Luck is the residue of hard work. This U.S.-based company didn't know what it had when it endeavored to make a better saddle for traditional cyclists. All of a sudden triathletes started buying it - and not Koobi's racey road saddle, but its heavy touring saddle.
Koobi decided to follow up on this serendipitous stroke of luck and it asked its customers what would make its saddles even better for triathletes. The result was its Tri saddle, just out within the past year, and as is the case with Selle San Marco's TriathGel here is a saddle marketed to triathletes because of its technical features, not because of its price point.
It's a split-shell saddle and therefore specifically targets the problem of a triathlete's sensitive weight-bearing region - sensitive when he's rotated over in the aero position. The Koobi Tri saddle also has a layer of gel, and while this adds a bit of weight, it's counteracted by the use of hollow titanium rails.
Only one other company uses these rails that we know of, and that's Selle Italia in its SLR line of saddles. In fact, Selle Italia makes several of Koobi's saddles, and this is one of them.
The Koobi Tri saddle is the best selling of all the saddles Koobi makes. While Koobi has been very adept at listening to its users, they're still feeling their way around this market. They specifically point out, for example, that Olympic Gold Medalist Simon Whitfield is a user. We gently explained to Koobi that this means precisely nothing to potential triathlon customers, because while Whitfield is beloved and revered by triathletes, he's known for his draft-legal race results and it's not while on their road race bikes that triathletes need a saddle specific for them. It's an Ironman athlete's name that Koobi needs to drop.
Fortunately for Koobi, they have something even better than a name - they've got a saddle. There will be a product review on the Koobi tri saddle forthcoming, because along with the Selle San Marco TriathGel this is one of the few saddles triathletes should pay attention to. Koobi originally charged upwards of $140 for this saddle, and its sales were spare. It dropped the price to $99 and it can't keep the saddle in stock. Whether or not Koobi keeps this special sale price we don't know. The construction of the saddle warrants the higher price.
Koobi saddles can be found at its website: www.koobi.com
