Monday, April 23, 2012

Drillium Saddle... I Kid You Not!

I've had this nice Prolite Saddle with Ti rails just sitting around for a few years.  I rode it a fair amount in the past, but it always ended up being just too much of a pain in my ass.  Too firm under the sit bones.  Saddles have to work for all body types from willow wispy to Clydesdale, so they are usually made for heavier people than I, being a compact size.  I tried it again last week on a 40 mile ride, and while tolerable, I was feeling a dull sitbone ache in the end which was unpleasant.  So I got this idea that if I relieved its plastic shell beneath the foam, made it thinner, it would flex more and be more comfortable.  I got out the Mototool and started grinding away, but quickly found out this would take far too long.  Then it hit me...drillium.  I got out my Ryobi cordless drill, chucked in a 3/16" bit and started drilling through the plastic.  Every few minutes I would flex the shell and noticed it was yielding more than before.  I kept on drilling, I must have put 200 holes in the bottom of the saddle.  I mounted it back on the seatpost and climbed on.  Wow!  Softer, more compliant.  I took a short ride around the block and the concept seems confirmed as it felt much nicer.  This outside the box thinking may have just produced a plush, light (200g) saddle.  Only time will tell.

I'll get back to you on that.  Flash
I should have taken the pic before I put it back on, and I didn't want to take it off again, so apologies for the compromised view angle.  Click for larger view.

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