nagarkar

I looked into the gebiomized 'dynamic' fit consultation and it is pretty expensive (> $300 per). I have a large family, many are cycling enthusiasts and I was wondering if there is a smart saddle product in the market that can do something like a saddle pressure analysis (GP Bike – gebioMized), and automatically adjust the saddle position/orientation to optimize the pressure distribution. I couldn't find anything at Amazon or my local bike supply shop. Does anyone else have this need or am I crazy?

MRT2

Not aware of such a thing but if someone can invent it at a reasonable price, they might just make a killing.

jimmie65

If it did exist, it would probably cost far more than $300.

hillyman

I like the old fashion way. You buy and try 20 different saddles and then you finally buy a Brooks and your done.

WizardOfBoz

I think if you go into a trek store they have you set on a color etch a sketch. Your sit bones are the pressure points, and this shows up as two dots. They can measure the distance between the two points and give you a size. But some points:

1) Most saddle models only come in a few sizes. If you can figure out about how far apart are your sitz bones, you zero in pretty quick. And if you are willing to say (for example) something like "I'm a 5'8" guy with a pretty narrow waist, so I'm either a narrow or a medium" (YMMV) you can probably figure this out without multiple-day-long biometric measuring sessions, a supercomputer, and Finite Element software.

2) Assuming your large family is comprised of a large number of kids, there is no freekin way I'd spend money on analyzing my kid's tushies to optimize a saddle.
a) They are going to grow out of the saddle within a time frame of, say, tomorrow at 11am
b) They're young and their tushies are more resilient than us more senior folk
c) Unless they're a promising Junior category riders, they don't care about the seat.

If the larger family is comprised of adults, they should be deciding on and paying for "gebiomized" fits if they want. If you are planning a long family ride and want to ensure that everyone's comfortable, there should be some preliminary training rides to ensure that their seat is good for them. Pre-analysis is ok, but is no substitute for doing training and testing rides. If you're not doing long rides, why worry about a gebioMized fit? It doesn't matter...

I'm an engineer, and I can zero in on a problem and really optimize the heck out of it. But I know I can (and often do) overanalyze a situation. It's my German genes!

fietsbob

4/01/18, there are many smartasses, maybe that is well known?

Road Fan

The way the word is, it sounds like a German term.

Road Fan

Lirpa 1 or not, as one who is also an engineer I see no reason Trek could not have built such a system to put in their shops, and if you can get your kids a ride on the carousel for a small fee, why not? Whether you go on to a custom fit and bike build is strictly up to you. But to pay a small fee for some key information? Go for it, if it's real.

preferdownhill

why not get a couple cheap seat posts and some seats on ebay. then anyone can put on the seat they want. If the bikes shared, then the seat post position is being changed all the time anyway, so popping in a new seat in not a big deal. I have two seats on seatposts for my casual bike. If its a slow ride with a group I put on a wider sprung seat, but if its a faster ride usually myself I put on a more agressive seat since most weight is on my feet anyway then.

rydabent

Or just go to a bent or a trike and then the source of the pain is gone forever.

The comfort saddle is no saddle at all, it is a totally comfortable sling seat like the one on my trike.

jefnvk

At least until you want to ride up a hill

linberl

I think that it's a moot point since all saddles compress and change after you ride them a while. Unless you buy that titanium metal thing that has zero padding. But any saddle made with a padded surface or leather is going to deform/reshape as you ride. So what appears to be a perfect fit when you purchase will change over time, anyway. Just get the right width for sit bones. Besides, it's a time honored tradition to buy a bunch of saddles, lol. In your situation, maybe each person should buy a different saddle and you can swap them around until they find the perfect butts.

veganbikes

A silly saddle is not going to give you a fit. It may tell you something about your saddle positioning or width but probably not much more if that. A bike fit can cost money but is very worth it in the end. It addresses a lot more than just some points about your saddle.

A lot of shops now have some sort of saddle fitting tool which can at least measure sit bones and then hopefully staff there can direct you towards a better fitting saddle and sometimes they can do minor fit adjustments but a real fitting is so nice and you might reach out to your nearest fitter and see if they have any sort of family discounts or levels of fittings because maybe others in the family might not need a full comprehensive fit and just something more basic.

hillyman

This is all pretty true. But your not going to jump on a horse your first time and ride off into the sunset. I can see the sitbones and bike fitting getting you into the ballpark but no guarantees. Getting your buttocks and body in shape first then finding out what works for you takes time and trial and error.

veganbikes

Sure...but I can say with my fit it really was a game changer right out of the gate. It does help to have ridden the bike a bit and get a good feeling for what you got and what may need to be changed. In my case I had ridden almost the same saddle (different rails) on two other bikes so I knew that was good it was just fixing position and height there but also my cleat position and bars and stem.

Carbonfiberboy 

The nerves in your butt will tell you if you have an optimal pressure distribution.

rydabent

With the gearing I have selected on my bent and trike, I ride up hills very easy. I have had bent legs going on 13 years now, and that helps too.

phughes

Dirt Farmer

How about fragranced sadddles for those poor LBS employees?

BlazingPedals

...and you know this because there are lots of hills in Detroit?

dim

true .... on all my bikes, I have Brooks (but I've modernised .... I have the C17 Carved .... amazing saddle, especially for far distance

I've had a few Brooks leather, but it rains too much here. I've also had a Gilles Berthoud Aravis when I had a Surly LHT .... a very comfy saddle, and did not take long to break in

jefnvk

There are lots of hills in Northern Michigan on the last tour I went on, and folks on recumbents sure did a lot of whining about them. Some even had motors to help. Don't recall seeing an non-bent ebike.

hillyman

Same here. Have had a B17 and a B67 on other bikes. Now bought the new weather proof C17 and C19 carved (because I couldnt decide between the two) to replace my cloth C17 that looks WW2 vintage after 2 years use. Will experiment between the two on my full size folding Mt/Road bike because it's the only bike I can take on road with me. But I change things just to change things I think.

hillyman

I see a lot of Bents at the HillyHundred every year. Not mountains but some steep big hills. Never heard one Bent rider complain or use electric motors. One year the Vietnam Vets rode it after coming back from a ride across Vietnam. Many on Bents and some hand cranked the whole ride. And you want to make fun of Bents?

Kapusta

Along with your dignity