What is the best seat shock absorbing strategy?

[James9000]

Hi, I have a sit up and beg bike and would appreciate some advice on the best strategy for saddle shock absorption. I recently bought the plushiest sprung saddle I could find on Amazon for £30, it was really fat and padded and sprung and it was largely useless. It barely offers any shock absorbing, I'm only 65 kg so I might have been too light for the springs to work.. I want absolute maximum shock absorption. Don't know whether to go old school with a vintage sprung saddle and change the seatpost to an old-fashioned socket one, or go high-tech with a fancy seatpost suspension. Many thanks

[meic]

Have you already done all that you can with your rear tyre?

[James9000]

Have you already done all that you can with your rear tyre?

I've let the air out the tyres a bit and that has helped, the moment I have no shock absorption and is just about bearable. It's an old-fashioned new bike and the mudguard wouldn't fit a different tyre

[meic]

The mudguard will not fit a bigger tyre but it may be that it could fit a "nicer" tyre.
I have to say that I cant offer much help on this as I have just never suffered from this problem.
I am just pointing to tyres as being one of the main ways of getting a softer ride. Not just size and pressure but type of construction too.
My (700C)Vittoria Hypers 37mm just make the road surface shocks disappear compared to most other tyres.
26" Panaracer Paselas 1.5" have a similar effect.

[pwa]

For me the answer would be padded underwear, with the thickest padding you can find on the market at the time of purchase. Then a Brooks-style leather saddle, and the patience the use it through quite a few miles of discomfort before it acquires the dimples / depressions that correspond exactly with your sit bones. The leather does spring a little too as you go over bumps in the road. Titanium railed versions have a bit more spring than steel railed versions. A B17 is the standard for a slightly more upright position, though you may be even more upright than that saddle is designed for.

[meic]

Another thought.
Do you lift your bum off the seat or even just take the weight on your legs instead whenever you see something rougher than usual in the road ahead.
I often wonder why I never get this problem but others do. This is about the only thing I ever do to isolate my rear from batterings, no padding of seats or clothes and mostly on rockhard narrow tyres.

[Brucey]

Hi, I have a sit up and beg bike....

there's your problem. You are presumably bearing a good deal of your weight on the saddle.

You know how downhill skiers have their posture? You want to be a bit like that on your bike too. They have their bum stuck out the back and have their shoulders well forwards. They are balanced around their feet; you could put a saddle beneath their backside and there wouldn't be any weight on it. On a bike things are similar; when you are pedalling the reaction load from the pedals takes weight off your backside and your hands. The only way you can get all your body weight on the saddle and the handlebars is if you lift your feet off the pedals.

Something like this isn't bad advice;



The harder you push on the pedals, the further you can lean forwards without loading up your arms and hands, and the more aerodynamic you are.

The harder you push on the pedals, the less weight there is on your backside too. Soft squodgy saddles are no good at all; for the most part the over just rucks up and rubs in weird places that you wouldn't expect; completely hopeless.

cheers

[mjr]

Hi, I have a sit up and beg bike....

there's your problem. You are presumably bearing a good deal of your weight on the saddle.

It's unusual to see Brucey blame the wrong thing, but this looks like one! There are bits there which are good, like:

The harder you push on the pedals, the further you can lean forwards without loading up your arms and hands, and the more aerodynamic you are.

The harder you push on the pedals, the less weight there is on your backside too. Soft squodgy saddles are no good at all; for the most part the over just rucks up and rubs in weird places that you wouldn't expect; completely hopeless.

Except that while pushing weight on the pedals means you can lean forwards, it doesn't mean you have to.One can ride in a very "sit up and beg" position while sharing the weight on one's legs, if the bike's set up correctly. There's no need to lean forwards that much and it's a really bad idea to put much weight on one's hands - even with lovely comfortable swept handlebars, the wrists are often not in a great position for carrying weight as you steer.

Returning to the opening post: I'm about 65kg, I'm riding a steel Dutchie, I've a Dawes Grand Tourer sprung saddle on it (minimal padding, medium-stiff springs) and I've 37mm Delta Cruiser tyres at 40psi front, 60psi rear (slightly higher with heavy rear luggage) and it's fine for most rough tarmac or packed gravel at running speed, and slowly over rough cobbles and dirt tracks. Tyre pressures and saddle position are key.

[steady eddy]

My wife has a suspension seat pot on her bike and it works very well. Not much bounce when you pedal, so no loss of effort, but takes the sting out of rough roads. seems to me to be just what you want.

[Mick F]

I agree with Brucey.
Excellent diagram as well.

[James9000]

I appreciate all your thought, I should have mentioned I'm quite badly disabled and it's a miracle I can even get on and ride a bike, unfortunate have to ride totally upright.I'm going to apply my usual strategy of buying the cheapest equipped and seeing if it does the job. And work up from there, I'm going to start with the cheap sprung seats stem. I'll share what I find out in case it helps anyone else.

[pwa]

I appreciate all your thought, I should have mentioned I'm quite badly disabled and it's a miracle I can even get on and ride a bike, unfortunate have to ride totally upright.I'm going to apply my usual strategy of buying the cheapest equipped and seeing if it does the job. And work up from there, I'm going to start with the cheap sprung seats stem. I'll share what I find out in case it helps anyone else.

I know I suggested a near £200 saddle upthread but you are right to try to spend as little as possible. I must have spent a small fortune on failed saddle experiments over the years.

[meic]

This might well solve your problem but it is "silly money".
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cane-creek-thud ... seat-post/

[StephenW]

I have a saddle called Lepper Tour. It is a mattress saddle, which means that there are springs running from front to back underneath, as well as the two springs at the back. The springs really work! I especially realise this when I ride another bike that does not have a sprung saddle. If I put my fingers on the springs whilst riding along I can really feel them working. I weight about 85 kg.

The Lepper Tour cost about £25. It squeaks a bit, and after a couple of years of daily use the plastic is slightly cracking around the sewing. Overall I'd recommend it for doing shorter distances on an upright bike.

I have never used a sprung Brooks saddle, but I believe their springs are stiffer than Lepper springs. If you want a really sprung saddle, look for a Lepper Primus!

In the past I had a suspention seat post. My preference would definitely be for a saddle with springs over a suspension seat post. Depending on the saddle model, you might be able to have both.

[cycleruk]

This looks interesting:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Saddle-Suspens ... 0534.m4207

Other on Ebay:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Classic-Bicycl ... 0534.m4207

Sorry but I have no idea how effective they are.