MovingViolation

I've just upgraded my Brompton with a Brooks Cambium saddle. I get on well with Brooks B17, but had swapped for a while to the standard Brompton saddle to get something more resistant to the elements since I sometimes ride in the rain. The basic Brompton saddle is pretty awful, so decided to try the Cambium which promised more comfort, zero break-in period, and fewer upkeep / rain protection issues.

The Cambium has been a revelation. It kills a lot of the road buzz that was registering on my rear end - my bike has the firm suspension block.

Anyway what I'm getting at is there ought to be a list of suggested saddles which play well with small-wheeled bikes and provide good support whilst eating up the the kind of road buzz we have to live with due to our love of smaller wheel sizes and lower tyre volumes.

What else is good?

Also, does a Brompton titanium seat post make much of a difference to ride quality?

berlinonaut

A saddle is a very individual thing - everone is different. So hard to give an advice here. I do not see why saddles for small wheelers would differ from ordinary saddles.

wqlava1

Only differ in that most small wheelers have the rider more upright and at a slower speed. I usually have B17, C17 or Flyer saddles on 650B and 700C bikes with drop bars, but found that the wider C19 Carved is very comfortable on the Dahon and BF I’ve been riding lately, both with flat bars and both forcing me to be more upright in posture.

berlinonaut

But than again that is due to the riding position and not due to the bike being a small wheeler. You can have a racing small wheeler and a very upright big wheeler like a Dutch bike. And I would not buy into the "most small wheelers have the rider more upright" claim as only a fraction of the big-wheelers are racing bikes and the whole idea of a proper small wheeler is to offer the same geometry than a big-wheeled bike, just that it is foldable and/or easier to store.

linberl

Can't speak to Brompton titanium saddle post but it made a big difference on my Bike Friday pakiT. Absorbs bigger bumps even better than little ones. Enough difference that I went and installed the titanium stem mast as well. There's a bit more flex on the seat mast but I'm pretty light and it doesn't bother me at all. Ymmv with the differences on the Brommie design, but I prefer the feel. Maybe you can find one to try out. As to saddle, get one that fits your butt, same as with any other bike. If you don't go titanium, can you not add a thudbuster to a Brompton? Or does it mess with the fold too much?

Schwinnsta

Thudbuster on bike with rear suspension is redundant.

linberl

Maybe not - "a lot of the road buzz that was registering on my rear end - my bike has the firm suspension block."

mlau

The titanium seatpost makes a noticable difference in ride.

It's much smoother

MovingViolation

Interesting comments!

Yes, suspension blocks (I use the firm one) obviously smooth out the ride somewhat.

However I've noticed that I'm more irritated by high frequency road buzz (e.g. chip seal) than by bigger lower frequency jolts. Suspension blocks work more like high pass filters and seem to mainly attenuate the lower bigger amplitude lower frequency 'noise'.

I feel as if the rubbery Cambium saddle does a better job with the high frequency stuff than the previous B17 and Brompton stock saddles. I asked about the Titanium seat post option because Titanium bikes have such a good reputation for smooth ride quality. Might try one of these too... don't care too much about the weight bonus of Ti... but if it makes the ride more pleasant sure.

These are kind of asymptotic gains, but I'm hedonistic enough to chase them whilst being masochistic enough to pedal up hills in tropical heat. Rationality ain't in it!

Depaso

Seatpost with suspension and the seat of your choice

linberl

The Brommie titanium seat post might give different results, but I've found on my pakiT that the t post reduce larger shocks more than road buzz. Perhaps the combo of that with a cambium might work well for you. Good luck. Also, a good padded short helps with buzz as well.