General Cycling Discussion - The Spongy Wonder bicycle seat

If you have used the Spongy wonder seat please tell us about it.


http://www.spongywonder.com/

I bet they make you sign a legal release upon purchase.

Looks like it might be a tad painfull if you mis align.

Originally posted by Greg
I bet they make you sign a legal release upon purchase.

Looks like it might be a tad painfull if you mis align.

Ouch - the exposed saddle rails do look like they could hurt a man's ... err ... ahhh ....... pride.

:D

Sing soprano instantly with the Auto-Castrator! Looks like it was designed by Spanish Inquisitors. Very nice! :D

Looks like the kind of seat you might use if you ride on airless tires.

What an awful looking saddle. Looks like you trade numb plums for bedsores on the butt. Are they serious about this product?

Nothing new with this one. It is a rip-off of the "Comfort Seat" of the 1970's. I used one for about 18 months. It was a novelty. I suppose it would be welcomed by someone with a bad prostrate. Otherwise, it was just kinda nostalgic.

What about those that have big bums? I guess that might help, if they could get a larger version. (Hee-hee)

I seen a guy on a ride last weekend with a seat like that. Wasn't that seat but it was the basic design. He said that it took a couple of weeks to get used to it but now he wouldn't trade it for anything. He said that at first u feel like u'r falling forward on it till u get used to it. He did 110 miles that day.

Originally posted by mike
Nothing new with this one. It is a rip-off of the "Comfort Seat" of the 1970's.

They go back farther than that. I have seen a picture of something very like it in an ad from the 1890s. There IS nothing new under the sun.


Originally posted by heybulldog
He said that at first u feel like u'r falling forward on it till u get used to it.

To which I can only say, "No, thanks." Anything that forces my weight onto my hands will never find a place on my bike.

If you would like a little more padding in that design theres the old standard http://www.heartlandamerica.com/cgi-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=50029144&EXTRA_ARG=SC%3D&CFGNAME=MssFind%2Ecfg&host_id=1&page_id=57&query=3522&hiword=3522+

Yes, Hillyman, that is the '70's Comfort Seat exactly. It looks like they chinced the mounting hardware, but the seat pads are EXACT. They must have used old stock for the retro-build.

I thought it was called the "Easy Seat" in the 1970s. This is what happens when a noncyclist trys to design bicycle components. I'll keep my 30-year-old, 45K-mile Brooks Pro, thank you.

Originally posted by John E
This is what happens when a noncyclist trys to design bicycle components.

How cheap are these seats? Looks like you might be able to adapt them to be used as armpads for aero bars. |8^)

I would rather cycle with numb nuts and a sore arse, before I ever go near that saddle!!!:o

I would rather cycle with numb nuts and a sore arse, before I ever go near that saddle!!!

C'mon guys. Admit it. We all want one of these saddles. It's just that we're going through a phase of denial. It's good to open up, let our true feelings come out.

Slowly, but inexorably, I find myself drawn to one.:D

Bokkie, there is a saying from your part of the woods that goes something like this....dankie, maar nee dankie!!!

Bokkie, there is a saying from your part of the woods that goes something like this....dankie, maar nee dankie!!!

See what I mean, denial.

You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.:D

NO, NEVEEERRRRRR!!!!! The force is strong within me!!!

I'll rather sit on this

:roflmao:

:beer:

Originally posted by poululla

I'll rather sit on this

Surely that's for those cold winter days?!

Ellie

Personally I'd rather have Sheldon Brown's
REAL MENS SADDLE
as seen below.

Marty

Originally posted by John E
I thought it was called the "Easy Seat" in the 1970s. This is what happens when a noncyclist trys to design bicycle components. I'll keep my 30-year-old, 45K-mile Brooks Pro, thank you.

THAT'S IT, JOHN, You are correct! It was the 'EASY SEAT', not the 'Comfort Seat'. I goofed the name.

Good memory, John.

By the way, I will sell mine with the box for $35.00. It is in great shape.

