Rinsten Spring



This looks like a good idea. Hasn't this been tried before? I'm not an early adopter so I'll wait until it's battle tested before getting one. It also looks like it can add a lot of setback, if needed.

Saw it on Kickstarter. Looked interesting, so I backed it. Not sure when they ship. Will be fun to try.

Oops, there was an existing thread on this:

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/11...en-spring.html

Maybe we should close this thread and use the existing thread.

Meh, that one is over in touring.

No one goes there.

But anyway.



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Talk about putting more weight on your hands... hahahahaha Plus it looks ridiculous.

[MENTION=345109]corrado33[/MENTION], you bring up an interesting point. Sometimes a very slight upturn or downturn of a seat is the difference between comfort and discomfort. I wonder how difficult it will be to dial in the precise seat angle that I like, and will the angle be changing with every pedal stroke? Guess I'll find out soon enough.

I'd assume that if you had it flat to start out, any "suspension" that comes from it would shove the front of the saddle up into your nether regions.

That wouldn't be comfortable for me.

There's a reason saddle angles have to be dialed in very carefully to avoid... painful... rides, among other issues.

Is it for riders who are not accepting of suspension seatposts?

What if it breaks?

It would be a major pain in the ass.

What does it do that a traditional leather spring saddle can't do?

Seems to be a solution in search of a problem.

I've said before that the perfect road bike suspension would need to be invisible, because none of the wannabe roadies who bought carbon bikes will want to be seen using it...

There's still people arguing that "you don't need suspension on an MTB"...
And for that matter, there's still people riding penny-farthings arguing that "you don't need pneumatic tires..."

Eventually most road bikes will have suspension, for the same reasons that most MTBs come with it now. Comfort sells bikes, and saddle pain is probably the most-common complaint that bike shops hear.

It does have one advantage for touring--in that if the thing breaks, you can just remove it and mount your saddle normally.
And because it's just a simple spring, it would not creak like shock seatposts can.
Some people might like it I suppose. It would help over bumps, but there's several other causes of riding discomfort that it won't affect.

If you want maximum comfort, then you want a recumbent bike. No butt pain, no hand numbness and no neck strain,,, and recumbent riding shorts don't even have padding in them.

Mine should be arriving soon. I think. I hope. Then I'll know.

I'll try again in the interest of providing useful information. Sorry for the intemperate responses earlier.

I have 450 miles on one of these springs. At my weight (~210) the spring has not collapsed or broken. It does not cause forward weight shift because the spring compresses under the rider's weight until the (properly positioned) saddle is level.
As for the appearance, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I've received mostly curious and positive comments from others.

Steve

Mods: I'm surprised you left post #5, since snark/ridicule/sarcasm seem not allowed. Just saying.

That post wasn't either. The deleted posts were just mean. I suggest you leave this thread please. (not snark, ridicule or sarcasm)

Report back when you have 4500 miles on the gizmo.

Hahahaha! That will take a while. However, I don't expect it to fail. Do you expect the suspension springs on your car to fail? I'm guessing not!
Steve

450 miles is nothing, that's a month for a lot of people here. At 450 miles it's still new.

I've had a lot of stuff that I didn't expect to fail that did just that.

Good luck with your spring.

Fortunately, I don't have to rely on "luck"! I have confidence in the physical properties of metals which, fortunately, are well-understood.
Steve

Thank you for coming back after I suggested you leave the thread!

I think we're back to civil discourse on the Rinsten Spring. Since I have one on my bike and there are a variety of opinions from people who don't have experience with them, I feel I have something to contribute. Is this a bad thing?
Steve

Is yours a prototype? The most recent email I have from the Kickstarter projects says the springs haven't been manufactured yet. Just am curious. Still am waiting for mine to arrive.

I'm ride mine -- when it gets here -- before formulating an opinion. The idea seemed brilliant when I first supported the project. Now I can think of possibly a downside or two. The proof will be in the putting -- the putting of my backside onto a seat .

Not exactly a prototype... it's a "sample" which came from a friend who's in the bike trade. He reported on it on another web site, and when I expressed curiosity he offered to send it to me. How could I refuse?
I've ordered another one for my road bike.
I totally understand your reluctance to form an opinion until you've tried it. It was easier for me, as I didn't actually have to buy the thing and it was available immediately. It's a bit weird looking as others have noted ^^. You may like it though. I'll be interested to hear your reaction to it. You will probably find, as I did, that you need to adjust it to your preference... not too difficult.
Steve

I just want to give it a fair go. Cost wasn't much, and trying it will be a fun experiment.

Well, I have to eat some major crow here. I was riding to a conference today when I felt a sudden change in the position of my saddle. My first thought was that one of the saddle rails had either broken or pulled out of the saddle's base. Closer inspection revealed that one side of the Rinsten Spring had broken. I have about 800 miles on the spring.

So, I offer my apologies to Wileyrat, who suggested I needed 4,500 miles to establish reliability. Now, in Devil's Advocate mode, the failure of one unit doesn't mean the product is badly or even fatally designed... but at this time, we seem to have an apparent failure rate of 100%... this does not inspire confidence. I've got another one of these on order, and I'll still give it a shot if I ever get the thing (see the following for the reason why).

And, I have the answer to the question posed by JanMM and RGConnner: "What if it breaks?"
You can see from the attached images what happens. The saddle tips instantly onto its side; this is obvious to the rider. I was a couple miles from my destination, so I was able to keep riding. If I'd had to go much farther, I would have removed the spring and re-mounted the saddle. I have a small amount of satisfaction in this matter in that I predicted that *if* the spring failed, it would probably do so in a "fail-safe" mode... ie, not castrating the rider.

Attached are images of the broken spring, including a "macro" shot of the fracture face. I think this is a pretty standard "cyclic fatigue" fracture. Was this because of a surface defect that acted as a starting point for the fracture, or was the steel spring operated out of its elastic range? During its short life, there was no sagging or apparent plastic deformation of the spring.

Well, that's the news from Lake Wobegone. At least no one will say I wouldn't admit to being wrong!
Steve

Thanks bud, I'm glad all you ate was a bit of crow instead of pavement.

Yeah... I was mostly hoping no one else on a bike was noticing how I was perched on the edge!
Steve