Bike Seat Springs too stiff--Should i anneal/heat them?
10-13-11, 02:29 PM
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Bike Seat Springs too stiff--Should i anneal/heat them?
I have a spring seat and its springs are wayyy to stiff for my featherweight body... i get 5mm of travel at the most...it takes a 10" drop off a curb to notice any spring travel. the springs are just too thick and stiff for little people (its a Velo-Orange spring-seat, FYI)
Im wondering if i place the springs only into my gas oven and heat them to around 400F degrees, if doing that might make them more soft/bouncy, or will i just ruin them altogether?
if anyone knows about annealing (heat treating) springs please share your thoughts
Anyone ?
thanks!
Im wondering if i place the springs only into my gas oven and heat them to around 400F degrees, if doing that might make them more soft/bouncy, or will i just ruin them altogether?
if anyone knows about annealing (heat treating) springs please share your thoughts
Anyone ?
thanks!
10-13-11, 03:46 PM
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I assume this is a joke.
The stiffness of a metal spring is determined by its shape and the modulus of the material from which it is made.
The material is (usually) heat treated or mechanically worked to raise the yield point so that it stays in its elastic range through the designed range of deflection. Removing this by recrystallising / annealing will make the spring weaker but not softer.
BTW the temperatures you propose are too low to achieve any of this anyway.
The stiffness of a metal spring is determined by its shape and the modulus of the material from which it is made.
The material is (usually) heat treated or mechanically worked to raise the yield point so that it stays in its elastic range through the designed range of deflection. Removing this by recrystallising / annealing will make the spring weaker but not softer.
BTW the temperatures you propose are too low to achieve any of this anyway.
10-13-11, 05:01 PM
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Thanks for answering my question...and no it isnt a joke, read this from Eaton Detroit Springs: "Using a torch is a great big No, No. Remember heat is a springs worst enemy. The reason is it only takes 400 degrees F to start annealing spring steel" I figured heating/annealing my springs might make them less less stiff/ more soft, but it sounds like it will just make them sag when weighted.
10-13-11, 06:02 PM
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spring temper has a resilience, annealed steel has a working cycle to failure, with less rebound.
Put your saddle atop a suspension seat post that can be tuned for your weight.
Cane Creek Thud Buster uses a variety of densities of elastomer to do this.
Put your saddle atop a suspension seat post that can be tuned for your weight.
Cane Creek Thud Buster uses a variety of densities of elastomer to do this.
10-14-11, 12:08 PM
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It will work the same on your seat as it works in cars.It will be fine.......for a while,sort of.Then it will magically get lower and stiffer.
Heating them will not make them softer,it will actually make them stiffer,It WILL make them shorter,real short after awhile.
You will increase the intended spring rate(the part you heat will not be springy anymore so you are asking the spring to be softer over LESS coils,if you heat it enough it will become solid) and the part you annealed will work harden and break at some point.
In a perfect world you would change the springs.....or eat more chocolate malts...
Heating them will not make them softer,it will actually make them stiffer,It WILL make them shorter,real short after awhile.
You will increase the intended spring rate(the part you heat will not be springy anymore so you are asking the spring to be softer over LESS coils,if you heat it enough it will become solid) and the part you annealed will work harden and break at some point.
In a perfect world you would change the springs.....or eat more chocolate malts...
Last edited by Booger1; 10-14-11 at 12:28 PM.
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