This one here will sting a little.....a beehive on a bike, ouch!

:D

Hey Bokkie, take a look at this baby!!!

I think I see a market for these. If you do something really dumb and end up sh1tting yourself, then that seat will clean you up just nicely:D

Want to know about something wierd? Just ask the Rainman!

Yes, I used a Spongy Wonder. When I first started riding two years ago this November I was what you might call a Beefy Jumbo. Regular saddles just weren't comfortable. I tried a Spongy Wonder and LOVED it. Yeah, it looks strange. You should have seen the looks I got at the LBS! They all moved away from me on the bench, there. (Sorry, 70s flashback.) But it is very comfortable IF you are just noodling along at not much over 10-12 mph as I was at the time. Somewhere about there the design seems to start getting in the way of a smooth pedal stroke. They aren't too good for off road because you can't "get behind" the saddle. For someone just starting out or someone who just rides a few miles now and then, they can be a comfortable alternative.

Laugh if you will, but I credit the Spongy Wonder with keeping me going at a time when saddle discomfort due to my weight and inexperience were making me question how much longer I could keep riding.
FWIW,
Rainman

Check out this thing, looks like a camping bed turned sideways

http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/sarge/Guillotine_anim.gif

Spongy wonder seat Vlad, you could attache a baggie to the loop in front and then you wouldn't have to stop to pee. Karl

Originally posted by poululla
Check out this thing, looks like a camping bed turned sideways

I have one of these too!

A friend found it in his barn and gave it to me. I never put it on a bike, but it is amusing to say the very least.

Any idea what year this is from?

When I worked at TRW in the 1980s, the managers had all of us engineers watch a videotape about creativity in product design and definition. The guy who produced the tape was a co-inventor of the Easy Seat, which he proudly introduced by asking, "Can anyone figure out what this is? ... (pause) ... It's a BICYCLE SEAT!!!" This co-inventor was neither a serious bicyclist nor an engineer nor a urologist.

Recently, one of the nationally-syndicated newspaper docs took up the assault on conventional bicycle saddles, complaining that "the HORN of the saddle compresses the male urogenital system." Well shucks, even Texans like Lance don't have horns on their saddles ...

Originally posted by John E
Recently, one of the nationally-syndicated newspaper docs took up the assault on conventional bicycle saddles, complaining that "the HORN of the saddle compresses the male urogenital system." Well shucks, even Texans like Lance don't have horns on their saddles ...

OUCH! :(

I worked at LBS's for 12 years. There is no other product I can think of that approaches the 80% return rate of the Easy Seat. :rolleyes: That seat should be marked up 200% to make up for the need to sell it four times before it stays sold...

Originally posted by mechBgon
That seat should be marked up 200% to make up for the need to sell it four times before it stays sold...

They probably end up sitting in a garage, perhaps by themselves or on an unused bike after the Urologist tells the rider to quit:p

Originally posted by Bokkie
What an awful looking saddle. Looks like you trade numb plums for bedsores on the butt. Are they serious about this product?


Originally posted by p38karl
Vlad, you could attache a baggie to the loop in front and then you wouldn't have to stop to pee. Karl


Originally posted by John E
Recently, one of the nationally-syndicated newspaper docs took up the assault on conventional bicycle saddles, complaining that "the HORN of the saddle compresses the male urogenital system." Well shucks, even Texans like Lance don't have horns on their saddles ...

:lol: :roflmao: :roflmao: :lol:

You guys are killin' me!

In the begining of this century these seats were often found on bikes. Originally these net hammocks made there appearance on a Danish designed bicycle called, The Pedersen, and proved very popular...Gives new meaning to having your gonads in a sling!! :p

I spotted this 'saddle' on a UK mail order site. If this isn't the last word in luxury, then what it?:)

In the begining of this century these seats were often found on bikes

How come poululla is posting so many pictures of saddles? I'm getting the idea in my head that these are all fitted to his road bikes.:D

Gonads in a sling? Is that what David used to slay Goliath? I wonder who the poor sod was who provided the munitions?:D

Hey Bokkie!!

