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Dynamic Pressure mapping
Testing with the gebioMized system. Result: down force is significantly reduced.
Read the results
Compare WilliamLilt Reactive saddle with other saddles: SMP Hybrid, Prologo X10.
BIke fit and our saddle
Always do a bike fit first, then replace whatever saddle with our saddle.
More about the numbers
(All diagrams are in the slideshow. Feel free to dig into the numbers.)
Dynamic pressure mapping starts by measuring the force applied to the saddle. We tackle the problem at its source: reducing saddle force. As the results show, the mean force is cut by more than half (128N vs. 377N on the SMP Hybrid). WHY?
- Because I am using a wider saddle, it may shift some body weight toward my arms. Let’s look at the most aggressive forward-tilt estimate of : 150N1. Even then, we are still looking at a total force of just 278N (128N+150N) compared to 377N on the SMP.
- The real magic happens because my saddle stays largely out of the way of your movement. Your body makes less contact with the saddle structure. See the full analysis below.
Force to Saddle:
WilliamLilt Reactive (left) vs. SMP Hybrid (right)
Dig into the force to saddle.
The force to saddle of WilliamLilt Reactive (left) is much more smaller than the SMP Hybrid (right), why?
When you pedal, your legs lift your body up, which means less force is supported by the saddle. However, during a downstroke, your butt(to be more specific, your hamstrings) hits the saddle. It is the combination of these two alternating forces that makes the pressure graph fluctuate up and down like an ECG machine. The key is to reduce the amount of force hitting the saddle during that downstroke—and our reactive saddle is designed to do exactly that.
Self-built Pressure Sensor Data
I built a pressure sensor myself to collect data while climbing a hill. If our design truly works, then the harder I pedal, the less force should be applied to the saddle.
The results are exactly what we expected: with the Prologo X10 (blue line), when I pedal harder uphill, the force on the saddle increases. This is normal, as your butt presses harder into the seat. However, with our reactive saddle (green line), the force on the saddle actually decreases. My body weight shifts to my legs and my butt hits the saddle less hard.
- When a saddle is too wide, it physically pushes your body forward because the flares of the seat interfere with your inner thighs and hamstrings as your legs move downward. This forward shift dramatically alters the bike’s weight distribution, dumping an extra 80N to 150N (roughly 8 to 15 kg / 17 to 33 lbs) of continuous force directly onto your arms and handlebars. More about those numbers are at Youtube: Road Cycling Academy and Cycling Weekly. ↩︎