lincs. This was in torrential rain, following my better half in her Qashqai, mostly on A roads & motorways. With two stops for coffee, it wasn’t a bad journey.

However, since then (and not because of) I’ve been suffering a trapped nerve in my lower back. This has made riding a little uncomfortable after 30 – 40 minutes and certainly spoils my riding pleasure.

I read about other adventure bike riders using sheepskin seat pads which increased their comfort and almost doubling their time in the saddle. I’d also heard of horse riders using them for much the same reason, so decided to purchase one. This one came with fitting instructions which showed how simple it was to fit to the bike. It took me about 5 minutes in all, including reading the instructions & removing the seat from the bike.

My latest comfort accessory

Up until now, I haven’t ridden more than 20 miles, commuting to work a couple of times so was reluctant to put fingers to keyboard to report back. However, over the last two weekends, that changed.

Firstly, was a ride, again in torrential rain. It wasn’t far & only lasted around 50 minutes, but the difference when compared to the standard seat was chalk & cheese, and I definitely like cheese. It didn’t matter that it got wet, I didn’t notice until I got home. What I did notice was no discomfort when riding and my backside remained toasty warm, more so than my hands, even wearing winter gloves. When I got home, I took the sheepskin off & gave it a good shake which got most of the water off. Admittedly, I also took it inside & hung it up to dry, but I also did the same to my textile jacket & trousers. There was no wet dog (or sheep) smell even though it was the first time it got wet since buying it. So far, plus marks all round. It seems the cat likes it too.

The second ride was a round 160-mile trip out, again mostly on A roads & motorways, but with various roadworks, time in the saddle was around 1 hour 45 minutes each way. This time it was dry, although when I set off, the temperature was just over 5^oC. Thing is, I didn’t really notice the cold, at least not in my body. Again, wearing winter gloves, my hands were a little cold (must get the heated grips fixed) but I believe the seat pad kept my core warm. After the first 30 miles or so, once I’d adjusted to riding the bike with no stop, start traffic as is usual on my commute, I still felt comfortable & could have happily carried on further when we reached our destination.

On the way home, it was a little warmer & riding with the Sun on our backs, I’m glad I took the inner liner out of my jacket, I didn’t need it. Despite what you’d think, my nice warm sheepskin seat pad was nice and cool on the way home. Actually, it probably wasn’t cool, it’s more likely that it kept my core temperature more stable because of the thermal properties of the natural sheepskin, but that doesn’t sound quite as cool as… er cool. Again, I could have ridden further but something that the sheepskin pad can’t do is feed me & tea was calling.

Another plus for my sheepskin seat pad.

So that’s three plusses and no minuses so far.

What do you mean, that’s only two?

Didn’t I mention how much it cost? Oh, ok. How about the grand total of £32.00? Try getting a gel seat or heat pad for that kind of dosh & I think you’ll be looking for a long time.