Russell or Rick Mayer?

[Duster19]

Is it worth waiting for a POSSIBLE Russell group buy (assuming it's a 20% discount) or purchase a Rick Mayer (Spoke with Rick and he said no on Group Buy) this month with my 10% teacher discount? With the Possible Group Buy discount the two seats are basically the same cost.

I have not ridden with either of the two seats, but would have to say in my opinion the Rick Mayer looks better. It simple looks cleaner on the bike.

So are the Russell seats that much better or are both about the same and it's just simply a personal choice?

Thanks,

Dave

PS. I have a Corbin Dual Canyon (sucks for two-up) and I use Bead Riders. Better then stock, but not that much.

 

[FJRay]

Russell gets my vote but I have had three of them so far and have not tried the competition.

 

[RiderCoach Lar]

....in my opinion the Rick Mayer looks better. It simple looks cleaner on the bike.
So are the Russell seats that much better or are both about the same and it's just simply a personal choice?

I agree with your opinion that the Rick Mayer looks "cleaner", however, having road on both, I've found the Russell to be more comfortable. I think it is a matter of personal choice since everyone's ass is different :blink: . The bottom line is, I don't think you can go wrong with either; they're both well made and are both infinitely better than stock.

 

[Warchild]

So are the Russell seats that much better or are both about the same and it's just simply a personal choice?

I have both.

I have the Russell on my FJR.

I have the Rick Mayer on my Hayabusa.

To give you an indication of which I prefer.... I am going to have my Russell seat on the FJR re-done by Rick Mayer.

I have a few shots of Rick re-building my Hayabusa seat last June... here he is working on my stock seat pan, trimming away some excess foam:

Rick cutting my basket-weave vinyl seat cover - all by hand - while the Busa sets waiting in the background:

And... the final result!!

 

[Ignacio]

I would note that Warchild did a ride-in with Rick. That's probably a far better thing to do with him. His stuff is a work of art, but it took me three tries of mailing my my seat back before it finally got to be about 95% LD ready....and that's with a set of beads.

I'm sure had I rode in I would have gotten at least that in the first try.

 

[rickcorwn]

I've got 175,000 miles on Russell seats and I would NOT have a touring bike without one, just one man's opinion.

The Russell group buys usually happen in December.

Six or seven years ago I bought a rain cover from Rick Mayer it took a month of phone calls and emails to get the cover mailed out to me. Apparently some things haven't changed much here's a thread about Rick's customer service Dealer & Vendor Feedback Forum

 

[devanator]

I did a SS1000 with rickcorwn this last month at CFO. My first 1050 mile day on my Russel. My ass didn't feel bad at all. The next day I rode another couple hundred. With the stock, once I hit 4-500 it was getting about time to call it quits. I love mine.

I bought a Mayer seat off the forum a couple of years ago and it was better than stock but I still wasn't quite happy with it. So I sold that and bought the Russel on last winters GB. I wouldn't go with out it.

 

[madmike2]

I certainly like my Russell. Then again, I'm no Iron Butt rider. 500-600 miles a day, for 2 or 3 days in a row, is about all I usually ride.

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

I love the Russell. Many 1000 mile days easy with no butt pain whatsoever. I also had a ride in with the Rick Mayer seat and after one return after the initial ride in fitting I sold it. I also had a Corbin and I have a Bill Mayer on my Wee Strom. Much prefer the Russell. Its almost time for a rebuild and some adjustments on the Russell as it is 5 years old.

 

[johnny80s]

I have a Bill (Rocky) Mayer and really like it. I also recommend the ride in.

 

[meosborn]

I did a ride in for a Rick Mayer. I can't speak for Russel, but the whole experience at Rick Mayer Cycle (cost, quality, service) was outstanding. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

On a side note, my avatar is a picture on Hwy 1 on the ride home after getting my Rick Mayer saddle. If you have the time, there's no better views anywhere (maybe some as good but, IMHO, none better).

 

[mtmax1]

Is it worth waiting for a POSSIBLE Russell group buy (assuming it's a 20% discount) or purchase a Rick Mayer (Spoke with Rick and he said no on Group Buy) this month with my 10% teacher discount? With the Possible Group Buy discount the two seats are basically the same cost.
I have not ridden with either of the two seats, but would have to say in my opinion the Rick Mayer looks better. It simple looks cleaner on the bike.

So are the Russell seats that much better or are both about the same and it's just simply a personal choice?

Thanks,

Dave

PS. I have a Corbin Dual Canyon (sucks for two-up) and I use Bead Riders. Better then stock, but not that much.

I have at this time 5 Rick mayer seats and can say they are worth the money and wait . I went to his shop and had it fitted to me and it is the best mod on the bike right after that would be the Ohlins shock .

 

[Shooter]

Never had a Mayer seat, so my opinion on comparing Russell vs. Mayer is worthless. However, I will tell you that I'd gotten to the point where I was ready to sell the FJR. Mine's a first gen ('03). I otherwise have no butt or hip problems, but by the time I hit a measly 70 miles or so on the FJR, my hip joints hurt so badly that it was literally difficult -- and painful -- to walk. The bike was basically unrideable for me for anything but the shortest rides. Based on the research I did, I settled on trying a Russell to solve the problem. I talked directly with the builder and told him my problem. Roughly three weeks after sending my seat to CA, I received the finished product. I had a 1,000 mile trip planned, and only had a chance to "break-in" the seat with a hundred mile ride or so. My initial reaction was that I thought the seat was going to work. It did. The final day of the trip was 344 miles, primarily interstate. Prior to the Russell seat, there's no way on God's green earth I could have done it. Bottom line is that when I pulled in to my driveway, I honestly believe I could have easily ridden virtually unlimited additional miles. It truly made that much of a difference. The only thing I had to get used to was that I now sat higher. I only have a 31" inseam, and the wide addition to the back of the seat means I can't just put my feet down at a stop. I literally have to slide all the way forward in the seat and then do the stop. But once I got used to that, it was a non-issue.

For what it's worth...

 

[cota95]

I bought a Rick Mayer seat a couple of years ago on a group buy. I didn't like it when I first got it and sent it back. I still didn't like it but just sucked it up. It's weird but short trips it's not as comfortable but LD (cross country last spring) it gave me no issues. I'd buy another (I think a ride-in would be better) because IMHO it looks so much better than the Russell on a sporty bike.