You are quite right, I do like my saddles, I always believe that it is one of the more sensual items on any bike.... anyway, staying true to form, here is another saddle that should be hitting the stores soon.
This newly designed bicycle seat is ergonomically shaped to make riding a bicycle a pleasant experience, - says the advertisment. That is weird, I thought it was already.

Fed on air alone?

I think I know how it works. You fart on it and that inflates it.:D

I wonder how the 'lock-out' works?:D

Oh, Vlad, Vlad.......
If you didn't have those gawd-awful rock-hard solid tricycle tyres on your bike, you wouldn't need a spongy soft seat to protect your tender @$$.

Originally posted by poululla
Gives new meaning to having your gonads in a sling!! :p

That's the original Bannana hamock!


Originally posted by webist
They probably end up sitting in a garage

Mike's, of course.


:)

How about the Stylx? Look at the size of that thing, think of the chafing....ooouccchh! I actually thought about ordering one of these at one time. I had a terrible seat and I was desparate. I never did buy it, I bought a new bike instead. :D

Originally posted by Redhed
I actually thought about ordering one of these at one time. . . . I never did buy it, I bought a new bike instead. :D
Thats what I like about cycling. . .
an uncomfortable seat = new bike.
Wonder if that would work with my wife?
"honey this saddle is uncomfortable. . .
I'm gonna buy a new Richard Sachs to see if its any better"
:lol:

Marty

Found this classic one in my archives.....memories!!!

:D

It's been brought to my attention that the manufacturer in question would like an opportunity to respond to comments made about the seat in question, so I'm reopening this thread.

Wow! My name is Jeff Dixon and I am the inventor of the Spongy Wonder Bike Seat. What amazes me is how our product is being trashed by riders who have never ridden it. Doesn't sound very objective does it? Let me put some things straight: 1. We are not a rip-off or copy of anyone. The US Patent and Trademark Office thought our invention so unique that we were informed we would recieve a patent three months after we applied. 2. The front end of the seat cannot be seen when sitting on the seat. There is no way to be hurt by the front end. Period. 3. Someone commented that "this is what happens when non-cyclists try and design cycling gear." I am a 25 year cyclist and currently ride a 2001 Trek 8000. 4. We sell seats to bike messengers, ultra long distance riders, commuters, "weekend warriors" sports institutes - basically every category out there.5. The comments posted seem to reflect an "overblown traditionalist reaction" to to the ideas of trying new things. It is very simple, the type of neurological and urological damage created br conventional and "modified-conventional" seats is well documented. If that is your choice as opposed to trying something new, than it is not inappropriate to suggest that that "type" of thinking would quite naturally lead to the type of nonobjective comments posted by those who have never tried our seat. 5. We sell seats to bike messengers, ultra long distance riders, commuters, "weekend warriors" sports institutes, triathletes - basically every category out there. Our return policy is very generous and our return rate is under 6 percent.

Now, I'm not an engineer, but this statement doesn't sound right to me:

Imagine a spring on a table that has a brick placed on it for 30 or 40 minutes a day, 4 or 5 times a week, week after week. After a time the spring becomes permanently compressed.

Aren't springs normally designed to be unable to undergo plastic deformation from compression?

I have used the Spiderflex seat which is similar. http://www.spiderflex.com/ This seat definately solved prostate irritation problems. It was relatively comfortable as far as most bike seats go. My feeling is that these will work better on road bikes than on mtb's which are ridden in serious dirt. Your butt gets tired of it if your bike has an 'upright' riding position. It is important to get the seat angle right, or the front edge will dig into your upper leg. Due to continuing wrist, back and neck pain, I went 'bent and have no regrets. If you are seriously interested in trying one of these seats, you can contact me at; [email] bkaapcke@comcast.net I have a great deal on one that was used for 4 months. bk