# Infinity seat - a new take on saddles



## gaz (19 Oct 2013)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1655849966/infinity-seat-revolutionizing-the-bicycle-seat







Goes against everything we think about saddles and how they support us. The whole point of this is to not put pressure on the sit or pubic bones. Instead it's all on the 'butt muscle'


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## buggi (19 Oct 2013)

having sat on the butt muscle for 3 years when i had my first road bike, before venturing into a "real bike shop" and them straight away changing it for one that fitted my sit bones... I can fully NOT recommend this.


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## buggi (19 Oct 2013)

having said that, I'd be willing to try it out for them free of charge


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## Keith Oates (19 Oct 2013)

I would wait for some comments from people that have tried them before I'd think about buying one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Rob3rt (19 Oct 2013)

More kickstarter junk.


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## Globalti (19 Oct 2013)

Their website makes one huge mistake: they claim that the traditional saddle is uncomfortable.


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## sazzaa (19 Oct 2013)

Might be better for females? I'm struggling to find a comfy saddle that doesn't look like a balloon...


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## ufkacbln (19 Oct 2013)

Sorry, but why is his heart on the right of his body?

I presume the charts, spine and xray are supposed to impress with an air of medical autority.... but putting the xray up back to front is a dead giveaway!


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## Joey Shabadoo (19 Oct 2013)

Looks like a cycling sex toy


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (19 Oct 2013)

I saw that and instantly imagined self castration in the event of an accident. 

For that reason. I'm out


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## ufkacbln (19 Oct 2013)

User said:


> He's an American chiropractor.... 'nuff said!



Or works for the props department of the BBC on Holby City / Casualty

I remember one episode where the plot line was about a missed fractured neck..... the reason they missed it was that they had a foot xray on the screen!


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## oldroadman (19 Oct 2013)

sazzaa said:


> Might be better for females? I'm struggling to find a comfy saddle that doesn't look like a balloon...


 There are a good few women specific saddles on the market, which give proper support to the pelvic bones, and have a cut out to avoid pressure in the central area (thus not squashing the bits you would probably prefer not to be squashed). The idea of supporting on muscle (or fat in some cases!) has the possibility of leaving pelvis unsupported and eventually I would think this could cause all kinds of problems.
Big squishy saddles is probably not the answer, best thing is a bit of research and check out the real thing at a decent bike shop (i.e. not one beginning with Hal......) plus some physio advice. Women specific saddles are slightly wider at the back to support the wider female pelvis, and with the big increase of women cycling, choice will get bigger to match the market. Don't give up looking, but I can't see that this "invention" based on some very odd "science" will be any use.


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## oldroadman (19 Oct 2013)

Question: Who is "Sean Halsi" US national champion? At what discipline?


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## Lanzecki (19 Oct 2013)

lol. Just lol. Really. Sit bones are for... Sitting on.


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## martint235 (19 Oct 2013)

Nope, this is a saddle that goes against everything we think about saddles


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## deptfordmarmoset (19 Oct 2013)

martint235 said:


> Nope, this is a saddle that goes against everything we think about saddles


Ha, yes, I was just thinking about that one. I spoke to the owner of one a few weeks back at Trinity Buoy Wharf while on a Sunday London ride. His reason for using a ''spongy wonder'' was his plumbing problems (I assume that's prostate, but there are certain details you don't go into when you're talking to a complete stranger). He said it had taken a long time to get used to it and there was a loss of stability caused by the lack of a nose, particularly when cornering. 

On the other hand, he was a seasoned cyclist who was out on his bike when a standard saddle might have kept him indoors. The apparent wrongness of the design was its rightness for him.

I'd like to try an infinity seat because I'm intrigued.


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## buggi (19 Oct 2013)

personally i would just be sitting on fat not muscle... It would be like the play-doh factory ooozing through the saddle! Can you imagine the imprint on your ass when you got home!


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## ayceejay (19 Oct 2013)

oo-er I saw one of these for sale in the gay village but that was the weight weenie version the sodolite.


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## sazzaa (19 Oct 2013)

oldroadman said:


> There are a good few women specific saddles on the market, which give proper support to the pelvic bones, and have a cut out to avoid pressure in the central area (thus not squashing the bits you would probably prefer not to be squashed). The idea of supporting on muscle (or fat in some cases!) has the possibility of leaving pelvis unsupported and eventually I would think this could cause all kinds of problems.
> Big squishy saddles is probably not the answer, best thing is a bit of research and check out the real thing at a decent bike shop (i.e. not one beginning with Hal......) plus some physio advice. Women specific saddles are slightly wider at the back to support the wider female pelvis, and with the big increase of women cycling, choice will get bigger to match the market. Don't give up looking, but I can't see that this "invention" based on some very odd "science" will be any use.



Yeah I know all this, just trying to find a saddle that's comfy and not massive! Ordered a Selle Italia Lady X2 because it looked comfy and still fairly narrow so will see how that goes...


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## Dogtrousers (12 Oct 2016)

A few years on, Kajsa Tylen is riding about 700 miles a week on hers, and is quite happy with it. It's the latest chapter in a whole series of unsatisfactory saddles she's gone through.

