The Real Reason
Why Comfort Isn't Optional For Us
Long days in the saddle filming back-to-back hub visits means comfort stops being a nice-to-have. It becomes the difference between a good shoot day and a miserable one, especially when a ride that should take two hours turns into six with setup, resets and re-shoots.
SQlab is an underrated name in the cycling industry. We use their grips, saddles and bibs, and they're some of the best money can buy. Ergonomic and comfortable, they remove the fatigue of riding and allow us longer days in the saddle. We LOVE them.
SQlab's whole approach, measure first, then fit the product to the rider, is the opposite of guesswork, and that's the standard we want on our own bikes, on both the technical and the all-day rides.
Their Story
Built On A Simple Idea: Measure First
SQlab was founded in 2003 near Munich, Germany, by Tobias Hild, whose interest in ergonomics started after a motocross and downhill injury left him experiencing numbness that standard components couldn't solve. That personal problem became the company's founding focus: designing bike contact points, saddles, grips and pedals, around actual body measurements rather than one-size-fits-all shapes.
In 2002 SQlab became the first saddle manufacturer to develop a system for measuring the distance between a rider's sit bones to calculate optimal saddle width, an approach that's since become standard practice across the saddle-fitting industry. The company has continued that same measurement-first philosophy across grips, handlebars, pedals and insoles.
In South Africa, SQlab is distributed by GPM Sports, based in Benoni, Johannesburg, who also bring in Shanren, Gloworm lights and BikeFit. It's that distributor relationship, and its Instagram handle, that connects South African riders to a genuinely specialist German ergonomics brand.