Narrow sprung saddles?

[Nearholmer]

Like one of these devices ?

I think I’d want to closely read the material specification, report of long-term testing with representative loads etc, before entrusting my posterior to that, because my instant reaction is that when it snaps at the front curve, a horrible jaggy bit of steel will puncture the inside of my thigh.

[pwa]

Yep, saddle rails snap, so I'd be wary of any device looking like it is just springy saddle rails, where snapping could be very nasty indeed.

In theory, if one is just after 10mm or so of suspension, that ought to be doable within the top of a carefully designed saddle, using flexible plastics and foam. But for some reason I've never found a synthetic material saddle that gets it quite right. For me. Of course, suspension for one's posterior starts with the tyres and can include bits of equipment right up through the wheels, frame and seatpost before finishing with whatever the saddle can do for you. Slightly springy leather works best for me at that point.

[Brucey]

Yep, saddle rails snap, so I'd be wary of any device looking like it is just springy saddle rails, where snapping could be very nasty indeed.

In theory, if one is just after 10mm or so of suspension, that ought to be doable within the top of a carefully designed saddle, using flexible plastics and foam. ......

for many years I happily used saddles with Ti rails (which are inherently more flexy than most) atop seat pins where I had set the saddle as far back as possible, and as a consequence the rails running to the back of the saddle were allowed to flex as much as possible too. Needless to say, this scheme only worked properly if the seatpin and seat angle were correct too. Maybe I was lucky, but I never had a failure.

My gadget would probably use two thinner, more flexible steel wire springs at the front as a 'hinge', split Al spacers to ensure the thinner wire is clamped properly, and elastomers at the rear to provide the suspension. By using different elastomers, different amounts of movement would be possible. About 100g is not unrealistic as a target weight for such a thing. Eventually, I'd expect the steel springs to break. However, the bike should be rideable with just one, and furthermore it could be made easy and cheap to replace them.

[pwa]

Yep, saddle rails snap, so I'd be wary of any device looking like it is just springy saddle rails, where snapping could be very nasty indeed.

In theory, if one is just after 10mm or so of suspension, that ought to be doable within the top of a carefully designed saddle, using flexible plastics and foam. ......

for many years I happily used saddles with Ti rails (which are inherently more flexy than most) atop seat pins where I had set the saddle as far back as possible, and as a consequence the rails running to the back of the saddle were allowed to flex as much as possible too. Needless to say, this scheme only worked properly if the seatpin and seat angle were correct too. Maybe I was lucky, but I never had a failure.

Yes, I used to ram the saddle right back, but had about three saddles incur snapped rails just inward of the front clamp edge. One titanium and two steel. To be fair, I did suspect the front edges of the clamp were sharp and possibly scoring the rails, so I started smoothing off that edge on new seatposts before use. When my saddle rails failed, nothing dramatic happened. Mainly just a clicking in time with the pedalling, the clamp just about still supporting the loose end. But if, as with that springy extended thing, the rails had a vertical portion that might fail, who knows what failure might look like?

[UpWrong]

It looks like the Nidd Sprung is 168mm wide, https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m18b0s204p3 ... her-Saddle

[UpWrong]

for many years I happily used saddles with Ti rails (which are inherently more flexy than most) atop seat pins where I had set the saddle as far back as possible, and as a consequence the rails running to the back of the saddle were allowed to flex as much as possible too. Needless to say, this scheme only worked properly if the seatpin and seat angle were correct too. Maybe I was lucky, but I never had a failure.

There's Spa's Aire Open titanium saddle with a width of 148mm, currently on offer at £125
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m18b0s204p4 ... her-Saddle