*A Year in the Saddle - Kajsa Tylen's 2016 Cycling WR Attempt*

This is my new (ish) saddle, the Infinity Bike Seat. It's weird, but oh so comfortable! No pressure on the sit bones, all the pressure is distributed elsewhere. Thoroughly recommend it.



www.infinitybikeseat.com


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## Fab Foodie (12 Oct 2016)

I'm not riding one of those on the World Naked Bike Ride, no siree!


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## fossyant (12 Oct 2016)

Item of torture.


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## Fab Foodie (12 Oct 2016)

Dogtrousers said:


> A few years on, Kajsa Tylen is riding about 700 miles a week on hers, and is quite happy with it. It's the latest chapter in a whole series of unsatisfactory saddles she's gone through.
> 
> *A Year in the Saddle - Kajsa Tylen's 2016 Cycling WR Attempt*
> 
> ...




Clearly she forgot it this day ....


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## Dogtrousers (12 Oct 2016)

She's been riding it for about a month I think.


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## Fab Foodie (12 Oct 2016)

Dogtrousers said:


> She's been riding it for about a month I think.


Damn .....


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## fossyant (12 Oct 2016)

Well, she's in one piece, certainly not been riding round Manchester !


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## Aravis (12 Oct 2016)

Dogtrousers said:


> A few years on, Kajsa Tylen is riding about 700 miles a week on hers, and is quite happy with it. It's the latest chapter in a whole series of unsatisfactory saddles she's gone through.


You could argue that Kajsa is about as untypical as it's possible to be, nearing the end of a monumental endurance event which she began with little background in extreme cycling. It makes sense that having not settled on a satisfactory conventional saddle, something which puts the pressure where it hasn't been before would inevitably be a big improvement, for a while at least. Another two months or so would be good!


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## oldroadman (12 Oct 2016)

Dogtrousers said:


> A few years on, Kajsa Tylen is riding about 700 miles a week on hers, and is quite happy with it. It's the latest chapter in a whole series of unsatisfactory saddles she's gone through.
> 
> *A Year in the Saddle - Kajsa Tylen's 2016 Cycling WR Attempt*
> 
> ...


A very odd quote. The idea is to use the bones of the pelvis for prime support. This causes some slight compression of the tissue which every bike rider knows about, and which goes away very quickly with regular riding. Any other way - putting pressure elsewhere - eventually there will be problems...


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## TheDoctor (12 Oct 2016)

It's the Terry Liberator saddle again, isn't it?
Handy Hint.
If you think you've invented something, chances are you've done no research into prior art. There are very few new things, but a lot of things that came out a decade ago and were abandoned as being crap. They're still crap now.


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## Dogtrousers (13 Oct 2016)

TheDoctor said:


> They're still crap now.


Except in this instance. Which I thought was quite interesting.


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## mickle (13 Oct 2016)

TheDoctor said:


> It's the Terry Liberator saddle again, isn't it?
> Handy Hint.
> If you think you've invented something, chances are you've done no research into prior art. There are very few new things, but a lot of things that came out a decade ago and were abandoned as being crap. They're still crap now.



Known in certain circles as the 'Laberator'


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## Globalti (13 Oct 2016)

There's another fundamental problem with that design, literally fundamental in fact: there's nothing bracing the saddle fore and aft to prevent it from folding up under the weight of the rider, the support being only at the front and back. In order to prevent folding the side rails, hidden under the padding, must need to be massively strong and rigid and hence, presumably, heavy.

Just like a step-through bike frame, in fact.


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## Dogtrousers (13 Oct 2016)

I just checked and KT has done 3,956.2 km in 25 days with this saddle.
She had problems with it on the first day, after which she re-fitted it.


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## Aravis (13 Oct 2016)

The only opinions here which seem to be based on direct knowledge are those quoted by @Dogtrousers, so I'd say they're the ones which carry weight. I think the saddle Kajsa is using is the far more conservatively styled L series, which according to the manufacturer's blurb does keep some weight on the pelvic bones.


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## Dogtrousers (13 Oct 2016)

I must admit I was being a little mischievous when I posted this.

Whenever a "new" idea pops up, such as a new saddle, or a continuously variable transmission, a whacky lighting system with "safety" features, an expanding chainwheel, a spokeless wheel, it's always greeted with angry cries that it's been done before, it can't _possibly_ work, stop wasting our time (which, strictly, should be stop inviting us to waste our own time). This is a pretty easy thing to do because most of the time these things _*are *_daft ideas. It doesn't actually require any thinking: Q: New product idea? A: It's stupid. The end. I don't know why people bother getting so worked up.

When I saw the infinity saddle back at the time of the OP I was of broadly the same opinion as most - it looks like a daft idea, it will probably fail. So I was interested when KT said she was going to get one, and I had the opportunity to discuss it with her. Her opinion was that she'd tried everything else, had been suffering from pressure sores for several months, so anything was worth a go.

So I was interested to see whether people would review their initial "first glance" dismissal in the face of a bit of empirical evidence: a product that has been used successfully (admittedly only by one specific individual) for quite a significant amount of riding (4,000 km in just shy of a month). I wasn't hopeful. And I was right not to be. 

As you were.

(Have I told you about my new gearing system ...)


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