Time for a review of my Rinoseat. I've had it for two weeks now approximately, and I've been using it quite a lot.
Packaging and assembly
The seat was packed in a compact cardboard box. Each part was wrapped in plastic or cardboard for protection. The box also includes all you’ll need for assembly, including tools. A nice gesture!
Assembly was not very difficult, but I took my time since I wanted to get it right. The instructions were OK, but with some ambiguities. If I were to do it again now I could probably do it in less than 15 minutes.
Disassembly/storage
My room is very small (10m^2) so I have to partially disassemble it after use. This is very easy! After removing a couple of screws it will fold like this:
Unfortunately you’ll need to use tools to tilt the seatback. I think this could have been done with some handles or something instead. It’s not a big deal, though.
Build quality
The seat it covered with artificial leather. All the seams are high quality and seem very well done. The metal parts have a nice paint cover, and all the welds and joints appear solid.
Use
Now, on to the fun bit. Is it comfortable to use? The short answer is yes. The long answer is yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.
I was totally amazed at the comfort!! It’s hard to put a finger on what exactly does it, but the whole feel of the seat is extremely good. The mix between soft cushions and still good support works very well indeed. Once you’ve adjusted the distance to the pedals correctly, the base of the seat will provide excellent support to your thighs. Also the way the seat is constructed, a lot of your body weight is held up by your legs, so there’s less weight on the seat itself. Since your body weight gets distributed over a large area it feels like you’re “floating on air”. (I stole that expression from some other review. ) Together, this means that even after long hours of racing I don’t get tired at all.
I’m using the Nixim mod, which requires me to use quite a lot of force when braking. I was slightly worried that this would cause the whole structure to flex and bend when I’m driving. However this is not the case – it feels very stable and solid.
Some words about adjustability: I was a little concerned about whether or not the seat would be big enough for me. I’m quite tall (2 meters) so I was wondering if the pedals could be shoved far enough away from the seat. (The pedals are connected to the seat base by a metal tube) And indeed they can! The distance from the seat and the pedals can be selected from about a million different positions, so this should work for everyone. Moreover the height/distance to the wheel, the angle of the pedal base and the seatback angle can all be adjusted as you please.
Now on to some of the negatives. Some people have expressed concern that the wheel isn’t supported all that well. And it’s true – the wheel support will flex some when you’re driving. This has both a negative and a positive side to it. Some people might think that it feels a little weird that it moves around like that, but on the other hand it means that the vibrations from the wheel get transferred into your seat. So when you hit a curb or something you’ll actually feel a thump in your legs. While subtle, I think this effect adds a little bit to the immersion, but the wobbliness of the wheel is a tradeoff that not everyone will be willing to make, I suppose.
One minor thing at the end – the legs are quite “pointy” and leave quite deep depressions in the linoleum on my floor. I’ve fixed this by placing some thin plastic discs underneath the legs, so it’s not really a problem, but anyway.. it’s the sort of thing that could easily be fixed by the manufacturer.
Overall
All in all, the Rinoseat is just what I was hoping it would be. The quality is great, and it can be adjusted to a lot of different positions to fit your fancy. It’s small and can be stored easily, but even though it’s small and looks kind of flimsy it’s very comfortable and stable. The only exception is the wheel support which flexes a little more than some might like. Personally I don’t think this is a problem, though, and all in all I’m very happy with the seat. It’s a little bit on the expensive side, though, but the value is great still.
I’m even thinking about making some extensions on it so I can use it for flight sims as well, which shouldn’t be too difficult considering the modular nature of the construction.
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If you want to add your own review or thougths about the seat, or if you have any questions, please feel free to post here.
Packaging and assembly
The seat was packed in a compact cardboard box. Each part was wrapped in plastic or cardboard for protection. The box also includes all you’ll need for assembly, including tools. A nice gesture!
Assembly was not very difficult, but I took my time since I wanted to get it right. The instructions were OK, but with some ambiguities. If I were to do it again now I could probably do it in less than 15 minutes.
Disassembly/storage
My room is very small (10m^2) so I have to partially disassemble it after use. This is very easy! After removing a couple of screws it will fold like this:
Unfortunately you’ll need to use tools to tilt the seatback. I think this could have been done with some handles or something instead. It’s not a big deal, though.
Build quality
The seat it covered with artificial leather. All the seams are high quality and seem very well done. The metal parts have a nice paint cover, and all the welds and joints appear solid.
Use
Now, on to the fun bit. Is it comfortable to use? The short answer is yes. The long answer is yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.
I was totally amazed at the comfort!! It’s hard to put a finger on what exactly does it, but the whole feel of the seat is extremely good. The mix between soft cushions and still good support works very well indeed. Once you’ve adjusted the distance to the pedals correctly, the base of the seat will provide excellent support to your thighs. Also the way the seat is constructed, a lot of your body weight is held up by your legs, so there’s less weight on the seat itself. Since your body weight gets distributed over a large area it feels like you’re “floating on air”. (I stole that expression from some other review. ) Together, this means that even after long hours of racing I don’t get tired at all.
I’m using the Nixim mod, which requires me to use quite a lot of force when braking. I was slightly worried that this would cause the whole structure to flex and bend when I’m driving. However this is not the case – it feels very stable and solid.
Some words about adjustability: I was a little concerned about whether or not the seat would be big enough for me. I’m quite tall (2 meters) so I was wondering if the pedals could be shoved far enough away from the seat. (The pedals are connected to the seat base by a metal tube) And indeed they can! The distance from the seat and the pedals can be selected from about a million different positions, so this should work for everyone. Moreover the height/distance to the wheel, the angle of the pedal base and the seatback angle can all be adjusted as you please.
Now on to some of the negatives. Some people have expressed concern that the wheel isn’t supported all that well. And it’s true – the wheel support will flex some when you’re driving. This has both a negative and a positive side to it. Some people might think that it feels a little weird that it moves around like that, but on the other hand it means that the vibrations from the wheel get transferred into your seat. So when you hit a curb or something you’ll actually feel a thump in your legs. While subtle, I think this effect adds a little bit to the immersion, but the wobbliness of the wheel is a tradeoff that not everyone will be willing to make, I suppose.
One minor thing at the end – the legs are quite “pointy” and leave quite deep depressions in the linoleum on my floor. I’ve fixed this by placing some thin plastic discs underneath the legs, so it’s not really a problem, but anyway.. it’s the sort of thing that could easily be fixed by the manufacturer.
Overall
All in all, the Rinoseat is just what I was hoping it would be. The quality is great, and it can be adjusted to a lot of different positions to fit your fancy. It’s small and can be stored easily, but even though it’s small and looks kind of flimsy it’s very comfortable and stable. The only exception is the wheel support which flexes a little more than some might like. Personally I don’t think this is a problem, though, and all in all I’m very happy with the seat. It’s a little bit on the expensive side, though, but the value is great still.
I’m even thinking about making some extensions on it so I can use it for flight sims as well, which shouldn’t be too difficult considering the modular nature of the construction.
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If you want to add your own review or thougths about the seat, or if you have any questions, please feel free to post here.