bicycle saddle

prusaprinters

<p>I acquired an aged street bike in questionable condition early this summer and I absolutely love it! It's green, it's made of steel, it's got two wheels and all the other bicycle stuff. Only thing left to complain was this torture device, which once was used as a saddle - the saddle from hell!</p> <p>When products are so bad that it literally hurts, I start thinking "can't get much worse" and try to figure out a way to 3d print an alternative. Which is what I did; and after a few iterations (see picture gallery - black one is original) I've obtained a surprisingly comfy and robust saddle which at least feels much better that the steel-framed real thing.</p> <p>I tested the final version a few months this year just by riding around in the city and I think it's about time to release the files. Riding it can be a bit unsettling first, specifically when you have some experience with the typical toughness of 3d printed parts, but yet I didn't experience anything breaking, not even with the earliest prototypes made of PLA. However: don't print it in PLA! You don't want brittle material that shatters like glass anywhere near your balls/ballerinas.</p> <p>All you need additionally to the plastic (details in the print settings section) is 2x M8 screws, nuts and wide washers to distribute the pressure. I ended up with using what I had lying around but I can find out the exact dimensions if someone needs to know. Also prepare to re-tighten the bolts a few times after the first few rides, so better bring your wrenches.</p> <p>Disclaimer: I have absolutely no clue about bicycles and saddles in specific. So there's a good chance, this saddle is actually pretty bad and dangerous. In my opinion it's great, but I'm just someone from the internet who lived without a bike for ~20 years and has absolutely no experience in saddle design. Not the best example of a person to trust your genitals with if you ask me.</p> <p>edit: updated the bottom part to allow for a tighter fixation. Previous one went loose after some time even with max. torque.</p> <h3>Print Settings</h3> <p><strong>Printer Brand:</strong></p> <p>Wanhao</p> <p class="detail-setting printer"><strong>Printer: </strong> <div><p>Duplicator9</p></div> <p><strong>Rafts:</strong></p> <p>No</p> <p class="detail-setting supports"><strong>Supports: </strong> <div><p>Yes</p></div> <p><strong>Resolution:</strong></p> <p>0,25</p> <p class="detail-setting infill"><strong>Infill: </strong> <div><p>100,50,30%</p></div> <p><strong>Filament:</strong> 3dprima, recreus PA12-GF16, TPU 82A natural, orange</p> <p><br/> <p class="detail-setting notes"><strong>Notes: </strong></p> </p><div><p>Unfortunately it's a tough print again. Let's start with the easiest:</p> The bottom part is straight forward and just requires good layer adhesion and barely any support. 100% infill and some stiff but strong material like PA12+GF16 is a good idea. <p>For the middle part you need a lot of support to get it look decent and I recommend printing it upside down. I made this in PA12, PA12+GF16 and PA6+GF20, all of them were fine. Pure PA12 made it feel a little bit more "suspended". 3 walls and 30-50% infill is enough.</p> <p>Both, the bottom and middle parts should be printed absolutely dry, slow, hot and without a fan; layer adhesion is top priority here. Only the very last top parts can benefit from a slight breeze. Otherwise they will melt.</p> <p>The top part must be flexible and looks best when printed standing with some support (see pictures in gallery). This can be a bit challenging and I recommend printing very slowly and with low acceleration.</p> <p>You can adjust the saddle hardness with the amount of infill you choose. For me 30% gyroid infill gave a good balance of softness and damping. I gave it 2 walls to make it watertight enough.</p> <p>Don't tighten the bolts with all of your strength, especially when you didn't print it with 100% infill. Also give the nylon parts some time (days) to saturate with humid air; acclimatization makes PA softer, tougher and less brittle. This way it will more likely forgive high torques.</p> </div></p></p></p> Category: Sport & Outdoors